Will Davis’ first novel is about the awkwardness of growing up: Jaz is a precocious, gay, 16-year-old Londoner with a chip on his shoulder. He has a sister known as ‘The Nun’ and parents who wouldn’t mind killing each other.
‘My Side of the Story’ reads like the script for a half-decent TV soap: the dialogue fizzes with savvy one-liners, while the characters are just about believable. As Jaz accumulates experiences of underage clubbing, homophobic bullying, sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll, he outgrows his petulance and a genuine pathos emerges.
Like a twentyfirst-century Holden Caulfield, Jaz’s narrative voice might just drive anyone over the age of 25 up the wall. Think ‘Catcher in the Rye’ meets ‘Skins’, with just a soupçon of ‘Bill and Ted’ and you begin to get the idea. However, if you can find it in your heart to ignore the cumulatively absurd overuse of the word ‘like’ (as in his oft-exclaimed ‘I’m like, like whatever’), then this isn’t so bad.
Ultimately, if you have any interest in what it must be like to be a teenager in London, then this is an enjoyable read. Davis’ observations of the dysfunctions of family and school are as sharp as his prose is fresh, and his debut is intriguing, touching and entertaining. But, like, if I have to read ‘like’ once more, I will, like, totally explode. Period.
