Grow

The world is a complex and confusing place. We often feel that teenagers lack the energy and maturity to begin to understand it. This book shows that teenagers sometimes have the front row seat to issues which are affecting society at large. This book shows, with sensitivity and a remarkably authentic voice, how one teen in particular (Josh) navigates the rough terrain of grief and dark nationalist and white supremacist movements, all while trying to just survive as a teen. This book cultivates profound empathy for young people and does so with poetics, grit and heart break. This book is very moving and profound. Beautifully written and intimate. A book a parent and teen could read together. The title is appropriate, you do grow with this book and it leaves you devastated but whole.

Grow's characters are skilfully etched with restraint, realism and a seemingly limitless empathy. The central narrative (a grieving teenager falls victim to radicalisation) demands nothing less, and Palmer handles the maelstrom of Josh's emotions sensitively, thoroughly and without an ounce of condescension.Grow is a smart, gritty, but often heart-warming book. I recommend it to any teenager (or adult) dealing with loss, love, anxiety or abuse, or anyone who simply wants a better understanding of how, in the wrong circumstances, we could all be tempted to choose hate and lies over love and the truth.A truly brilliant book.

This is a brilliant book about how easily angry young people can be sucked into situations that quickly spiral out of control. In addition the two main characters are both very believable I thought. Sensitively written but doesn't shy away from the tricky emotional stuff, including abusive relationships. Descriptions of modern day school life are spot on.

Grow is simply a beautiful novel with a truly gripping story and real characters. I would honestly recommend it to everyone young adults and adults alike. With an engaging story and an honest emotional core at the centre of the novel, what's not to love? It's a shame that the story itself is still so depressingly relevant to today's world but that just adds to the quality and beauty of the book. Wonderful.

With Grow, Luke Palmer has written a relevant modern-day story of how the young Josh deals with his grief and anger against a backdrop of his father’s death through terrorism and the menace from the white supremacist group that creeps into the void left behind. The well-examined characters around Josh, both good and bad, are very believable with their own stories well told. All this in an exciting page-turner – excellent work.

This is a stunning read.Whilst the narrative is focused on Josh and his recruitment into a group of white supremacists, the wonderfully subtle writing draws out individual struggles at different levels, ultimately conveying the power of relationships and the importance of listening to, and caring for, one another.I will be recommending this beautiful book far and wide.

Great read with an unexpected twist. Loved this book and look forward to the author’s next publication. Luke Palmer has a great future ahead of him in the world of literature.

3.5 stars.This is a tough book to read. It deals with racism, ntolerance, child grooming, far right groups, rape, grief and loss, single parent families, terrorism, and guilt.This also could have been so much more.It was set up to be a dark gritty rabbit hole of violence and intolerance but it tended to just hover over the surface and for me, that's where it let me down.It follows a Josh, a boy who has absorbed himself into his school work and is getting brilliant results, after his father was killed in a London train bombing by terrorism.He seems to be sought out by a far right hate group after being introduced by a couple of other boys in school who show him videos on their phone of the hatred and violence they get up to.So begins the grooming of Josh and the befriending and brain washing that leaves you feeling that this is probably how things actually happen and how vulnerability leads to anger and hatred in the wrong hands.It was a very quick read and I loved pretty much every character that was put on the page. I liked how Ahmed was so similar to Josh, to imprint on the reader how we are all the same and we all suffer loss in life, and in fact some are far worse than others and being from another country/ different classes/ being a different skin tone/ speaking with a different accent/ a religion or not makes no difference to the fact that everybody hurts or loves or gets angry during childhood if only you took the time to talk to each other. The book was very well written and was a very quick read but I wanted more. I felt that it wasn't gritty enough.