Review: Dolly Doll - Leo Schulz

-

 


Review: Dolly Doll - Leo Schulz - March 2014

Set in the early 1970's starting at the top of the North Island, we meet two Pakeha teens Dolly and her boyfriend Freddie.  Freddie is supposedly bad news and Dolly's parents warn her away from him , but of course Dolly knows best and she is head over heels for Freddie. So the pair of them take the car and start driving with the hope of running off together into the sunset and living happily ever after. Things don't always go that way as Freddie has a bit of a temper and during a stop in Hamilton almost beats a guy half to death for starring at Dolly.  This lands the couple in the world of the life of Maori gangs, drugs and even worse in the middle of a gang war between the Mongrel Mob and Black Power. Growing up in NZ and also watching Alan Duff's Once Were Warriors / What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted Fims , made me wonder if the author has used that as some of his inspiration for the novel and maybe some of his own experience of being born in New Zealand probably during those years. Reading previous reviews, this book did cause alot of controversy but being a New Zealander and having an understanding of the gang life etc - this book was a true portrayal of what could happen from beatings, abuse , drugs and rape. 
Dolly Doll is not a romantic read but an Edgy story which resembled a New Zealand version of books that you might see from authors like Martina Cole, Manduse Heller and Jessie Keane.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Steel Princess - Rina Kent

-
Image
Review: Steel Princess - Book #2 Royal Elite Series - Rina Kent - December 2019 At the end of Book #1, we were left on a cliffhanger of Elsa being pushed into the pool. At the beginning of book #2, she is saved by a newcomer to the school - Knox.  We can see some friendly flirting but nothing more going on between these two, but it riles up Aiden who still has this mindset of "if I can't have her, no-one can" especially since he is supposed to be engaged to Silver Queens. During Book #2 Elsa starts to recall some more memories and goes to Dr.Khan in hopes that he can open her Pandora's box and can restore her full memories of what happened before she was seven years old. We also catch a glimpse during this book of her past and why Aiden King's father blames her for his mother's death and why Aiden considered Elsa a ghost. I liked this book as it was more intense with Elsa's memories and past returning. In Book #2 it is revealed about he
Read more

Review: Punk 57 - Penelope Douglas

-
Image
  Review: Punk 57 - Penelope Douglas - October 2016 As soon as I read Bully by Penelope Douglas, I was in love with this author. So when she released a new one who had my favorite theme of penpals and that whole friend to lovers going on, I knew I had to read it. The book started out with a bit of background where we learned about how Misha and Ryen were placed together in a classroom project penpal program. The pair continues to write to each other right through the year, and then they take it to the next level and continue through the rest of their schooling. Fast forward to high school Misha is in a band and Ryen is out with her friends and they complete a scavenger hunt form. Ryen is not what Misha expected especially from her letters. Tragedy occurs, and Misha turns up at Ryen's school under a fake name. This doesn't go over too well as Ryen is nothing like her letters, in fact, she is as fake as can be and Misha aka Masen hates her, in fact, she
Read more