Book review
Todd Strasser taught us that there is strength through discipline; strength through community; strength through action!
Blood On My Hands is a young adult , mystery novel by acclaimed American author, Todd Strasser who has written over 140 young adult novels. This novel is about a 17 year old girl, Callie who is witnessed holding a bloody knife over one of her friends’ dead body. Before she knows it, everyone is taking pictures of her, which falsely portrays her as the murderer, then these pictures are all over the internet before she can do anything to stop it. Callie is the only one who knows that she hasn't murdered Katherine, but the pictures all tell a different story. Callie is determined to find out who did this to Katherine. The only problem is that the whole police force is after her, tracking her every move. Callie has to think hard and look even harder for the murderer, as it turns out the person who murdered Katherine was ‘right under her nose’ the whole time.
This novel is composed with some real talent. The author of the novel keeps the storyline flowing incredibly smoothly whilst only revealing the slightest amounts of information, to the reader. The one aspect of the novel I really must give praise to is that the murderer is not revealed to the very last second and is the most least expected person in the whole novel.
Throughout the novel, the author provides no hints whatsoever towards who the offender is (either that or I was really engrossed in the novel to do my own investigation). The novel is incredibly gripping!!! From the beginning, I was hooked to find out who the murderer was. The protagonist had me on edge, wanting to know more and more about every detail and towards the end of the novel I was just dying to know who was guilty of the murder. The point I am trying to convey is that the novel is clearly thought out logically to keep the audience glued to the story and only reveals the details painfully slow, to keep the highest amount of intrigue from the audience.
Blood On My Hands explores the intimidating extents of peer pressure teenagers especially face. How adolescents are incredibly vulnerable to giving up their personal values, beliefs and even identity to simply just conform and be accepted by others. The main aim of every teen is to work his/her way up the social ladder only to get there and find it impossibly demanding and stressful to maintain their ‘status’.
Todd Strasser, Author
I believe the novel is written to challenge the saying ‘innocent until proven guilty’. Throughout the entire novel the protagonist is framed with not nearly enough evidence proving she was the murderer. The novel explores how people will only see what they want to see or rather what they are shown by others. It portrays the nature of humans, to do anything to be on top no matter what.
The novel also explores how politics plays a significant role in suppressing the truth of what actually plays out in the real world, how personal ties within social hierarchy work in favour for those who need to suppress the truth behind their truly dirty and evil ways. We understand that the world is not the fair and just world they want us to think, and that the people who think that the world is a fair place are just purely naive. Sadly the world is a place full of prejudice and many wrong doings mostly from the people who control our lives, those who are in power.
Overall Blood On My Hands is out of the ordinary for me but I am glad I went out of my way to not only read it but also have a thrilling adventure. I highly recommend this novel to those seeking a mysterious adventure and wanting to solve a murder crime (without doing any solving but just reading). I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel and can confidently guarantee that anyone else will.
-A Chahal, Year 9