Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Fatima Bhutto is an unique voice in South Asian literature. Her books have a way of holding a very clean mirror to the world we live in. It is not surprising to see that The Runaways is perfect book for the present times. Following the lives of young people in dark times it holds the reader with a predatory grip.

Give it someone who is interested in South Asian literature

Overall I really enjoyed this thoughtful and intelligent novel about the attraction of radical Jihad for disaffected young people, although I never really managed to get inside the heads of the characters to fully understand what motivated them. Bhutto does a great job, however, in trying to do just that and I felt that I had gained some sort of insight by the end, especially about how the attraction and motivation is not necessarily backed up by any profound thought or any real connection to religion. The novel follows three young people from very different backgrounds who all end up allying themselves with the Islamist cause and find themselves in the same geographical and psychological place. Sonny is Indian, but grows up in Portsmouth. His father left India to give Sonny a “better” life but Sonny himself doesn’t see it quite that way and feels that he just doesn’t belong anywhere. Monty lives in Karachi and is from a privileged and wealthy background, with no real reason to question the world around him, until he meets a young woman whilst in his last year in school. Anita Rose is also from Karachi, but from a very different part of the city, and her life contrasts with Monty’s in many fundamental ways. All three of them are both running from and running to – but what their goal is remains elusive both to the characters and the reader. The story moves along at a good pace until towards the end, when a trip in the desert slows down the narrative somewhat, and I found the ending a little melodramatic, but it’s definitely a novel worth reading and perhaps pondering over.

Thanks to Penguin Books UK and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I seem to be reading a lot of novels with multiple points of view lately so…here’s another one. The Runaways follows three members of the Pakistani community. Anita Rose, a resident of the Karachi slums, Monty, a jet setting rich kid and Sunny a second generation immigrant living in England. Unlike a number of multiple points of view novels I’ve read recently, the different points of view are distinct and I never had to force myself to remember who I was reading about. Similarly to other novels of this type, one character voice was stronger than that of the others, in this case that of Anita.


The novel is written in a modern, energetic style and there are lots of references to current events as well as a clever use of popular culture references. I usually think these age a novel horribly, but they worked really well in this book to set things in context and they give the novel a real sense of time and place.

Some of the themes explored in this novel include the difficulties and sense of disconnect of those who live between different cultures, inter-generational tension, sexual identity and Islamic radicalisation. Many of these themes are topical in the contemporary sense but it was a little disappointing that a novel about young Muslims devoted so much of its storyline to Islamic radicalisation.

When I first started reading this book I immediately felt it was a 5 star novel. As events started creeping towards the half way mark however, things ground to a halt and never really picked up again. Most of the chapters that take place in the desert really dragged for me and I yearned for flashbacks or a different character’s chapter. There are also some extremely disturbing events that occur in the desert chapters too. If you’re a dog lover maybe skip that part when you come to it.

I really enjoyed Anita’s chapters and the parts of the novel that took place in Karachi. The buzz and chaos of the city was perfectly captured and it was refreshing to see a modern, diverse take on young Pakistani lives captured. Things took a nosedive for me when the setting moved to the desert and I just wasn’t able to connect with it as much as I had at the start. Overall this is a well written, thought-provoking book but I couldn’t see past some of the issues I had with it to truly love it.