When I Was Joe Paperback – August 26, 2012

Good Book. Held my interest all the way through. I believe this book is listed under young adult but it's interesting enough for adult readers.

My son got this book from the library, after he read it he wanted the Hardcover book for his collection and he wanted the other books by Keren David. For a 14 year old thats pretty good.

reads like a true story. characters are frail, strong and flawed, good for adolescents but adults can enjoy it also.

While I'm still reading my library loaned copy, I simply must say that the use of apostrophes in place of quotations is thorughly frustrating. Poor choice by the editor/publisher. My eye skips over them repeatedly and thus, since thoughts are meshed tightly with the narrator's spoken words, have had to go back time and again to reread passages. A thriller (which this is) relies heavily upon pace. The alteration of one "little" punctuation mark has wreaked havoc with the author's pace.

Ever since this book started to make waves in the bloging world, I've been looking forward to reading it, and when the chance finally came for me to do so I was so excited. And luckily enough, When I Was Joe turned out to be everything I heard it was. Because When I Was Joe was one of the most exciting, thrilling, and unique books I've read in long time.When I Was Joe is told from the viewpoint of Ty, a boy who's forced to lie about everything after he witness the stabbing of a young boy much like himself. Now him and his mum are in the witness protection program and given brand new identifies, as well as a new city to live in. Ty's new identify is Joe, a boy very different from his former self. Since while Ty was a dweeb and always a bit babyish, Joe is cool, a leader, and fierce- the eye-candy of all the girls and the guy all the boys want to be. Though, with Ty's new image come problems, like Ashley, a popular girl who isn't nearly as sweet as she looks, Carl, the school's bully who's after Ty, and Claire, the only girl who really gets Ty...too bad she's off limits. And this isn't even adding in the fact that one of London's most infamous drug families is after him with only one goal in mind: to leave Ty dead and unable to testify against them. If anything Ty's year will be anything but a breeze or uneventful!Ty was an interesting main character, one who always had me on the edge of my toes with his way of looking at things, as well as the mysterious tone his character got when talking about the stabbing and what lead up to it. Another thing that I always found fascinating about him was the way he managed to grow up through this novel and gain a new way of looking at things, one that made him seem ages ahead of his real age but still naive and innocent at times. I especially liked his friendship with Claire. Claire was a very sweet girl and one who always managed to bring the good out in Ty, which left their scenes together to always be some of my favorites.Another aspect I enjoyed about this book was the action-packed plot. It constantly mangaged to throw little surprises and twists at me that constantly had me rethinking my former predictions and making new ones. And the ending? It has made me so very excited about the sequel.Lastly, David's writing was yet another good addition to the book. I always felt that she did a decent job of fleshing out her characters, as well as the plot lines. Though, I wasn't really found of the way she managed to make some parts dreadfully slow. But other then that, I think she did a great job with this book!In all, When I Was Joe is the perfect thriller read for teens out there, especially reluctant readers who are looking for a book to keep them on their toes. I simply can't wait to see what Ms. David comes up with next.Grade: B+

Let me start off by saying that this series was a new thing for me. First off, I'm not one for thrillers, which this series definitely counts as. But I enjoy mysteries, a similar genre, so I gave it a shot. Another first about these books is that I've never read stories both written by and targeted to British people - with British lingo, punctuation, grammar, etc. It was actually pretty fun to see all the differences and try to decode the British English. (I will note the author's website, wheniwasjoe.blogspot.com, has a page with British lingo and slang definitions.)Starting with When I Was Joe, the series follows Ty, a boy who witnessed a murder and enters witness protection after telling the police about it. However, things aren't quite what they seem; Ty, his best friend Aaron, and the police are all keeping details to themselves - who can be trusted? In Almost True, Ty's family loses faith in the police protection that has failed them and Ty's aunt takes him to her own idea of a safe house, where Ty learns that he has an entire family and history he knew nothing about. In Another Life, Ty faces charges for his own bad choices and his newfound cousin Archie decides to find out who Ty really is. Throughout the series, secrets and misunderstandings surface while Ty struggles to make - and keep - trustworthy friends while staying alive and protecting the ones he loves.The writing style is great, especially for the genre: very gripping and fast-paced without being rushed. The character's voice comes out naturally through the narrative. The characters have good traits and bad, but there were quite a few times I felt like the main characters weren't really any better than the 'bad guys.' I've never been to England (at least when I was old enough to remember), so I can't say for certain, but it seems the writer really knows her setting well and the details and description are well-balanced. They give you an idea of what's going on and where the characters are, without boring you with excessive detail.However, on a content level, this series is not exactly recommendable. When the series starts out, there's a good deal of violence and slums-of-London living (smoking, drinking, shady people, not the best parenting, etc.), but that's to be expected with the storyline and setting. It's as the series goes on that I feel things get out of hand. With the first book it was mostly the violence, and then language, and then some immorality (not at all graphic, I will say).With the second book there was more violence, more language, and a whole lot of really poor choices. I kept reading, thinking this was one of those books where people are really stupid and then see the light near the end. That sort of happened. And then the third book started with a different character, and drugs and mindless popularity and more stupidity came onto the scene. I kept reading, although the writing style had gone downhill and the head-hopping drove me nuts. Finally, though, I couldn't take any more of Archie's stupid choices and Ty's anger and anxiety. So I quit.All in all, I think this series started off well. The characters were great, and I really loved Patrick and Helen from book two. But everything just kind of unraveled as Ty struggled with PTSD and Archie acted like a complete idiot. So, as you can see above, I've listed individual ratings for each book and give the overall trilogy two and a half stars.I received these three books for free from the author in exchange for this review. All opinions expressed are mine and mine alone.

The story was very good it had me gripped from start to finish, its not a predictable story which was nice unlike some books I’ve read, it’s an easy read which is good for me, I recommend you give this book a try, I like it I hope you do too, can’t wait to read the next book

I thoroughly enjoyed When I was Joe. I stumbled across it by pure chance while reading about Danielle Cable online, and a story about witness protection appealed to me.I love the easy way it flows, simplistic enough for the teenage audience it is aimed at,but still a good read for adults alike.I hope to get my teenage son to read it too. I am now going to invest in the next instalment. I need to know how this captivating story unfolds.......

I absolutely loved this book although I wasn't sure if it was my sort of thing when I ordered it. I read it in one day as I was so drawn into the drama. It outlines the terrible long term consequences of a 'mad moment' for a young teenage boy and the life-changing effect not only on himself, but his friends and family. I found it particularly relevant in the 'gang and knife culture' of the inner city teenager and how easily any young person can become involved, almost against their will.

One of this book's strengths is its accessibility; people of all ages can be drawn into this very believable and gripping piece of fiction. Every disappointment, frustration, emotion is felt - probably owing to the fact the narrative comes from the 'simple' point of view of a fourteen year-old. If you're looking for an enjoyable read with ups and downs, read the first chapter and consider buying this book.The formatting in the Kindle version is subpar (text and line-spacing are far too big, requiring the smallest text size just to get a decent page to read) and there are no chapter markers or page numbers, but these were an inconvenience rather than a show-stopper. The book itself is excellent.

What a book, Would recommend this book to anyone aged between 12-90, It was so good I bought the other books too...haha