Bang, Bang, You're Dead!

by Narinder Dhami

When a mysterious gunman takes a class hostage, the rest of Mia's school is evacuated. But Mia is determined to stay behind. She knows it's a life or death situation but there's something she fears more than dying. Mia thinks she might know who the gunman is, and, if she's right, then she may be the only one who can save her schoolmates...

Genres: Young Adult, Mental Health, Contemporary, Plays, Childrens, Fiction, Thriller

300 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2009

Reviews

[Molly · Rating 1 out of 5]

The ending was trash. Horrendously bad. Thought it was going to be good at first but very disapointing.

[El · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this at all. It was stupid and the mc was so annoying. I wanted to slap her the whole time and the ending was really disappointing. So yeah, I’m glad this was only a library book as it would’ve been a waste of money & I don’t recommend it

[Brina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amoklauf - ein Thema, das leider immer wieder in aller Munde ist. Kein Wunder, dass es hierzu viele Bücher gibt, die das traurige Thema behandeln. Als gute Bücher sind hier u.a. "Die Hassliste" und "19 Minuten" zu nennen.

Narinder Dhami hat mich mit "Böser Bruder, toter Bruder" sehr berührt. Die Geschichte von Mia und ihrem Zwillingsbruder wird eindringlich und hochsensibel geschildert und ich wurde trotz der traurigen Thematik gut unterhalten. Die Autorin hat einen wunderbar flüssigen Schreibstil, der unter die Haut geht und leicht zu lesen ist. Die Geschichte wird in der Vergangenheit und Gegenwart erzählt. Während in der Vergangenheit die Kindheit von Mia und ihrem Zwillingsbruder genau unter die Lupe genommen wird und die Familiensituation auf sehr schockierende Art und Weise geschildert wird, wird die Gegenwart sehr düster und spannend erzählt.

Interessant ist der Grund für das Geschehene. Die Mutter leidet unter Depressionen und Kaufsucht, lässt ihre Stimmungsschwankungen hauptsächlich an Mia aus und will sich von Ärzten oder ihren Mitmenschen trotz vieler Bemühungen nicht helfen lassen. Für Mia, die als sensibel und in sich gekehrt gilt, ist dies nicht leicht, vor allem, weil sich ihr Bruder immer mehr von ihr abkapselt und sie auf sich alleine gestellt ist. Ihr Leben ist alles andere als einfach, sie wird von der Hälfte ihrer Mitschüler ignoriert, von anderen gemobbt und mit Bree hat sie nur eine einzige Freundin. Jamie ist ihr stellenweise sehr ähnlich, was Zurückhaltung und Einzelgängerdasein angeht, andererseits wirkt er oftmals gefährlich und eiskalt.

Da sich Jamie am Tag des Amoklaufs in die Richtung des Nebengebäudes bewegt, befürchtet Mia, dass Jamie für den Amoklauf verantwortlich ist und begibt sich auf die Suche nach dem Amokläufer und der Klasse 9b, die vom Täter festgehalten wird. Ihre Vorgehensweise ist hierbei sehr mutig und gefährlich, stellenweise ging mir dies jedoch alles zu glatt. Zwar erlebt sie die ein oder andere brisante Situation, aber in Gefahr gerät sie dabei so gut wie nie, was auf mich etwas unglaubwürdig gewirkt hat.
Sehr gut gefallen haben mir während der Suche allerdings ihre Gedanken und Gefühle. Zum ersten Mal in ihrem Leben schöpft sie Mut und wirkt nicht mehr wie das kleine zierliche Mädchen, dass sich nichts zutraut.

Das Ende hat mich verwundert und gleichzeitig geschockt. Während der Geschichte habe ich eher damit gerechnet, dass das Ende recht vorhersehbar und schnell gehen wird, doch dann kam für mich der Schock, denn es kommt alles anders. Die Autorin hat hier ein großartiges Ende geschaffen, dass das Buch so besonders und einzigartig macht.

Insgesamt hat mir "Böser Bruder, toter Bruder" unglaublich gut gefallen. Die Autorin hat ein beeindruckendes Buch geschrieben, dass sicherlich nicht nur für Jugendliche geeignet ist und jeden von uns etwas angeht. Gänsehautgarantie und absolut empfehlenswert!

[Eleanor Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

It had me gobsmacked at the end

[Farah Lofthouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

What u all yappin, I haven’t read a single book in two years apart from the ones I read to my four year old cousin apart from this one! And on a serious note this is not in any way shape or form a children’s book. It’s about psychology trauma and coping mechanisms with the loss of a loved one and just the fact that it written about a obviously mentally ill child threatening to shoot fellow to death or blow them up with a bomb. And Yes, I agree that the ending was ridiculous and a total joke and as “predictable” as the plot twist it was brilliant and well written. So excuse me if I got a bit mad but it’s a great book and no one can tell me otherwise.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really disappointed with this book because it looked and sounded so promising, and had been on my 'to-read' list for quite a while.

The premise of the novel is intriguing; a mysterious gunman takes a class hostage in a British school. Yes, it's been done before but I thought as it's based in Britain it might add something different to the tale. I was wrong.

The to-ing and fro-ing between past and present events is extremely distracting (and quite frankly, annoying) and I felt didn't really serve much in the story as a whole, though it does perhaps give a good example of the amatuerish style of writing from the author. Mia, the protagonist, was so whiney and pathetic that it was a struggle for me to actually finish the novel!

This novel had such great potential but was let down on so many levels. The story would have been good if there was more character development, especially with secondary characters, and if more evident research by Dhami had been depicted effectively regarding mental illness(es).

Overall, disappointing. It's certainly no 'Hey Nostradamus!' by Douglas Coupland, let's put it that way.

[Lulu · Rating 5 out of 5]

SPOILER ALERT
this book was an amazing physoclogical thriller about twins living with their bipolar mother. it was pacy and intresting and REALISTIC. the bombshell the author drops at the end makes alot more sense atually than the 2 twins both living. at first there were little bits that didnt add up (like jamie beinng there immediatley after mia met her father). but by the end you realise mia has d.i.d or mpd as it used by be called(mutiple personality disorder). these people can hear sense and often see there alters and can have between 2 and 100s of alters. these alters are a result of a severe childhood truma( abuse, neglet, being sole carrer for sick parent etc) and the alters job is to protect the "host" but they can be angry, suisidle and rash. occasionaly these alters surface and the host often has no idea and "looses time". they end up in places and they can't remember. i hope this helps if your confused

[Shoma · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Bang, Bang, You're Dead!" by Narinder Dhami is a book that always got me sitting on the edge of the seat. The words that the author uses in the story creates intense suspense for the readers.

The book starts off with a "bang" (get it?), immediately starting from the conflict and then going back in time to where the cause of the problem began. This creates a sense of anticipation of what will happen later in the book.

But then the big and unexpected plot twist at the end blew my mind. I never saw that coming. It was like the world turned upside-down, and I literally rolled into the floor while grabbing my head shouting "WHAT???". It made me re-read it many times because I was hoping that I read the sentence wrong. I turned out to be right the first time and I was awed by this amazing writing.

This book amazed me. I haven't enjoyed reading in so many years.

#HISReads #Book-a-Week Challenge

[Jayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a bad couple of weeks of poor reading, this came as a welcome relief.
From the first page we are captured and engrossed. Mia is a good character
with whom we can empathise/sympathise without pitying her.

Themes of neglect through familial mental illness, bullying, and how
beauracracy, ignorance, and not listening push levels of frustration
into madness.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about a gunman taking a class hostage in Great Britain. You don't get stories like this everyday, though British Youth are known for their rebellious nature and wild sides.

I enjoyed the journey this protagonist went through and who she was a character. The whole depiction of her sibling as if they were actually with her was a really reassuring thing that added tensions and hopes. Then to learn that they were actually a ghostly apparition because in the present time of the plot they were no longer living, it was a blow to the readers just as it must have been for the main character.

As for the shooter, his motives were unclear until later explained in the end of the book and they seemed semi-reasonable for any man as unreasonable enough to walk into a school with a gun. I wonder how his girlfriend felt about the whole thing and what she thinks of the guy now.

I wonder how the whole ordeal would affect the lives of all involved and what it means for the future of school safety and gun controls in this fictional world based on our own entire real life reality.

[Tria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trigger warning for the usual school-shooting themes: gun violence, domestic violence, hostage-taking, bullying etc., with some of that last involving explicit physical violence between teenagers. Also for mental illness (in depth), family disintegration and child parentification.

The book isn't exactly a masterpiece, but it was sufficiently intriguing for me to snag it from the library sale shelf (for 10p a book, who would hesitate?), and it does make me want to check out where the author went from here.

It's not a traditional YA school shooting story in certain ways, and that's a good thing, but it also telegraphs its path, and its eventual ending, a bit much from time to time. It's also frustrating for me that Mia, the main protagonist and narrator, feels like the only fully-realised character of the lot, including her family, her best friend, all of whom are clearly not *meant* to be the literary equivalent of NPCs, but... sigh... they all *feel* as though they are.

3.25 stars.

[Jodi_ice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cawpile: 2.5* 4.57

*Spoiler alert incase app spoiler tag doesn’t work*

There was the potential for this to be a good YA thriller, some good hints dropped through the book at a potential ending going a certain way, and then… well.. and then the ending just felt really under researched. It seemed to suggest -but not say, just strongly suggest- the main character had DID. But a person with DID would not act in a way she had and for her alter to just ‘disappear’ overnight. The fact the other characters appeared to know about this alter but did nothing about it- including her GP- did not feel right, and would be worrying for anyone suffering from DID who were planning on asking for help surely?
Also for all the build up in the book with the school shooting for the identity of the shooter to be someone we didn’t even know and for a reason I can’t even remember was just really disappointing as a reader and felt like weak writing.

[Nerissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book as a teenager about the time it was published. Although i can’t remember much of the story in-depth, I remember being huddled on a living room chair and reading it in one sitting! I couldn’t put it down once I had started. The ending completely threw me and has stuck with me for years!
5 stars for keeping me hooked till the end that day and for being a book I kept trying to find 13 years later.

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit odd. I really felt for Mia and was worrying about Jamie right along with her, but then the ending went in a direction that I wasn't expecting and I wasn't sure what to think. The "twist" was a bit too abrupt and it felt like there wasn't enough time left to handle it properly. The mum's bipolar disease is handled well though.

[Jeesoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend this book if you enjoy thrill and twist endings, but if you haven't read the book, do not scroll down , there are spoilers! I really liked this book. This book swallowed me into it's world of school evacuation because of gun threat and a parent who can't take care of herself more than her children. I really liked Jamie because I liked his personality and I could tell he really loved his twin sister. So I was really sad when the book ended and found out Jamie wasn't real. This book was series of twists and there was several hints to the mystery of it all. Like when Mia was doing extreme moves to escape Lee, I was like "Oh, oh, oh, I should've known", when I finished reading the book. I also could see myself through the book because I like being mousy, fading into the background like Mia but there is also an angry voice in my head telling me to be more forward and speak up like Jamie whenever I feel timid.

#HIS reads
#Book-a-Week

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the 'twist' quite obvious, not because it was well-signposted (in fact reading it with the twist in mind there were several moments which contradicted it), but just because of the tone and set up. I probably would've enjoyed this a lot more when I was the age Mia is, which is presumably the target audience, so fair enough

[Sam P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story, quite sad and a bit shocking at times with some quite intense scenes. Great read and I'm not much of a reader so that says a lot. Great twist which was very unexpected too. Would say by far my favourite book of all time!

[Hayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spannend und krasses Ende, was ich aber irgendwie im Nachhinein etwas vorhersehbar finde... Mia ist mir leider nicht besonders ans Herz gewachsen, weswegen mir ihr Schicksal nicht so nahe ging, wie es hätte gehen können.

[Ritattoo · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy read, sometimes I felt I am interested but if the times I just wanted to rush through the book to make sure I won’t waste too much time on it. Not completely unexpected ending, maybe with a lot more details, in a longer book, the whole story would/could have been better

[Skelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember getting this book and thinking what an odd book to buy at a school book fair! It still goes around in my head every time I read it.
It’s still a great read, all these years later. A bit long winded in some areas, but an easy read all the same.

[Ozias · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was NOT expecting the plot twist at the end of this. It really took me by suprise, but it wasn't developed enough in my opinion; I would have liked to hear more about Mia"s journey after the events in the school, and the story could have benefited from another 50 pages or so to explore that.

[Brian Spuy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written and at times quite tense little thriller, with a very surprising twist near the end. Well, at least I didn't see it coming.

[Stefennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy quick read with a great twist

[Raven Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. Loved it from start to finish

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

yay

no no yay no yay no yay no yay no yay no yay no yay no yay no yay no you for to like yes

[Lilly · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a 3 stars until I got to the end, the plot twist was badly done and I'm so mad at it.

[Breyla Silver-Castillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating. With an unexpected twist.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ooooooh

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book that my teenager was getting rid of so I read it before sending to the charity shop.
An enjoyable and easy YA read with a little twist towards the end.

[Ari · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending is way too short. The author drops a bombshell on us and then leaves us hanging. Sure everything is resolved and there's going to be progress in the future but I needed more explanation. How did the mother react? And what's up with Leo? I also felt that the secondary characters were underdeveloped. Mia keeps mostly to herself but she has one friend, Bree. Bree serves only to express a bit of concern over Mia, she never becomes her own character. Same with the typical mean girl, I couldn't even recall her name after I finished the book (her name is Kat). Jamie does have more development, probably because he's Mia's twin. The book starts off slow as well and I have to admit, I finished this book still not liking Mia.

This is definitely a book you'll want to re-read it if only to piece together clues that hinted at the ending. Mia's mother is bipolar and I thought her illness was excellently portrayed, she's reluctant to receive treatment, one minute she's high as a kite, the next she can't leave her room. This is very trying for Mia (and Jamie) and I found their reactions to be authentic to teenagers. OK so what happened?! Mia has a split personality but I wanted to see that storyline developed a lot more. Not just in one quick chapter. I think that chapter was well written, I could practically hear the panic rising in Mia's voice as she grew angry at her therapist as she worked out her split personality. Yet I wanted to know how Mia's mom would take the diagnosis (is that even the right word?), would this send her into a downward spiral? Such a great plot twist though, I would even describe it as epic. Mia/Jamie weren't behind the shooting, but I totally thought Jamie would be.

Bang, Bang You're Dead has one of the best plot twists I've ever heard, unfortunately the ending is rushed thereby taking away from what could have been a truly great ending. I love that this book features mental illness, I think the topic was handled respectfully. There's little humor in this book, just some very dry lines such as (upon watching her classmates scurry to leave the building) "[o]ne single mass of pure blind fear, everyone alike, teachers and pupils. No one cares about looking cool when they might be staring death in the face." (pg. 32). That line isn't even funny, but for some reason it caused me to smirk. A point is made in the book that school shooting are very, very uncommon in the UK. I wouldn't say they are common here, but I gather that we've had more than the UK. Good twist on a fairly-new (or at least new-to-me to read about) topic.

PS If anyone has read this book, do you think Mia is biracial (as in half Asian-half white)? It's really interesting because Mia and her mother and brother are described so ambiguously. I'm not even sure how I feel about that. I presumed she was white, but since the author is biracial (half Indian-half white) I could see Mia being biracial as well