A Newfoundland coming of age story; this is gritty, ribald and bawdy. Haynes is adept at injecting black humour in the lives of these young rabble-rousers and allowing the reader to feel some sympathy for the toughest of them, Keith Kavanagh. Written with a candour that reveals authenticity, Hynes has given Newfoundland something special. An excellent debut novel published in 2005, made into a movie in 2008. ( )

Wasn't too keen on the ending or the story itself. I liked the characters and the writing style. The story didn't have much of a plot but I did like the clever insightful things the main character did or said. ( )