The Bunker Diary

by Kevin Brooks

Ebook, 2013

Status

Available

Call number

823.92

Genres

Collection

Accelerated Reader

Publication

Penguin (2013), 276 pages

Description

Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML: I can't believe I fell for it. It was still dark when I woke up this morning. As soon as my eyes opened I knew where I was. A low-ceilinged rectangular building made entirely of whitewashed concrete. There are six little rooms along the main corridor. There are no windows. No doors. The elevator is the only way in or out. What's he going to do to me? What am I going to do? People are really quite simple, and they have simple needs. Food, water, light, space, privacy. Maybe a small measure of dignity. A bit of freedom. What happens when someone simply takes all that away?.

User reviews

LibraryThing member KatherineB729

A very good book. The writing was excellent, the characters were great and I was gripped right from the start. I found that I couldn't stop reading, just so that I could find out what happens... Overall, an amazing book!

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LibraryThing member PaperDollLady

Since Kevin Brooks is one of my all-time-favorite YA writers and this book was a 2014 Carnegie Medal winner, I borrowed it from my hometown library. It's hard to put down, and you stick with it because you want Linus, a runaway street teen, to escape his situation. Kidnapped and held hostage in a

below- the- ground bunker, he writes a diary to save his sanity. Eventually, he's joined by others, and they're all under the complete power of their captor. You root for them to escape (and Linus does try) but it seems completely hopeless. It's such an oppressive predicament that I had to pull away from it just to get a sense of what insight reading on could give me. Yet, after a few hours, I did go back to it. I won't be a spoiler, but will just say maybe its meaning is to show that sometimes those under the absolute power of evil, like hostage and holocaust victims, and while in the face of such overwhelming adversity, can still remain good people. Though I'll not forget THE BUNKER DIARY, Kevin Brooks' LUCAS, BLACK RABBIT SUMMER, & CANDY, in my opinion, still top this book.

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LibraryThing member ecataldi

This is one of those books that will haunt you and make you ponder how you would have acted in the characters places. It's like "Lord of the Flies" except possibly worse. It's unfathomably dark and will keep teens (and adults on the edge of their seats.

Sixteen year old Linus wakes up alone, cold,

and hungry in an abandoned bunker. There's an empty kitchen, dining room, bathroom, six bedrooms, and an elevator. How will he survive? Can he escape? Will he go mad? As the days turn into weeks, more people find themselves drugged and awakening in the nightmarish bunker. There's a nine year old girl, a junkie, a young career woman, a business man, and an old gay man. Can they work together or will the bunker slowly drive them all insane? What is the point, why are they there?

This is one of those books that I literally yelled out a bunch of expletives when I got to the end. It's maddening. A great read, impossible to put down, that will make readers really think.

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LibraryThing member Sullywriter

A dark, intense, completely engrossing story.

LibraryThing member Raeadav

I have no words. I read this book quickly and I thought it was a great read. But the ending...I just...nope...no words.

o_o

LibraryThing member Debra_Armbruster

Fantastically written, but far too disturbing to write about immediately. Some time to think is needed.

LibraryThing member mjspear

Relentless grim recounting of boy's abduction and holding in an underground bunker. The boy is joined by others -- an assortment of society folks and ages. The boy, Linus, slowly comes to realize that his parents loved him and that he should go back home. Alas, all of the captured people die --one

by one-- including him. Don't hand this book to any one feeling a bit down... !

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LibraryThing member scatlett

Wonderful book, loved everything about this book except the ending.

LibraryThing member PlaidApple

Wow what... do I even say about this book. First of all, I'd hesitate to categorize this as YA as it is extremely dark. I think this book is something that might suit a discussion forum quite well, if your book group is interesting in asking more extrapolated, theoretical questions rather than

actually discussing what is in the book. It brings up a lot of interesting points (e.g. how we create meaning, whether seeing logic in a set of actions outside of your control matters, what it means to try and live by your principals when it may hurt you to do so). However, these same ideas could be brought up in a much, much less brutal way. I personally will never reread this book and felt very jarred by it, especially the ending. If you like thrillers, dark psychological torture, etc. you might enjoy it. In some ways, it reminded me of the last 1/3 of Dan Chaon's "Ill Will," which I did like quite a lot, but this didn't have anything experimental or driving about the text. Just bad thing after bad thing.

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LibraryThing member reader1009

teen/adult fiction. I pretty much read this in one sitting.

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