Candy (Kevin Brooks novel)
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Candy is a 2005 novel by Kevin Brooks about a teenager named Joe Beck who lives in the suburbs of London.
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[edit] Plot summary
The story opens when fifteen year old Joe Beck - from a single parent family, a music lover and with a knack for curiosity - meets seventeen year old Candy on the streets of London. He soon learns that Candy is not only a runaway from his home town, but also a teenage prostitute and herion addict.
The pair begin a cautious relationship, traveling to the London Zoo and meeting for meals occasionally. However, Candy's pimp, Iggy, feels that Joe Beck is a threat, worrying that Joe will reduce the business Cancy takes in and thus reducing Iggy's income. When Joe finds Candy beaten, they pair attack Iggy and leave the city to hide and ease Candy off herion.
Iggy subsequently kidnaps Joe's older sister and uses her as a bargaining chip, claiming to plan to return her if Candy if returned to him. The novel climaxes when Iggy, Candy, Joe, his sister and his sister's boyfriend encounter one another at the family's remote country house.
[edit] Characters
Joe Beck: The fifteen year old hero of the "Candy." He is very noble, however at times he is conflicted as well. He enjoys written music and playing bass for his band.
Candy/Candice: The seventeen year old title character. She is an extremely friendly, bubbly teenager who has an addiction to herion and a fondness for zoos.
Iggy: Candy's large, intimidating pimp. He is black, extremely manupulative and pimps for other girls also.
Mike: Gina's boyfriend, who is black and disliked by Joe's father because of his profession, which Joe's dad finds poor.
Gina: Joe's older sister, around twenty years ago. At the beginning of the novel, she becomes engaged to Mike. She is training to become a nurse.
[edit] Praise
"Candy" has received numerous pieces of praise from a variety of different sources. Readers at amazon.com commented that "Candy" has "a heart-thumping, breathless conclusion" and that "the characters were pretty well developed in the story [...] He books portrays drug addiction rather realistically, for there are scenes were Candy goes through withdrawals from not using heroin and Brooks doesn't hold back describing what it's like."
[edit] Criticism
Negative comments on Borders claim that the characters in "Candy" are unrealistic, saying that "A normal teen who would've discovered Candy's secret wouldn't have gotten so involved but rather would've just left Candy to deal with her own issue." Another reviewer wrote that "with this book I felt it was difficult at points to be able to believe what was going on because of the underdevelopement of the characters...I didn't know them well enough to feel much about them...I only felt for them when they where in dire situations.
Johanna Lewis of the New York Public Library writes that "for all the fuss made over her, Candy's character is underdeveloped [...] If readers assume the book isn't about her, but how she changes Joe, her lack of nuance makes some sense. The shame is that he is the same humorless robot before and after risking his life for her."
