“The Knife that Killed Me” is an extremely interesting text as it invokes the reader’s thoughts into the mind of the main character Paul Vanderman and the school thug Roth. The author, McGowan is not afraid to address touchy topics such as striving to belong and the cruelty of school children and in this novel he follows a teenager, Paul Varderman, as he tries to fit in with a group in his school.

At the beginning of the book, he is a loner, looking into the groups from the outside. A series of events in which he stands up for members of a group known as “The Freaks” lead to him becoming included by them. “The Freaks” are different from the other groups as they do not live under the rule of the school thug, Roth.

As Paul becomes more involved with “The Freaks”, he also begins to become influenced by Roth. Roth uses Paul as a messenger between himself and a rival school and gives him a knife. The relationship between the two schools develops, with Roth leading the way to war between them. Paul struggles to fulfil his feelings of loyalty to both the Freaks and Roth.

Reviewed by: Curtis Witt

Available in BLRC: F MCG