Boys don’t cry’ by Fíona Scarlett is the gritty and emotional tale of two Dublin brothers, 17 year old Joe and his 12 year old brother Finn, who live in a Dublin flats complex with their mother and father (occasionally), a local drug-dealing hard man. The story is told in alternative chapters from Finn’s perspective in the past, who we learn early on is ill, whilst Joe’s story takes place in the present. Both boy’s voices felt very authentic – I lived in Dublin for a bit and it was as if I was working in the North Inner city again, as the author does such a fine job of catching the humour of it. I actually preferred this to some of Roddy Doyles recent efforts. Gritty Reality The women in this book are also strong and fully fleshed out characters, trying to guide the boys towards better choices and providing support. Boys don’t cry’ is also about the roles expected in societies of men – that toxic masculinity we continually hear about. For men to be tough, to be providers, to not cry, for as Finn says at one stage:

My only quibble with the book is that one of the storylines reached a climax and despite reading over it a couple of times, I still couldn’t work out exactly what happened. I got the jist of it so it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book but I felt it could have been clearer. Summary