The Bunker Diary (Fiction - Young Adult) Hardcover – March 1, 2015

‘This is what I know’, I enjoyed this novel. It’s tough from start to end, but in my opinion that’s the point—the story’s concept, premise, and entirety.Hope dangles, but just out of reach, and ‘The Man Upstairs’ plucks the strings. Yet it’s hope nonetheless and sometimes that’s all you have. It’s a mentally and emotionally gut-wrenching journey about clinging to your last hope—obtainable or not—and how you choose to live in such a dismal circumstance of the crippling nothingness your life has now become.For me, the ending was perfect and I applaud Kevin Brooks for his bold decision to go with what I call a ‘The End’ that haunts long after reading. Had Brooks resolved it any other way, I wouldn’t be as haunted by it and "The Bunker Diary" would join the list of novels I struggle to remember. First in, last out: “I was nothing, existing in nothing.”And “this is what i know”, the protagonist, Linus Weems, is not ‘nothing’; he is unforgettable.

This book is a thrilling read. I use it as a read-aloud for my middle school class and they love it. A few have even bought their own copies and have read ahead. The protagonist is funny and intriguing and the students can empathize with him. They can't help asking how he and other characters will solve their issue. The book does have profanity in it, so be sure to read over it beforehand before you do a read aloud.

The reason I like this book is simple: when I finished reading, I felt frustrated, sad, hopeless and angry. However, what caused me all these emotions was not a bad book, it was the good writing and a good story thas was crafted to make me feel like that. It made me feel everything the protagonist was going through, including the frustration of not knowing what was happening and the complete void of hope.If you read this book expecting the classic hero's journey, good vs. evil, redemption, triumph, etc, you'll not like it. If you read this book expecting that everything (or even a few things, to be honest) is explained, you'll hate it. I don't think, however, that Kevin Brooks wanted to make a story about how bad things happen for no reason. It's about Linus. It's about actions and reactions more than it is about causes and consequences. It's about surviving, not mistery.On the other hand, the reason so many people think the story was pointless might be because of something Brooks did badly: he right from the beginning created a big mistery around the kidnapping, when the book he envisioned was clearly not about that. Of course, Linus had to wonder about the the kidnapper and reasons behind his kidnapping, but that was definitely misleading.

Wow. I’m just going to say I just finished reading this book and I don’t want to give anything away. It’s a fairly quick read and yea..

wow… this is a very heavy book. The ending had me shook. I probably wouldn't recommend this book to anyone under 13 as it is quite dark and kind of depressing. although, I could not put it down! I just had to know what would happen next. It was well written, almost too well written. I was left kind of sad or something afterwards, it's hard to explain. Anyway, good read, Maybe a bit too heavy for me

My son had a teacher do a book talk on this book.....it was so intriguing we purchased it right away! It's an emotional story that has you hooked from the first page.

Required reading

I liked this book vary much though how come the one guy didn't get to leave after killing the other guy? Anyway I would recommend this book.

I read this book on a recommendation, and had no idea what it was about, trusting the judgement of someone who had already read it. When I think of the book, there are a few words that come to mind: unusual, original and chilling. It is difficult for me to confine this story to a genre, but one thing is for sure, I am utterly bewildered as to why this is a children’s novel. The story is from the perspective of Linus Weems, a seemingly ordinary teenager who has experienced the grief of losing his mother and has subsequently run away from home, unable to deal with his father. While he is adjusting to living on the streets, Linus comes to the aid of a blind man who needs help. The next thing he knows, Linus wakes up in a bunker, alone, imprisoned, and confused. As the story progresses more characters are introduced, all from different backgrounds and all with different reactions to their strange situation. While the prisoners are being fed and ‘looked after’ they have no idea why they are there and what is going to happen. Their captor keeps and eye on them via the cameras in the bunker, but except from this, the prisoners have no connection to the outside world.This book is interesting, intriguing and definitely a page turner, however I would not give it to a child. The novel is chilling throughout and while Linus’ narrative is honest and detailed, the account is haunting and distressing. The story is exceptionally realistic, and to a child, could easily be believable.However, as an adult reader, I found that Brooks kept the exciting and mysterious story alive by introducing new characters whose personalities are intriguingly contrasting, awakening a thirst within the reader to know all their secrets. Anyone who has read this book will know that the topic of conversation about it is always the ending. While I’m not going to give away what happens, all I will say is that it is surprising. It is certainly not a satisfying end and leaves you with plenty of questions for the author.While I can only guess what Brooks was trying to do, I imagine that he wanted the reader to be left unsatisfied. Just as Linus is unsatisfied with the lot life has given him and just as everyones’ life can leave them somewhat unsatisfied, The Bunker Diary’s ending becomes a realistic and crookedly brilliant impression.

The title of this post sums up my views on this work. How it has earned any awards is beyond me. 'weeee goes the elevator' and 'hummmm goes the fridge' are just barely beyond the type of descriptions used in this book, the writing style was atrocious.If you manage to make it towards end, done be expecting anything more than blank paper, literally. It is literally blank paper to show the end of the book and that the author of the diary has just died. How unfulfilling, all that mystery for nothing.This has to be by far the worse book I have ever read. I would not value this book at anything more than 20 pence, even then that is a stretch. Its not even worth the paper it is written on.0/5 stars if I could give it that.

First, a warning - The Bunker Diary, is about as hard-hitting and unpleasant a book as I've ever read. Being 'young adult', it is getting the obligatory references to Lord of the Flies - I'm personally leaning more towards "No Exit" or Concrete Island.Linus is a teenage busker. He's a runaway (from a fairly wealthy background) and has taken to the street to find/lose himself. Take your pick. The story opens with him in the titular bunker. He's been kidnapped off the street, drugged, and transported to this prison: six bedrooms, one bathroom, a lot of cameras, no exits.With his mysterious captor watching everything he does, Linus keeps a diary as his one means of rebellion - he can write what he wants, say what he wants and, in a sense, be free. If the circumstances weren't so horrifically macabre, this is everything he was looking for whilst living on the street. (Hint: theme alert.)Things swiftly become even more complicated when other prisoners arrive and the captor begins to engage in a more tangible fashion. With every new arrival and new 'stimulus', Linus finds himself tested. Not just physically (in truly awful ways), but - if you'll forgive the word - existentially. With his world reduced to the head of a pin, Linus is continuously challenged to verify his individuality and his animus. What makes him a person and not a nameless victim or a statistic? What makes him unique, distinctive and 'Linus'? All this, plus all the in-fighting, despair and horror that you might be able to anticipate from a hard-hitting tale of kidnapping and torture.Needless to say, The Bunker Diary isn't exactly uplifting. Yet, without question, it deserves its place on this year's Carnegie shortlist and may god have mercy on the person that has to establish some point of commonality between this book and, say, Rooftoppers. But unlike "No Exit" or Lord of the Flies, there is a certain element of the 'triumph of the human spirit' (forgive the use of that too, will you?) in The Bunker Diary. The bunker is a horrible, blasphemous crucible, allowing Linus a perverse chance at what he really wanted - a chance to know himself and learn what freedom truly is.

I have to stand up for Brooks here as a teenager who read the book. It is perfectly okay for a teenager to read it (PSA to concerned parents). The nature of the book is supposed to be provocative, it’s deliberately shocking and is meant to stay with you-for me this was in two ways, the well written nature of the book for one and the horror of the plot and ending for another. Just because something ends badly doesn’t make it unacceptable to be read by a younger audience.Secondly to anyone worried about any religious blasphemy according to other reviews which I’ve seen about it-there was none. There was a teenager at one point who got bored as he read a bible, and two other noteable incidents surrounded the bible which were both used because of survival related needs and thus in context are perfectly acceptable.Read the book but just don’t expect to have a nice feeling afterwards.

Every child and adult should read this book! Gritty, thought-provoking and disturbing!To those complaining about the decency of the book and suitability for children - consider the computer games they play, TV they watch and horrors of real life they are exposed to by the media! This book is life changing for younger readers as it explores the morality of our society and brings down the notion that adults can he relied upon. Don't focus on the events, instead analyse and evaluate the portrayal of characters.