I've seen some very mixed reviews for this book so I wasn't sure what I was getting into. Marti, starts by saying we're not going to like her, and for most of this book, that's how we feel. Marti is a mixed race trans girl in a frighteningly bigoted war torn England. The bloods are moving northwards, torturing and wiping out anyone who doesn't fit in with their 'white' agenda. After her home is bombed, Marti is determined to survive at all costs and yet finds herself travelling with her friend and sister and little brother. Marti does appear to be a self centred cow at the start, but we learn little nuggets about her past and begin to realise why she puts herself before others.
This novel is a disturbing look at what the UK could become. Although it focuses on Marti, through her journey we begin to see how easily those of us in the UK could easily become refugees. At times this is harrowing. I came to like Marti by the end of the book and would love to know what happens to her at the end.
I'm glad I read to the end and got to know Marti better.
Thanks to #netgalley for the e-arc and the opportunity to read this book.

I was looking forward to reading this new novel from Melvin Burgess - widely agreed as one of the early adopters of the Young Adult genre.

For me, a good Young Adult novel should have a teenaged, relatable character who is relevant to the readers and has a believable voice. It should deal with topics and issues that the current teen audience find engaging and relevant.

As can be Serbs from Burgess’ previous novels - most notably Junk and Doing It - these ingredients can often make adult readers uncomfortable. It is not easy to think of teenagers reading about their peers doing drugs and having sex. However, fiction is a great way to bring these issues to the surface.

In this novel, Burgess brings ‘Marti’ to the fore - a young, mixed-race trans girl. I think in the current era it is hard to ignore the fact that these issues are extremely relevant to the teens of today. Perhaps more arguable is whether a white male author like Burgess could ever hope to understand these issues with the sensitivity required - in fact as a reader who is not from either of these minority groups, I’m not sure I am well placed to judge this. I have noticed that some editions of Three Bullets are to be prefaced with a comment by Malorie Blackman, which may add some authenticity to the portrayal of a person of colour.

Marti, for me, had many elements of a realistic teenage voice. She says she is not a nice person, that she only thinks of herself, that the readers of her story could never like her… of course throughout the novel her actions belie her negative statements about herself. I can well believe the self hatred she bears about herself, and they defence mechanisms she places around herself by seeming to ‘not care’ about those she evidently loves a huge amount. I honestly think that this aspect of her character was missed by some of the reviews I read - who appeared to take the simplistic view that she was as selfish as she said she was.

The dystopian society presented by Burgess reminded me of the post-apocalyptic world from The End of the World Running Club. Whilst travelling through it, we are faced with desperate characters and violent thugs. Marti, as the narrator, shies away from describing the detail of some of the violence - suggesting it would be voyeuristic of the readers to want to read it. However, I found that perhaps there was space in the novel for a little more direct description. For example, the brutal violent scene in Gardner’s Maggot Moon serves to highlight the peril of the characters in their dystopian society, and I’m not sure I ever really *felt* that peril for Marti.

The Bloods are in control and they’re desperate to turn Britain into the world they want to see: right, white, Christian supremacist. Anyone who they call abnormal is a target. Amidst the chaos of civil war the country is on the move as small militia groups fight each other and a sea of refugees escapes the cities and the pursuing Bloods.

This was a slow burner for me and I struggled to get into it, unfortunately.

Well Melvin Burgess has done it again – what a book!

I love his style of writing and I don’t care that some people see it as controversial. He knows how to write directly to his audience – young adults, and as a school librarian I really appreciate it. Yes, this book is full of language and statements you may never see in other YA books, but that’s makes it even more identifiable for the reader to relate to. We have all been teenagers, we know what it is like, but I would not want to be a teenager in the current climate. So, having these books like Three Bullets available to them is amazing.

I loved how most of this book was set in and around Manchester which is local to me. I really identified with the location. My favourite character is Marti and how she takes charge of the situation they are facing. She is brave, courageous but loyal to her family. Her younger brother, Rowan, will do anything that Marti says, he really looks up to her and she will do ANYTHING to protect him, even if it means using one of the three bullets she carries with her.

Full of twists and turns throughout, this book may cover some ‘taboo’ subjects like sex, bad language, racism, supremacy and LGBTQ+ but Melvin also writes with such sensitivity it doesn’t over step the line and is actually quite educational by tackling controversial subjects that young people need to know more about.

I absolutely loved this book and will be stocking it in my school library (yes for older readers) but I think school children really need access to books like these. Thank you Melvin for producing another fabulous novel for the young people of today.

This book is perfect for fans of Malorie Blackman and Keren David.