It takes a great deal of strength, determination and courage to come face-to-face with your bullies, and I think the book did exceptionally well in capturing that.

Even though the author notes how he draws on his own experience as a teacher to inform his writing, I would hate to think Stanley Park is an accurate representation of what state schools in Britain – particularly in South London – are like right now. This book shows how insidious toxic masculinity can be, and I think it’s relatable with the decent kid following behind the popular, troublemaker who makes his friend group feel like dirt. Not all the characters were quite so archetypal (Ilyias's peers in his maths class and his teacher were all brilliant characters), and Khan does discuss and break down some of these stereotypes, but I felt it could have been done more subtly. I think it is so important for every child to see themselves reflected in works of fiction so that they can believe becoming a hero is within their grasp.And the book refuses to either conform to the expected plot or shy away from some quite hard hitting threads - consent, double standards, teenage sex, toxic masculinity, exploitation, social media bullying. The majority of the teachers at the school seemed to be horrible towards the students for no actual reason, which was also incredibly hard to believe – are you seeing the pattern here?

Ilyias's Dad is the 'alpha male' father, who insists his son must be traditionally masculine, playing football and hanging out with friends rather than drawing. Nifty intertextual reference to the author's first book also appears in one of the chapters (Muzna Saleem anyone?It is a book that we need to exist so I am glad it does and I hope it helps the young generation of today learn to accept who they are – every single part of themselves.