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bethtmorris's review against another edition
4.0
Dark but good read. I probably wouldn't have read this but it was a gift and I liked it a lot. The characters were well developed, deeply flawed, and written in unique voices. Florida doesn't have the best reputation and this book doesn't do much to help that.
lindsayb's review against another edition
3.0
I kept wanting to stop, but I couldn't. I'm still trying to figure out why.
caitpoytress's review against another edition
4.0
This book deserved so much more attention than I gave it. I began it right before I went out of town to visit family, so I ended up reading it in fits and starts over a period of 3 weeks when it should have been done in a day. Two, tops. Still, I loved it. Reminds me of Joe Meno. Good stuff.
wrenarf's review against another edition
2.0
I don't get why everyone is swooning over the prose. I found it a little distracting, but the story certainly captured the sense of angst and disaffected youth it was hoping to, I think.
It ended like I wanted it to so I'm left feeling 3-starsy but his was a pretty solid meh. 2.5 :)
Edit: After letting it gel for a little, my overall feelings about this one dropped on down to a 2 star rating.
It ended like I wanted it to so I'm left feeling 3-starsy but his was a pretty solid meh. 2.5 :)
Edit: After letting it gel for a little, my overall feelings about this one dropped on down to a 2 star rating.
audaciaray's review against another edition
4.0
Hard to read and hard to put down. Really horrifying and sometimes funny.
rocketiza's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting and enjoyable - not typical teenage angst.
megancrusante's review against another edition
3.0
I somewhat feel like the 3 star rating is generous, because the book is full of unforgivable characters, including a main character who does something REALLY terrible but then the act is almost glossed over. He does this bad thing then focuses on his 8th grade love life. It is all very unsettling. But on the other hand, I somewhat feel like the 3 stars are unfair because despite the unlikable characters and dark subject matter, I found myself unable to put it down. I also found the characters very funny- out loud laughing at them at times. And while the plot is ridiculous, there is so much truth in all that happens that you believe every action taken as the story unfolds. It's definitely worth a read!
pearloz's review against another edition
3.0
Really wish we could do half stars. This one's 3.5.
Shelby's walk through the woods while she followed Toby is one of the tensest scenes I've read in a long time. The tension was fucking nuts...he's completely unaware she's there, she's completely unaware of what/whom she only moments away from finding, and it all unraveled so naturally, so organically.
Both Shelby and Toby have a somewhat-trite older-than-their-years characterization, which could be cool, but is entirely disingenuous here because they're both in...what, seventh grade? They're each disaffected to the point of ennui, and Shelby has moments reminiscent of Ethan Hawke in Reality Bites.
That being said, this moment in the book (a four-page climax about ten percent from the end) developed in an entirely believable fashion with Shelby behaving exactly as we expect her to act.
But this great segment is completely undermined/undercut by the next segment. As Shelby opens the door to the bunker the chapter ends and next we are presented with Toby in a hospital the next day. WTF? How about racheting it up another notch? You don't have to have Shelby discovering Kaley, but how about a confrontation w/ Toby? Or...fuck that! Let's read about everything that happened! Everything! There is this great tension, I'm covering lines so I don't read ahead, but I'm reading as fast as I can b/c I need to know...and there's her hand on the door, and then...Nothing. Talk about deflating.
Shelby's walk through the woods while she followed Toby is one of the tensest scenes I've read in a long time. The tension was fucking nuts...he's completely unaware she's there, she's completely unaware of what/whom she only moments away from finding, and it all unraveled so naturally, so organically.
Both Shelby and Toby have a somewhat-trite older-than-their-years characterization, which could be cool, but is entirely disingenuous here because they're both in...what, seventh grade? They're each disaffected to the point of ennui, and Shelby has moments reminiscent of Ethan Hawke in Reality Bites.
That being said, this moment in the book (a four-page climax about ten percent from the end) developed in an entirely believable fashion with Shelby behaving exactly as we expect her to act.
But this great segment is completely undermined/undercut by the next segment. As Shelby opens the door to the bunker the chapter ends and next we are presented with Toby in a hospital the next day. WTF? How about racheting it up another notch? You don't have to have Shelby discovering Kaley, but how about a confrontation w/ Toby? Or...fuck that! Let's read about everything that happened! Everything! There is this great tension, I'm covering lines so I don't read ahead, but I'm reading as fast as I can b/c I need to know...and there's her hand on the door, and then...Nothing. Talk about deflating.
gjmaupin's review against another edition
4.0
A very good book about actual real-seeming 13-year-old characters and things they do. The behavior in this book is perfect. The words are good too.
moogen's review against another edition
2.0
A strange and ultimately unsatisfying book. The main characters' actions and motivations don't make sense much of the time. Secondary characters arrive and then disappear without reason. And a pall of ugliness stretches over the entire narrative... which would be fine if it led somewhere interesting. It didn't.