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megsmitt24's review
3.0
beautifully written but slow; not an easy read for those strugging with mental health issues
mcyewfly's review
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book suffers from being written by its author, and that’s the easiest way I can explain myself. Gray is labeled and sold as a novel, but from page five, any Fall Out Boy fan will read through the lines and realize this is just a semi-autobiographical account of his life. And sure, he’s fictionalized or stretched it pieces or events. But “his band’s new drummer’s name is Animal and he’s from Milwaulkie, WI” is too specific and too accurate. The other problem is these details are not fully fleshed out or articulated in a clear expositional way. I know he couldn’t because then it wouldn’t be a novel, but then we’re back to square one. It’s so broad and assumed that if you’re reading this book, you already know. And if this book was written by someone else, then there may be this potential space for kudos that the author is writing in a sporadic, stream-of-consciousness style. So, I couldn’t recommend this book to anyone who isn’t a Fall Out Boy fan.
So if that’s you, phew boy, this book is a mess. If this book is a novel, then Wentz crushes it at writing a horribly misogynistic manchild who needs a reality check. If it’s not a novel–which is what we’ve already established–well, you know the rest. It lacks the wisdom from hindsight for his voice to demonstrate contempt or frustration with himself, and he’s got the same voice and personality from the beginning to the end of the book. Most importantly, Wentz’s written “female characters” are all sexual props that he bemoans having crazy sexcapades with, or she’s “Her.” Her doesn’t have a name because she doesn’t exist (or does she? Who cares). And of course her entire existence revolves around him. No life, no personality, no dialogue outside of Wentz’s character having sex with her or telling her he’s gonna make it big as a rockstar someday. So as a novel, you’re stuck with half a plot, blatant misogyny on every page, and a character who doesn’t grow.
The writing style is really interesting, believe it or not. Every page reads like Fall Out Boy lyrics, which I’m personally fond of. They’re a bit repetitive in that he clusters the same sentiment inside of three different metaphors, which is translated all throughout the book. Normally song lyrics do not make for good paragraph structures, and they’ll probably annoy most readers, but I really enjoyed them. He really understands what he feels in any given moment, and you completely understand it by the end of every moment. Some of the feelings themselves he describes are also incredibly relatable, frankly. And that sounds like a contradiction from the previous paragraphs, but unfortunately, that’s part of the charm. Realizing that depression and suicidal ideation stem from a very illogical and vain place is essential in crawling out of it; hearing all of this nonsense from a new voice who is also insane really clicked with me.
Overall, Wentz can write, and I actually would love to see him tackle a real attempt at a novel. This book is saved only by his innate ability to write. It’s too bad he had to write this one.
icaruscurse's review
5.0
The thing about this book it's more of a narration rather than an actual story. If you've followed Pete Wentz' journal posts and Fall Out Boy's lyrics, you'll find that a lot of themes and even phrases occur in all of them.
In this book, we get to see inside Pete's head. We get to see the spiral into depression and desperation. We get a behind the scenes look at what it's like to get thrust into the spotlight when it's pretty much the last thing you can handle. We see highs and disturbing lows of the narrator (Pete, obv. Why even bother pretending) and "Her"'s sort of on-off relationship. A descent of a hopeful, loving relationship into something that's unhealthy and at times disturbing.
There are some misogynistic undertones. But you gotta hand it to Wentz. He didn't shy way in portraying himself as an asshole. He knows he's no hero. Writing this took a lot (probably why it took so long to get published), these are the darkest days of his life and he laid it out for the world to see.
As always, the biggest selling point of this book is the prose. Wentz has an impeccable grasp of language and word use. He writes hauntingly. It's littered with soaring metaphors and beautifully phrased paragraphs. You can feel yourself resonating from the narration's emotion. I won't lie, I got pulled into the book. It depressed me to be quite honest. Wentz has a way of dragging you into his head.
Admittedly, if you're not a Fall Out Boy fan you might not enjoy this novel. But it is worth a read.
In this book, we get to see inside Pete's head. We get to see the spiral into depression and desperation. We get a behind the scenes look at what it's like to get thrust into the spotlight when it's pretty much the last thing you can handle. We see highs and disturbing lows of the narrator (Pete, obv. Why even bother pretending) and "Her"'s sort of on-off relationship. A descent of a hopeful, loving relationship into something that's unhealthy and at times disturbing.
There are some misogynistic undertones. But you gotta hand it to Wentz. He didn't shy way in portraying himself as an asshole. He knows he's no hero. Writing this took a lot (probably why it took so long to get published), these are the darkest days of his life and he laid it out for the world to see.
As always, the biggest selling point of this book is the prose. Wentz has an impeccable grasp of language and word use. He writes hauntingly. It's littered with soaring metaphors and beautifully phrased paragraphs. You can feel yourself resonating from the narration's emotion. I won't lie, I got pulled into the book. It depressed me to be quite honest. Wentz has a way of dragging you into his head.
Admittedly, if you're not a Fall Out Boy fan you might not enjoy this novel. But it is worth a read.
jennoux's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
scribnerscenic's review
dark
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
missbookiverse's review
4.0
Um mit Gray etwas anfangen zu können, sollte man wohl einige Voraussetzungen erfüllen. Erst mal muss man wissen, wer Pete Wentz ist, nämlich der Bassist und Hauptsongtextschreiber der Poppunkband Fall Out Boy (FOB). Das allein reicht vielleicht nicht aus. Es hilft FOB Songtexte zu kennen (und zu schätzen) und ein bisschen etwas über Pete zu wissen, z.B. dass er angeblich unter Depressionen und schlimmerem leidet oder dass er für ein paar Jahre mit Popsängerin Ashlee Simpson verheiratet war.
Der Titel beschreibt treffend den Inhalt. Das Buch ist düster wie eine hoffnungslose Zukunftsvision. Es gibt Lichtblicke und Bergfahrten, aber meistens verbreiten Pillen, Depressionen und Liebeskummer eher verschleiertes Regenwetter.
Wie in jedem Roman findet sich im Impressum am Anfang der Hinweis auf Fiktionalität. Muss man sicher tun, um niemandem auf die Füße zu treten. Es reicht allerdings Pete Wentzs Wikipediaeintrag zu lesen, um die ersten Parallelen zu erkennen. Der Werdegang der Band, die Selbstmordversuche usw. Auch wenn nichts und niemand namentlich erwähnt wird, befürchte ich, dass Petes Roman mehr Wahrheit spricht als einem lieb ist.
Was Gray und sämtliche FOB Songs gemeinsam haben, sind ihre Worte und Gedanken. Viele Metaphern und Bilder oder Formulierungen finden sich ineinander wieder. Das Buch liest sich wie ein FOB Musical. Petes Umgang mit Worten ist phänomenal und ein ganzer Roman voll davon ein Traum für jeden FOB-Texte-Liebhaber.
Wer eine großartige Story und vielschichtige Charaktere sucht, ist hier falsch. Gray ist ein Fest des neumodern-poetischen Wortguts neben einer Geschichte über Selbstfindung, kaputte Beziehungen und den Einblick in eine depressive Psyche.
„Call the doctors. Bring on the meds. If I’m going to limp through life, I might as well use a chemical crutch. Like I said, times are tough for dreamers.“
- S. 50
Der Titel beschreibt treffend den Inhalt. Das Buch ist düster wie eine hoffnungslose Zukunftsvision. Es gibt Lichtblicke und Bergfahrten, aber meistens verbreiten Pillen, Depressionen und Liebeskummer eher verschleiertes Regenwetter.
Wie in jedem Roman findet sich im Impressum am Anfang der Hinweis auf Fiktionalität. Muss man sicher tun, um niemandem auf die Füße zu treten. Es reicht allerdings Pete Wentzs Wikipediaeintrag zu lesen, um die ersten Parallelen zu erkennen. Der Werdegang der Band, die Selbstmordversuche usw. Auch wenn nichts und niemand namentlich erwähnt wird, befürchte ich, dass Petes Roman mehr Wahrheit spricht als einem lieb ist.
„It’s awful, writing such terrible things about the person you love, but I’ll take a pen and paper over a psychiatrist’s chair any day oft he week. This is my therapy.“
- S. 62
Was Gray und sämtliche FOB Songs gemeinsam haben, sind ihre Worte und Gedanken. Viele Metaphern und Bilder oder Formulierungen finden sich ineinander wieder. Das Buch liest sich wie ein FOB Musical. Petes Umgang mit Worten ist phänomenal und ein ganzer Roman voll davon ein Traum für jeden FOB-Texte-Liebhaber.
„Love exists in powder. Love exists in pills. We are all addicts.“
- S. 4
Wer eine großartige Story und vielschichtige Charaktere sucht, ist hier falsch. Gray ist ein Fest des neumodern-poetischen Wortguts neben einer Geschichte über Selbstfindung, kaputte Beziehungen und den Einblick in eine depressive Psyche.
sevaspeto's review
4.0
40 pages into this, and I knew that it was going to force me to make the decision to read through the balance of it in one sitting. That's not to say that this was the best book I've ever read, but because even if it's only *loosely* based on Pete Wentz's actual experiences, it *feels* incredibly authentic, but in a bizarrely vulgar way. Like the reader is being invited into his head and life, to share in -- and to a degree celebrate -- misery, codependency, drug addiction, and an absolutely breathtaking amount of self-loathing. This is every bit as much of a complaint as it is praise.
If you're familiar with Wentz's lyrics or previous writing, this shouldn't come as a shock, but it's full of melodramatic hyperbole and self-indulgent metaphor, and even though the narrator and the love interest are both unnamed, the word that I keep coming back to its "visceral". If you've ever struggled with mental health, or been in a toxic relationship, or vacillated wildly between romanticism and complete nihilism, there's a strong chance that parts of this will resonate with you. In uncomfortable ways. The narrator is neither the hero nor the villain, but a deeply deeply flawed person, perpetually wrestling with his own sense of self, his emotional attachments, and his pain -- even when a sizable portion of it is self-inflicted.
Knowing that in real life, Wentz *has* publicly shared that he suffers from bipolar disorder, and *has* publicly experienced many of the events in this book (without delving too much into spoiler territory), reading "Gray" sort of feels voyeuristic, but in a dirty way. Some of the thoughts and feelings that the narrator shares feel both incredibly dark and self-destructive, but plausible, and to a degree... sympathetic? I don't know, maybe that's my own inner darkness coming out to take a peak, haha. In any case, I couldn't escape the feeling that it was taking me back to a place that I didn't want to spend the next few nights or a week with. It felt like sweet poison. Comfortable and familiar, but caustic. BUT, isn't a good author supposed to do that? Make you think, make you feel?
This is NOT a perfect book by any stretch -- it IS self-indulgent and pretentious at times; it lacks a traditional plot, and the central love interest is arguably underdeveloped, but it's cleverly written, and it has a solid punch of emotional resonance. If you're familiar with Fall Out Boy's lyricism and that appeals to you though, this is probably up your alley. Whether you want it to be or not =0)
If you're familiar with Wentz's lyrics or previous writing, this shouldn't come as a shock, but it's full of melodramatic hyperbole and self-indulgent metaphor, and even though the narrator and the love interest are both unnamed, the word that I keep coming back to its "visceral". If you've ever struggled with mental health, or been in a toxic relationship, or vacillated wildly between romanticism and complete nihilism, there's a strong chance that parts of this will resonate with you. In uncomfortable ways. The narrator is neither the hero nor the villain, but a deeply deeply flawed person, perpetually wrestling with his own sense of self, his emotional attachments, and his pain -- even when a sizable portion of it is self-inflicted.
Knowing that in real life, Wentz *has* publicly shared that he suffers from bipolar disorder, and *has* publicly experienced many of the events in this book (without delving too much into spoiler territory), reading "Gray" sort of feels voyeuristic, but in a dirty way. Some of the thoughts and feelings that the narrator shares feel both incredibly dark and self-destructive, but plausible, and to a degree... sympathetic? I don't know, maybe that's my own inner darkness coming out to take a peak, haha. In any case, I couldn't escape the feeling that it was taking me back to a place that I didn't want to spend the next few nights or a week with. It felt like sweet poison. Comfortable and familiar, but caustic. BUT, isn't a good author supposed to do that? Make you think, make you feel?
This is NOT a perfect book by any stretch -- it IS self-indulgent and pretentious at times; it lacks a traditional plot, and the central love interest is arguably underdeveloped, but it's cleverly written, and it has a solid punch of emotional resonance. If you're familiar with Fall Out Boy's lyricism and that appeals to you though, this is probably up your alley. Whether you want it to be or not =0)
gothradiohour's review
2.0
It wasn't good. I wanted it to be good. I knew going in, the plot was very very very loosely based on Pete Wentz's life, so I was expecting the get's-it-all-but-is-still-sad-rockstar-story.
I think the book is called 'Gray' because the main character is depressed the entire time, and Pete might have been too when writing this. The surrounding characters are names that float around the through the main character's life rarely do they do anything besides interfere with the main character. I really don't care for Wentz's choice to call the love interest "Her". It both puts her on a pedestal and takes away her autonomy. Which sure we've all had a really bad break up. The whole thing is very mello-drama.
Towards the end when the main character hooks up with the major celebrity her words, "I think it's so cute how you little punk boys act like you hate girls [...] it's like we're your enemies..."
Considering how fast the main character goes from being love sick for Her to literally breaking her phone in a scene, the Super Starlette makes a very appt point.
People who love Fall Out Boy lyrics will enjoy the prose of this book. Formal sentences need not apply to this story. I wonder what level of influence James Montgomery had. All of the dialogue is correctly formatted.
I think the book is called 'Gray' because the main character is depressed the entire time, and Pete might have been too when writing this. The surrounding characters are names that float around the through the main character's life rarely do they do anything besides interfere with the main character. I really don't care for Wentz's choice to call the love interest "Her". It both puts her on a pedestal and takes away her autonomy. Which sure we've all had a really bad break up. The whole thing is very mello-drama.
Towards the end when the main character hooks up with the major celebrity her words, "I think it's so cute how you little punk boys act like you hate girls [...] it's like we're your enemies..."
Considering how fast the main character goes from being love sick for Her to literally breaking her phone in a scene, the Super Starlette makes a very appt point.
People who love Fall Out Boy lyrics will enjoy the prose of this book. Formal sentences need not apply to this story. I wonder what level of influence James Montgomery had. All of the dialogue is correctly formatted.