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2.66 AVERAGE
2.66 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Picked this up in Alaska while on a cruise. I wanted to know what happened in this book so it kept me reading, but I was also wanting to strangle the main character.
This coming-of-age novel will not be to everyone's taste.
Eddie, at eighteen, has wasted his first semester at college, got kicked out and decided he needs to grow up. Perhaps they do things differently here, but Eddie's plan to sort himself out involves going to work as a reporter in a remote Alaskan village.
It was interesting to see how the places our narrator visited were described. There was a strange sense of loneliness to them, yet in the course of his experience Eddie comes to make genuine friendships.
The style was rather naive at times, and I wonder how much of this was an attempt to create the voice of an eighteen-year-old drop-out. He makes some utterly ridiculous decisions, but I liked the way he grows as a character and comes to confront his personal shortcomings.
A rather strange book, all told.
Eddie, at eighteen, has wasted his first semester at college, got kicked out and decided he needs to grow up. Perhaps they do things differently here, but Eddie's plan to sort himself out involves going to work as a reporter in a remote Alaskan village.
It was interesting to see how the places our narrator visited were described. There was a strange sense of loneliness to them, yet in the course of his experience Eddie comes to make genuine friendships.
The style was rather naive at times, and I wonder how much of this was an attempt to create the voice of an eighteen-year-old drop-out. He makes some utterly ridiculous decisions, but I liked the way he grows as a character and comes to confront his personal shortcomings.
A rather strange book, all told.
College freshman year, Eddie screwed around and flunk out. His college told him he could reenroll after one year if he spends that year doing something productive, so he gets a job in Kusko, Alaska as a reporter. Kusko is in the middle of no where, cut off from civilization expect by airplane. Eddie is stuck, and is ok at first, but when he meets a girl and she rejects him, he just wants to get out. But he can't leave until he raises $3000, so he turns to selling pot in nearby towns to raise the money. I think boys will like this book but Eddie seems pretty shallow to me, and gives up on what he's supposed to do after a girl he barely knows doesn't go out with him.
Semi-review of Sucktown Alaska by Craig Dirkes.
Rating: 1/5 stars.
Maybe 2017 wants me to lower my rating on Goodreads.
Gosh I got this free copy on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, and here it is.
I honestly couldn't finish this book. I didn't like it. Craig is a really funny author, I like his way of seeing the art of writing, but I can't say that I enjoyed his novel. For the little I read (1/3 of the book) the main character isn't interesting, and there are many others that are just soooo dumb. The girls for example, gosh I totally hated them, and I didn't even understand Finn or Eddie's boss. They're pretty useless for me.
The idea of this book is good. I just didn't like the way it turned out. I would have developed it in totally different way, but I get that we all have various ways of thinking.
Rating: 1/5 stars.
Maybe 2017 wants me to lower my rating on Goodreads.
Gosh I got this free copy on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, and here it is.
I honestly couldn't finish this book. I didn't like it. Craig is a really funny author, I like his way of seeing the art of writing, but I can't say that I enjoyed his novel. For the little I read (1/3 of the book) the main character isn't interesting, and there are many others that are just soooo dumb. The girls for example, gosh I totally hated them, and I didn't even understand Finn or Eddie's boss. They're pretty useless for me.
The idea of this book is good. I just didn't like the way it turned out. I would have developed it in totally different way, but I get that we all have various ways of thinking.
Oy vey. No lesson learned, he's just as much of a douchebag at the end as he was in the beginning. Lost a tiny sliver of faith in humanity. If you're considering this for your child do read it yourself first.
Picked this up at a library with otherwise stellar taste. The blurb is the best thing about this book. By a mile.
Picked this up at a library with otherwise stellar taste. The blurb is the best thing about this book. By a mile.
Review in Italian: https://lalibreriadij.wordpress.com/2017/04/19/sucktown-alaska/
I received an advanced reader copy through NetGalley!
Nice, nice, nice!
I did not expect anything of that, frankly. I do not know what has struck me to request a copy, possibly the cover, or maybe the description, I do not remember but I did not expect for sure that I would have liked it so much!
The protagonist, Eddie, is the typical party animal who finds himself in trouble and is forced to move to Alaska, in one of the most remote towns, to "redeem his name" and being able to return to college after being kicked out for not being able to keep up with his studies.
At first, the story seemed to be slow but once we got in touch with new characters and we have a clearer idea about the direction of the plot, the author's style is really fantastic and the reading process is easier.
The description of life in Alaska, the breathtaking landscapes and typical local situations are phenomenal and without them the book would certainly not be the same.
Even the way Eddie thinks helps a lot and there's no shortage of laughter!
The only flaw I found was the end which I thought was a bit too hasty. I wanted a more permanent closure and more smiles.
Recommended? Of course it is!
Ps films? I'm not sure ...
I received an advanced reader copy through NetGalley!
Nice, nice, nice!
I did not expect anything of that, frankly. I do not know what has struck me to request a copy, possibly the cover, or maybe the description, I do not remember but I did not expect for sure that I would have liked it so much!
The protagonist, Eddie, is the typical party animal who finds himself in trouble and is forced to move to Alaska, in one of the most remote towns, to "redeem his name" and being able to return to college after being kicked out for not being able to keep up with his studies.
At first, the story seemed to be slow but once we got in touch with new characters and we have a clearer idea about the direction of the plot, the author's style is really fantastic and the reading process is easier.
The description of life in Alaska, the breathtaking landscapes and typical local situations are phenomenal and without them the book would certainly not be the same.
Even the way Eddie thinks helps a lot and there's no shortage of laughter!
The only flaw I found was the end which I thought was a bit too hasty. I wanted a more permanent closure and more smiles.
Recommended? Of course it is!
Ps films? I'm not sure ...
Okay, so, this is where I admit that I was born and raised in Alaska. I did not live in a town like remote Kusko, but I could frequently relate to many of the problems that Eddie faced after he flunked out of college and went to spend a year working for a local newspaper. I enjoyed reading the many random pieces of information Mr. Dirkes included about Alaska and Native Alaskans. While many times I wanted to yell and shake Eddie about the poor decisions he made, I do realize those struggles were the whole point of this coming of age story. As Eddie’s dad tells him: “Figure it out.” I just wish Eddie had before his last big stupid mistake.
A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Capstone in exchange for an honest review.
A copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and Capstone in exchange for an honest review.
This was a coming of age story that happened to be in Alaska, but it isn't an adventure story. I found the main character very unlikable. I thought his growth at the end of the book was too sudden and not realistic. There is swearing, drinking and drugs in the book, but they are all appropriate to the book. It wasn't a remarkable book for me, but I'm hoping that it is for teen boys in my library.
A galley was provided by the publisher on Netgalley in exchange for a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
So listen- I rarely, if ever, DNF books (mostly because I don't really pick out books to read that I'm not interested in. I know what books I'll like by the synopsis.) but I seriously considered it with this book. But I thought, I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of this, so I'll keep going. Maybe there's something about this book I'll like.
NOPE.
Before this, I couldn't think of a book that I would seriously never recommend to anyone, but after reading Sucktown, it's this one. I cannot find one redeeming thing I liked about it. So let's go through piece by piece.
The plot is that 18 year old Eddie Ashford has failed out of college (for partying too much and not going to class) and one of the ways he can be allowed back into college is to prove that he's learned something while he was away. To do this, he takes a job as a newspaper reporter in the small town of Kusko, Alaska. Kusko is rugged Alaska but without the beautiful surroundings; it's basically crap. While in Kusko, Eddie meets his neighbor Finn who's a small-town drug dealer, and the beautiful Taylor who's valedictorian in her high school and who started a spelling bee for native languages. Eddie wants to get out of Kusko as fast as he can, so he starts selling weed to neighboring villages to make extra cash and get out as fast as possible.
This plot isn't super interesting to me, but it's kind of intriguing. It's why I requested this in the first place. Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed. So let's get into why I hate this book.
Eddie. Eddie is the whole reason I hate this book. He's an awful human being. And maybe you're like "oh, that makes him realistic." He might be realistic, but he's the type of person I hate when they're real. Literally he's the most immature, disgusting, misogynistic, condescending, and downright rude character I've ever read about.
There's a scene where Eddie is going to interview Taylor for the first time about her starting this spelling bee (which is really interesting, not that Eddie cares) and he basically just goes on and on about how hot she is. He can barely focus on his JOB because she's soooooooooooo hot. But it gets worse from there. They start emailing back and forth, and Taylor is clearly trying to learn more about him and tell him about herself, and he's like "she's so boring, she just wants to talk." And I wanted to shout and be like "yeah dude, that's kinda the point if you like someone!!"
BUT THEN IT GETS WORSE. Eddie basically has a crush on Taylor through the whole book, so finally he decides to tell her. Taylor's response is that she doesn't want to date him because he's going to be leaving Kusko eventually and she plans to stay there. That's pretty reasonable. But Eddie's so disappointed he starts avoiding her, like he doesn't even want to see her because he can't be her friend ANYMORE, NOT AFTER THAT CRUSHING REJECTION. But they eventually patch it up and decide to be friends, somehow, but Eddie still won't let that crush go. There's a lot of uncomfortable talk about boners, and a bunch of creative if disgusting names for boobs. Maybe that's realistic but I hated it.
Eddie also decides he's needs to get out of Kusko like, yesterday, so he works with Finn to start selling weed in faraway villages. No way an immature 18 year old can mess that up, right? It's fool-proof!
Hereafter I'll discuss some spoilers for the end of the book, so you've been warned.
Eddie proves himself to be immature time and time again throughout the whole book but no more than at the very end. Basically, Eddie steals some weed from Finn to try and get a lot of money really quickly to get out of Kusko. Already a stupid idea. Then he takes his boss' sled dogs to run the weed to another village. While they're headed there, this guy starts shooting at Eddie. You might be like "oh crap, Eddie might die" but I was hopeful he actually would! Because I hate him that much!! BUT INSTEAD THE DOGS DIE!!! WHY????
Eddie gets back to town and says "yep, I was selling the weed" and basically that's all he admits. And he's like "I'm doing it to spare Finn because he's come from nothing and I need to show him he can be better." Just a little bit of a superiority complex, no? Everyone's mad at him- the chief of police, Finn, Taylor, his boss, the priest... and Eddie's still like "I'm gonna own up to this. I'm a man." But he doesn't. He doesn't admit wrong-doing, he basically just admits that he made stupid choices. I was so frustrated the ENTIRE TIME. And then he got off!! With probation!! AND EVERYONE FORGIVES HIM!! Like what kind of bull is that??? How is that realistic??
This is less of a review than a rant, but honestly, I couldn't understand anything about this. I couldn't understand how Finn would forgive Eddie for being like "I can save you from this shitty town by stealing your weed and taking advantage of your friendship." I couldn't understand how Taylor would be like "I hate weed and I don't want to date you because you're leaving but now you're not in jail anymore and I love you." I honestly was so baffled by Taylor's character. She's presented as this smart girl who loves her town and then you have her swooning over Eddie who's literally the most generic, disgusting frat boy ever. I also couldn't understand how Eddie's dad, who sacrificed to send his son to college, wouldn't be upset about Eddie failing out of college and going to the bumfuck middle of no where Alaska, and THEN being arrested and just being like "figure it out." I'm pretty sure if I did ANY of that I would have been dead, killed by my parent's anger. And then Eddie stays in Kusko anyway, a place he hates?? Sorry what??
It was all so unrealistic to me. The breaks that everyone, literally EVERYONE gave to Eddie was just unbelievable. Maybe you could say it's white, straight male privilege but even that only carries you so far. The jist of it is that Eddie learns literally nothing from his experiences (not even hardwork at his job, because he constantly complains about doing something that he was actually going to school for. If you hate it, why study it?? And why complain about working when you literally are doing NOTHING else??) but still got the girl (who he didn't deserve or appreciate) and got off without much consequence. If anything, it made me hate him all the more.
To sum it all up: I hated this book. I hated everything about it. The only thing I didn't hate was Taylor but I hated how she was treated. She deserved better than this book. And to make it worse, the little interview at the end of the book revealed that the author had gone through a similar experience as a young man. Which made me kinda hate him, because I thought then he was a lot like Eddie.
So you might be thinking, after all that hatred- why change the rating from no stars to 1 star? Goodreads doesn't count reviews with no rating against the total rating for the book, and I hated this book so much that I wanted it to have the lowest possible rating. I want to warn people off of this book. Because it's really THAT bad.
Do yourself a favor, and don't read this book.
So listen- I rarely, if ever, DNF books (mostly because I don't really pick out books to read that I'm not interested in. I know what books I'll like by the synopsis.) but I seriously considered it with this book. But I thought, I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of this, so I'll keep going. Maybe there's something about this book I'll like.
NOPE.
Before this, I couldn't think of a book that I would seriously never recommend to anyone, but after reading Sucktown, it's this one. I cannot find one redeeming thing I liked about it. So let's go through piece by piece.
The plot is that 18 year old Eddie Ashford has failed out of college (for partying too much and not going to class) and one of the ways he can be allowed back into college is to prove that he's learned something while he was away. To do this, he takes a job as a newspaper reporter in the small town of Kusko, Alaska. Kusko is rugged Alaska but without the beautiful surroundings; it's basically crap. While in Kusko, Eddie meets his neighbor Finn who's a small-town drug dealer, and the beautiful Taylor who's valedictorian in her high school and who started a spelling bee for native languages. Eddie wants to get out of Kusko as fast as he can, so he starts selling weed to neighboring villages to make extra cash and get out as fast as possible.
This plot isn't super interesting to me, but it's kind of intriguing. It's why I requested this in the first place. Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed. So let's get into why I hate this book.
Eddie. Eddie is the whole reason I hate this book. He's an awful human being. And maybe you're like "oh, that makes him realistic." He might be realistic, but he's the type of person I hate when they're real. Literally he's the most immature, disgusting, misogynistic, condescending, and downright rude character I've ever read about.
There's a scene where Eddie is going to interview Taylor for the first time about her starting this spelling bee (which is really interesting, not that Eddie cares) and he basically just goes on and on about how hot she is. He can barely focus on his JOB because she's soooooooooooo hot. But it gets worse from there. They start emailing back and forth, and Taylor is clearly trying to learn more about him and tell him about herself, and he's like "she's so boring, she just wants to talk." And I wanted to shout and be like "yeah dude, that's kinda the point if you like someone!!"
BUT THEN IT GETS WORSE. Eddie basically has a crush on Taylor through the whole book, so finally he decides to tell her. Taylor's response is that she doesn't want to date him because he's going to be leaving Kusko eventually and she plans to stay there. That's pretty reasonable. But Eddie's so disappointed he starts avoiding her, like he doesn't even want to see her because he can't be her friend ANYMORE, NOT AFTER THAT CRUSHING REJECTION. But they eventually patch it up and decide to be friends, somehow, but Eddie still won't let that crush go. There's a lot of uncomfortable talk about boners, and a bunch of creative if disgusting names for boobs. Maybe that's realistic but I hated it.
Eddie also decides he's needs to get out of Kusko like, yesterday, so he works with Finn to start selling weed in faraway villages. No way an immature 18 year old can mess that up, right? It's fool-proof!
Hereafter I'll discuss some spoilers for the end of the book, so you've been warned.
Eddie gets back to town and says "yep, I was selling the weed" and basically that's all he admits. And he's like "I'm doing it to spare Finn because he's come from nothing and I need to show him he can be better." Just a little bit of a superiority complex, no? Everyone's mad at him- the chief of police, Finn, Taylor, his boss, the priest... and Eddie's still like "I'm gonna own up to this. I'm a man." But he doesn't. He doesn't admit wrong-doing, he basically just admits that he made stupid choices. I was so frustrated the ENTIRE TIME. And then he got off!! With probation!! AND EVERYONE FORGIVES HIM!! Like what kind of bull is that??? How is that realistic??
This is less of a review than a rant, but honestly, I couldn't understand anything about this. I couldn't understand how Finn would forgive Eddie for being like "I can save you from this shitty town by stealing your weed and taking advantage of your friendship." I couldn't understand how Taylor would be like "I hate weed and I don't want to date you because you're leaving but now you're not in jail anymore and I love you." I honestly was so baffled by Taylor's character. She's presented as this smart girl who loves her town and then you have her swooning over Eddie who's literally the most generic, disgusting frat boy ever. I also couldn't understand how Eddie's dad, who sacrificed to send his son to college, wouldn't be upset about Eddie failing out of college and going to the bumfuck middle of no where Alaska, and THEN being arrested and just being like "figure it out." I'm pretty sure if I did ANY of that I would have been dead, killed by my parent's anger. And then Eddie stays in Kusko anyway, a place he hates?? Sorry what??
It was all so unrealistic to me. The breaks that everyone, literally EVERYONE gave to Eddie was just unbelievable. Maybe you could say it's white, straight male privilege but even that only carries you so far. The jist of it is that Eddie learns literally nothing from his experiences (not even hardwork at his job, because he constantly complains about doing something that he was actually going to school for. If you hate it, why study it?? And why complain about working when you literally are doing NOTHING else??) but still got the girl (who he didn't deserve or appreciate) and got off without much consequence. If anything, it made me hate him all the more.
To sum it all up: I hated this book. I hated everything about it. The only thing I didn't hate was Taylor but I hated how she was treated. She deserved better than this book. And to make it worse, the little interview at the end of the book revealed that the author had gone through a similar experience as a young man. Which made me kinda hate him, because I thought then he was a lot like Eddie.
So you might be thinking, after all that hatred- why change the rating from no stars to 1 star? Goodreads doesn't count reviews with no rating against the total rating for the book, and I hated this book so much that I wanted it to have the lowest possible rating. I want to warn people off of this book. Because it's really THAT bad.
Do yourself a favor, and don't read this book.