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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
Trigger warnings: Suicide and police brutality. Overall I found this work to be engaging and provide a thoughtful insight into the main character Norris’ experience as a Black Canadian teenager moving to Texas. Norris is a flawed but engaging character who utilized humor and sarcasm as armor instead of being vulnerable. Norris is critical of others, always speaks his mind, and often chooses to believe he is better than other people. By building connections with a host of unlikely friends and potential romantic interests he learns a lot about himself and learns how to think about other people’s feelings and how his actions impact others. Overall I found the book to note a lot of important topics but only scratch the surface, and found the ending to be bittersweet.
Norris is annoying. He's definitely a jerk, but that's kinda the point.... Norris is a MC that spends his time judging everyone. Seriously he believes he sits about 143292 pedestals above everyone even though he is surrounded by morally superior characters (cough - Liam!!) However, Norris grows! Norris learns his lesson and becomes a better human! I appreciated the fact that this book ends in the middle of Norris's progress. It's a fun, coming-of-age story that briefly hits some important issues!
(Since this book's whole premise is based on using generic stereotypes there are definitely some issues, but [most of] the lessons learned outweigh the harm and show they everyone is so much more than stereotypes and initial judgments.)
(Since this book's whole premise is based on using generic stereotypes there are definitely some issues, but [most of] the lessons learned outweigh the harm and show they everyone is so much more than stereotypes and initial judgments.)
My kingdom for half stars!
There was a lot to like about this and some things that pulled me out of the story. (I kept trying to figure out if this was "historical fiction" set in the early 00s... high schoolers now are Gen Z, not Millennials!)
More to come!
There was a lot to like about this and some things that pulled me out of the story. (I kept trying to figure out if this was "historical fiction" set in the early 00s... high schoolers now are Gen Z, not Millennials!)
More to come!
Funny and enjoyable. I liked the character of Norris, he was quite compelling despite the fact that I also wanted to yell at him a lot of the time. He reminded me of my brothers with an extra dose of my smart mouth.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a fun and enjoyable YA read! This book follows Norris, a Black French Canadian, as he moves from Canada to Austin, TX with his mom. We follow along as he adjusts to a new school, finds new friends, and learns about the US. I've seen other reviews claiming that Norris was an unlikable character but I think he was a perfectly portrayed teenage character. Sure, he is arrogant but teenagers often can be.
I liked how this book did a really great job with blending comedy with some important teen issues like depression, sexuality, race, class, and more. Plus, it gave me all the 10 Things I Hate About You/90's teen comedy vibes which was fun.
⠀
I liked how this book did a really great job with blending comedy with some important teen issues like depression, sexuality, race, class, and more. Plus, it gave me all the 10 Things I Hate About You/90's teen comedy vibes which was fun.
⠀
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm bumping this up to 3 stars because one chapter towards the end had some seriously powerful writing. But otherwise, this book just felt like it was trying way too hard to be sarcastically funny about high school stereotypes, and there weren't really any likable characters, imo.
This was a delightful debut, but in opinion this should have been obvious from the now famous dedication page. Philippe has a wry sense of humor and was masterful with the tone of a displaced teenager having to adjust to a new familial situation in a new country. And not just any part of the country but Austin, Texas. As someone who was born and bred here, I can attest to that it is a lot to take in if you're not fully prepared and that is just the wonky and ever changing weather. I will admit that the fact that it took place in my home city and state drew me to this, as well as the premise of the novel itself so I dove in eager to read it. And I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Admittedly, Norris is not 100% likable. He is prickly, rude, and borderline obnoxiously judgmental of everyone. However, to be fair I doubt anyone at that age in that situation would have approached it much better. They may have tried to be friends but we all know how cliquish high school can be and when yo're the new fish in that pond, people aren't always welcoming. His observations were hilarious because I feel everyone has had the same ones about others or themselves. And his moodiness and just general selfishness was just so realistic. I really liked that about this novel.
Most YA paints the kids as paragons of their generation or wrongly accused and that gets tedious. Many times Norris gets called an a**hole and he is in fact being an a**hole. So I really enjoyed that aspect.
Another thing is that there were touches of realness in it, such as the fight he had with his mom after prom and the why and the ending. It was a bit of a shock since I did sit there after I read the second to last chapter and was like, 'Did I just read what I thought I read?' Bug again it brought a touch of realism to the story that was like a bit of fresh air to me.
There were a few things that did make me wrinkle my nose, such as where the author placed Anderson High School, which is real. He said it was near Pflugerville, which is not the case. I'm guessing this was his bit of creative licensing since the author did attend the University of Texas at Austin according to his biography so it was easily overlooked although it did have me questioning if I knew where the high school was.
Overall I enjoyed this, would recommend, would re-read, and would read more by this author. I'm not sure if he is planning on writing more on Norris or not but either way I'm interested to see in what else this author has for us.
Admittedly, Norris is not 100% likable. He is prickly, rude, and borderline obnoxiously judgmental of everyone. However, to be fair I doubt anyone at that age in that situation would have approached it much better. They may have tried to be friends but we all know how cliquish high school can be and when yo're the new fish in that pond, people aren't always welcoming. His observations were hilarious because I feel everyone has had the same ones about others or themselves. And his moodiness and just general selfishness was just so realistic. I really liked that about this novel.
Most YA paints the kids as paragons of their generation or wrongly accused and that gets tedious. Many times Norris gets called an a**hole and he is in fact being an a**hole. So I really enjoyed that aspect.
Another thing is that there were touches of realness in it, such as the fight he had with his mom after prom and the why and the ending. It was a bit of a shock since I did sit there after I read the second to last chapter and was like, 'Did I just read what I thought I read?' Bug again it brought a touch of realism to the story that was like a bit of fresh air to me.
There were a few things that did make me wrinkle my nose, such as where the author placed Anderson High School, which is real. He said it was near Pflugerville, which is not the case. I'm guessing this was his bit of creative licensing since the author did attend the University of Texas at Austin according to his biography so it was easily overlooked although it did have me questioning if I knew where the high school was.
Overall I enjoyed this, would recommend, would re-read, and would read more by this author. I'm not sure if he is planning on writing more on Norris or not but either way I'm interested to see in what else this author has for us.
I didn’t finish this book. It was ok other than the fact that the main character was a jerk at times.