A review by kaje_harper
Beggars and Choosers by Mia Kerick

4.0

This book reminds me somewhat of a Young Adult [b:Zero at the Bone|6382879|Zero at the Bone (Zero at the Bone, #1)|Jane Seville|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1239008011s/6382879.jpg|6570901], not in plot, but in both the dialect and thought processes of one of the MCs and in the development of the relationship. That dialect was a little bit of a stumbling block at getting into the first chapter, and reminding myself how much I came to love D in Zero helped. Brett's voice is not as consistent and believable as D's, but it's well done.

I was pulling for these boys and their relationship. There is a moment of violence, and I thought the level of description was just about right for older YA, not too euphemistic nor too explicit. I would not recommend the book for under 16's unless they are comfortable with darker subject matter. I was okay with the way the consequences of that moment were handled... well, I didn't like them, because I think the adults involved all completely missed the boat, but I thought given everything that was going on it was realistic enough.

Spoiler

I did like the fact that it wasn't Brett who saved the day in the crisis. It made the plot less predictable.

There was a level of idealism and a lack of shades of grey in both the positive and negative components of the story that kept it from really connecting with me on a deep emotional level, because I found myself withholding belief at times.

Spoiler

Brett never resents all the time he spends driving Cory around, for example. Never gets bored, or annoyed or whiny about how things are going.

But it was gripping enough to keep me reading steadily and I did like the characters a lot and would even read a sequel if there were one. I'd like to see Cory stand on his own feet more, and Brett begin to see them both more as fallible humans with their own strengths and flaws, and less as icons. The process could be interesting...