A review by jerrysaywhaaa
Skater Boy by Anthony Nerada

emotional inspiring reflective 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

1.0

“We checked off every stereotype” (Chapter 11) is a quote that pretty much summarizes almost every character in this book. 

This book felt like it was written by one of the following people (or a combination of all of them):
1. Someone who either wanted to be or wanted to be with a punk bad boy in high school, but in a very “I can fix him” way. 
2. A school counselor (think Mr. Frond from Bob’s Burgers) who really wanted to connect with the youths and show the importance of therapy. 
3. A writer on Glee who was mad this script was rejected for an episode. 

Although I think a lot of topics covered in this book are important to discuss, I don’t think it was done well and the bad parts of the book heavily outweigh the good parts. The author added a lot of weird and extra details to the story; had a pretty shaky and at times inconsistent timeline for the story; and sometimes felt like they had no sense of reality and actual consequences for character’s actions. 

The story has too perfect an ending to wrap everything up too quickly (which is surprising with how slow and boring the first half of the book is). 

And one *minor* spoiler that I need to rant about: 

Wes definitely started the fight, despite what he kept saying.

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