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A review by mrsthrift
Waylaid by Ed Lin
4.0
Angelina recommended this book to me. It was readily available through my public library, and I do love books about teenagers, so I decided to give it a chance. This is certainly a quick read, well-written, and funny.
I laughed along with the unnamed Taiwanese-American narrator, suffering through his adolescence at the Jersey Shore in a crappy motel owned by his parents. It's all there - sexual fixation and awakening, wayward mentors, distant parents, the futile black hole of school. Surrounded by porno magazines abandoned in empty rooms and hourly rooms rented to johns & prostitutes, his budding sexual desire is a primary element in the story. There's more, though, as the seasons change and the winter tenants become the summer vacationers and the school year slips away. Every room rental has a story - even if it is a story nearly identical to the previous one.
Waylaid is charming & feels authentic. It gave me a sense of real humanity in just a few quick pages. It's interesting, and ultimately, hopeful & reassuring.
I laughed along with the unnamed Taiwanese-American narrator, suffering through his adolescence at the Jersey Shore in a crappy motel owned by his parents. It's all there - sexual fixation and awakening, wayward mentors, distant parents, the futile black hole of school. Surrounded by porno magazines abandoned in empty rooms and hourly rooms rented to johns & prostitutes, his budding sexual desire is a primary element in the story. There's more, though, as the seasons change and the winter tenants become the summer vacationers and the school year slips away. Every room rental has a story - even if it is a story nearly identical to the previous one.
Waylaid is charming & feels authentic. It gave me a sense of real humanity in just a few quick pages. It's interesting, and ultimately, hopeful & reassuring.