A review by kim_j_dare
The Worst Years of My Life by Chris Tebbetts, James Patterson

3.0

Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I had read the text version and been immersed in the illustrations, but I don't think so. It was okay, but Rafe as a character just didn't grab me. I know middle school angst from the two angsty kids in my own household, and I enjoy books about middle school angsty kids, but Rafe's quest to break every rule in the book didn't ring true and the secondary characters were so cliche. Perhaps the big reveal at the end-- that his imaginary friend Leo is actually his twin brother who died as an infant-- is supposed to make us more sympathetic toward his inner turmoil, but it's too late in the book to really do much of anything. It all comes across as sort of "eh."