A review by notyourhijabi
The Guy, the Girl, the Artist and His Ex by Gabrielle Williams

4.0

This review can also be found on: http://reading-is-dreaming-with-open-eyes.blogspot.com/2015/11/gabrielle-williams-guy-girl-artist-and.html

"It was funny how you, yourself, could pretend something to you, yourself, that you, yourself, knew full well was untrue."

The Guy, the Girl, the Artist and His Ex begins with a real-life incident about a mob calling itself "Australian Cultural Terrorists" who stole a Picasso- the Weeping Woman- on the 2nd of August, 1986, from the National Gallery of Victoria to draw the attention of the government to increase the funding of struggling artists of Victoria. The painting became the subject of an international manhunt involving Interpol, Scotland Yard and the Australian Federal Police and yet the Australian Cultural Terrorists were never found.

Fear not, this book is hardly about art per se. It's about four characters who are unexpectedly brought together by the painting, for better or for worse. They are:

•The Guy, as suggested in the title, is a guy named Guy (sorry, couldn't resist that) who is brilliantly flunking out of school and has one, rather useless, talent- hacky sacking.
•The Girl, Rafi, has been raised by her mom who's quite off the hinge since her little brother's untimely death.
•The Artist is Luke, who is the mastermind behind the whole Picasso-stealing plan.
•The Ex is Penny, who somehow makes everything come together without intending to that fateful night.

What I liked most about the book are undoubtedly the well-crafted characters and plot. This book is narrated by a third-person omniscient narrator as we are shown the trajectory the lives of the main characters takes when the painting crosses their path. I don't want to talk much about the characters or the plot for fear of spoiling the story for you should you read it, but trust me when I say it suffices for you to know that these were some of the best-written YA characters I'd come across so far. Rafi's mother was really heart-breaking and quite unnerving to read about. Rafi herself was probably the character I liked second least- the one I hated being the Bastard-Ex, a really convincing bastard.

The author should certainly be lauded for touching various subjects such as grief, single-parenthood, academic decline, narcissism and mental illness and still doing justice to them as she weaved a truly interesting story around an art-theft that baffled many its day. This story looks at the murkier side of the art profession and brings to light what most artists go through at one time or the other without being too preachy about it. There are also many LOL moments when we are shown intercepts from letters-to-the-editor where people whine about the ugly impenetrability of art. We are also shown the hardships that teens and people in their early 20s go through, and you'd find yourself rooting for a couple of these characters whether you want to or not.

I loved this book much more than I thought I would and made me remember that first impressions aren't necessarily the best impressions. Overall, this was one clever narration and you'd be doing yourself an unforgivable crime if you don't give this book your time of day.

The story idea: 4/5
The realization of the story: 4/5
The characters: 5/5
The cover: 3/5
Enjoy factor: 4/5

Final Rating: 4/5