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A review by jugglingpup
Bruiser by Neal Shusterman
3.0
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I grabbed this book thinking it was going to be about an abusive boyfriend and be a super suspenseful book in that sense. Instead it is a book about a boy named Brewster that has an extraordinary gift. The gift tests him again and again when it comes to his feelings.
My biggest complain about Shusterman’s books always comes down to that he has so many damn narrators that can’t be told apart. In this book Tennyson and Brontë can’t be told apart. They sound identical. Brewster has a different format, so his is easily told apart (MIRACLE!). Cody is pretty much the same as Tennyson and Brontë, except every once in a while there will be a word like “runned” used since he is a kid. So 2.5 narrators can’t be told apart. It is my biggest pet peeve in books like this. If your characters are flat enough that I can’t tell them apart, then have a single narrator or a third person one.
However, just like with every other Shusterman novel the plot was enough to keep me reading and still scored it a really good rating. This plot was one of those quiet suspense ones. Everything was about emotions and it sneaked up on me. There was so much happening, then BAM it was quiet. The quiet was so disconcerting. It was obvious what was happening, but just in case Shusterman had a whole chapter about it before it did happen that laid out what was happening. Foreshadowing or not trusting readers to follow a basic plot? It is unclear, but even if I was being written down to, I was enjoying myself and didn’t feel like I was being made fun of. So I think that view will depend on how you are feeling by that point in the book.
There was a super dark scene that came out of nowhere. I wasn’t expecting it at all. Then the angst afterward. YES. For that scene alone, I would have been ok with all of my issues with the book (and all his other books too!). Everything after that scene with Uncle Hoyt didn’t matter. The book kind of dragged after that. The big emotional climax had happened for me. The ending twists and turns were really mild and not all that surprising in the slightest. It felt like the ending took longer than the rest of the book. I was enjoying myself, but I had no idea why the book was still going. I could tell where it was going and saw why Shusterman wanted to include it, but I just didn’t see why it really was included. It couldn’t match that powerful punch or even come close.
I grabbed this book thinking it was going to be about an abusive boyfriend and be a super suspenseful book in that sense. Instead it is a book about a boy named Brewster that has an extraordinary gift. The gift tests him again and again when it comes to his feelings.
My biggest complain about Shusterman’s books always comes down to that he has so many damn narrators that can’t be told apart. In this book Tennyson and Brontë can’t be told apart. They sound identical. Brewster has a different format, so his is easily told apart (MIRACLE!). Cody is pretty much the same as Tennyson and Brontë, except every once in a while there will be a word like “runned” used since he is a kid. So 2.5 narrators can’t be told apart. It is my biggest pet peeve in books like this. If your characters are flat enough that I can’t tell them apart, then have a single narrator or a third person one.
However, just like with every other Shusterman novel the plot was enough to keep me reading and still scored it a really good rating. This plot was one of those quiet suspense ones. Everything was about emotions and it sneaked up on me. There was so much happening, then BAM it was quiet. The quiet was so disconcerting. It was obvious what was happening, but just in case Shusterman had a whole chapter about it before it did happen that laid out what was happening. Foreshadowing or not trusting readers to follow a basic plot? It is unclear, but even if I was being written down to, I was enjoying myself and didn’t feel like I was being made fun of. So I think that view will depend on how you are feeling by that point in the book.
There was a super dark scene that came out of nowhere. I wasn’t expecting it at all. Then the angst afterward. YES. For that scene alone, I would have been ok with all of my issues with the book (and all his other books too!). Everything after that scene with Uncle Hoyt didn’t matter. The book kind of dragged after that. The big emotional climax had happened for me. The ending twists and turns were really mild and not all that surprising in the slightest. It felt like the ending took longer than the rest of the book. I was enjoying myself, but I had no idea why the book was still going. I could tell where it was going and saw why Shusterman wanted to include it, but I just didn’t see why it really was included. It couldn’t match that powerful punch or even come close.