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A review by lucca111angel
Sprout by Dale Peck
2.0
This book was so… much. It took me almost 2 years to finish because of how much I disliked the MC.
Let’s start with my first complaint- the book has little to nothing in common with it’s description. I was under the impression that this was a gay early 2000’s YA, somewhere along the lines of Geography Club, or some straight to DVD trashy romcom. It literally describes itself as being hilarious, frustrating, and exquisite. Only 1 of those 3 descriptors were accurate, in my opinion.
Here’s the real plot (and try your best to follow along, because every time I ranted to my friends about it, it took about 15 minutes to cover all the random plot lines)-
Daniel Bradford (aka Sprout) has green hair, lives in rural Kansas, and carries his dead moms dictionary with him everywhere for some reason. He has one friend, who he repeatedly calls weird/annoying/ugly, and he’s bullied for being a weird outcast. Allegedly. There’s not really many scenes of him being bullied, besides from one character, Ian, who he’s been sleeping with since they were both 12. Sprout is asked by one of his teachers to enter an essay writing contest, because he is smart apparently, and he spends all summer at her house preparing for this contest. She is possibly an alcoholic, and she attempts to provide him with alcohol. Totally normal! His father is an alcoholic, and is kind of supportive/kind of not, but either way we don’t see too much of him, so it doesn’t matter. School starts, and Sprout meets a boy named Ty. Forget everything else going on in the book, it’s about Ty and Sprout falling in love now! Ty lives in a strict, conservative, abusive household, where he and his siblings are regularly beat by their father. Everybody knows about it, but nobody tries to help them. Except for Sprout, who is now obsessed with him and feels like he has to be the one to save him, to keep him from running away, and also having constant sex with him in some sort of weird serial-killer-type lair in the woods. But then they’re caught at school by his ex-best friend, and Ian’s there too, because apparently those two have been dating since June and now it’s December, and also she’s pregnant? Ty runs away, three weeks pass with no sign of him, Sprout writes the essay of his life which may or may not be the 277pg book I just read.
I hate all of the characters in this book. Sprout is an annoying smartass, Mrs. Miller is a terrible teacher, his dad doesn’t show up enough for me to care, same with Ian and Ruthie. Ty, though. Oh my god. He is like the JROTC kid from my nightmares. I have no idea what Sprout is supposed to see in him, besides the obvious fact that he’s using Ty as a replacement for his mother? I’m not sad that Ty ran away. Get over him, he was too much for you. You are 16. You cannot save him.
I think that this book was well written, there were many scenes that kept me on my toes. But, I think this is an awful representation of love, sex, and friendship, and I would not want any teenager to read this and internalize it. It is not romantic to have your closeted boyfriend point a gun at you. Don’t lick hair dye off of anybody’s body. Even as teenagers, you can be in a healthier relationship than this. I am so disappointed with this book.
Let’s start with my first complaint- the book has little to nothing in common with it’s description. I was under the impression that this was a gay early 2000’s YA, somewhere along the lines of Geography Club, or some straight to DVD trashy romcom. It literally describes itself as being hilarious, frustrating, and exquisite. Only 1 of those 3 descriptors were accurate, in my opinion.
Here’s the real plot (and try your best to follow along, because every time I ranted to my friends about it, it took about 15 minutes to cover all the random plot lines)-
Daniel Bradford (aka Sprout) has green hair, lives in rural Kansas, and carries his dead moms dictionary with him everywhere for some reason. He has one friend, who he repeatedly calls weird/annoying/ugly, and he’s bullied for being a weird outcast. Allegedly. There’s not really many scenes of him being bullied, besides from one character, Ian, who he’s been sleeping with since they were both 12. Sprout is asked by one of his teachers to enter an essay writing contest, because he is smart apparently, and he spends all summer at her house preparing for this contest. She is possibly an alcoholic, and she attempts to provide him with alcohol. Totally normal! His father is an alcoholic, and is kind of supportive/kind of not, but either way we don’t see too much of him, so it doesn’t matter. School starts, and Sprout meets a boy named Ty. Forget everything else going on in the book, it’s about Ty and Sprout falling in love now! Ty lives in a strict, conservative, abusive household, where he and his siblings are regularly beat by their father. Everybody knows about it, but nobody tries to help them. Except for Sprout, who is now obsessed with him and feels like he has to be the one to save him, to keep him from running away, and also having constant sex with him in some sort of weird serial-killer-type lair in the woods. But then they’re caught at school by his ex-best friend, and Ian’s there too, because apparently those two have been dating since June and now it’s December, and also she’s pregnant? Ty runs away, three weeks pass with no sign of him, Sprout writes the essay of his life which may or may not be the 277pg book I just read.
I hate all of the characters in this book. Sprout is an annoying smartass, Mrs. Miller is a terrible teacher, his dad doesn’t show up enough for me to care, same with Ian and Ruthie. Ty, though. Oh my god. He is like the JROTC kid from my nightmares. I have no idea what Sprout is supposed to see in him, besides the obvious fact that he’s using Ty as a replacement for his mother? I’m not sad that Ty ran away. Get over him, he was too much for you. You are 16. You cannot save him.
I think that this book was well written, there were many scenes that kept me on my toes. But, I think this is an awful representation of love, sex, and friendship, and I would not want any teenager to read this and internalize it. It is not romantic to have your closeted boyfriend point a gun at you. Don’t lick hair dye off of anybody’s body. Even as teenagers, you can be in a healthier relationship than this. I am so disappointed with this book.