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maggiemaggio 's review for:
The Spectacular Now
by Tim Tharp
Sutter is a good guy, he's good with people and he likes helping to make people's lives better. But he's also quite the drunk and sometimes his drinking gets in the way of doing the right thing. One morning Sutter wakes up on some random person's lawn and sees Aimee, an unpopular girl he goes to school with. Sutter decides to take Aimee on as a project to make her cooler, but she ends up falling for him. Sutter has to decide if he really wants to change or if it's happy remaining the drunk, good-time guy for the rest of his life.
Here's how I came to hear about this book: I was on IMDB trying to figure out if Four had been cast in the Divergent movie (side note: he has now and it's Mr. Pamuk from Downton Abbey? I still can't get over that) so I clicked on Shailene Woodley's name and then started looking at her other films and then I saw this one. Then I saw that it was based on a book, I looked that up and here we are. (And Kyle Chandler is going to be playing Sutter's dad?? <3)
I really loved Sutter, and I think the author wants the reader to love Sutter, but I think I might have gone a little overboard. The entire time I was reading I just thought he was so sweet, and nice, and misunderstood. Plus he has this terrible family life. While I was reading I was torn between finding his antics hilarious and feeling bad for him.
But then I started thinking about it more and I realized the only thing we're hearing is Sutter's perspective. And drunks don't have the best perspectives. Sutter thinks he's smooth, funny, and a good guy, but how do other people see him? He's probably not smooth, he's probably falling down drunk, and, as his ex-girlfriend Cassidy repeatedly says, he's selfish. He describes his mom and step-dad as being so terrible, but what are parents of a drunk high schooler supposed to do? It's their job to discipline him and to try to keep him from ruining his life. That said it does sound like his mother actively ignored a lot of his behavior and probably helped enable him.
Sutter's relationship with Aimee was so sweet, until it wasn't. I couldn't believe it when he started researching the books and other things she was interested in so he'd have something to talk to her about. But ultimately he is a pretty selfish, self-absorbed guy who was probably really bad for Aimee, which I do think he realized.
I know a lot of people were shocked by the end of the book, unfortunately I didn't have that option as a School Library Journal review on the Brooklyn Public Library's website ruined it for me. But, and maybe it's because I had advanced warning, I actually didn't mind the ending and felt it was appropriate for the book.
I would definitely recommend this one. It's a bittersweet book, but the journey through it is funny, sweet, and intelligent.
Here's how I came to hear about this book: I was on IMDB trying to figure out if Four had been cast in the Divergent movie (side note: he has now and it's Mr. Pamuk from Downton Abbey? I still can't get over that) so I clicked on Shailene Woodley's name and then started looking at her other films and then I saw this one. Then I saw that it was based on a book, I looked that up and here we are. (And Kyle Chandler is going to be playing Sutter's dad?? <3)
I really loved Sutter, and I think the author wants the reader to love Sutter, but I think I might have gone a little overboard. The entire time I was reading I just thought he was so sweet, and nice, and misunderstood. Plus he has this terrible family life. While I was reading I was torn between finding his antics hilarious and feeling bad for him.
But then I started thinking about it more and I realized the only thing we're hearing is Sutter's perspective. And drunks don't have the best perspectives. Sutter thinks he's smooth, funny, and a good guy, but how do other people see him? He's probably not smooth, he's probably falling down drunk, and, as his ex-girlfriend Cassidy repeatedly says, he's selfish. He describes his mom and step-dad as being so terrible, but what are parents of a drunk high schooler supposed to do? It's their job to discipline him and to try to keep him from ruining his life. That said it does sound like his mother actively ignored a lot of his behavior and probably helped enable him.
Sutter's relationship with Aimee was so sweet, until it wasn't. I couldn't believe it when he started researching the books and other things she was interested in so he'd have something to talk to her about. But ultimately he is a pretty selfish, self-absorbed guy who was probably really bad for Aimee, which I do think he realized.
I know a lot of people were shocked by the end of the book, unfortunately I didn't have that option as a School Library Journal review on the Brooklyn Public Library's website ruined it for me. But, and maybe it's because I had advanced warning, I actually didn't mind the ending and felt it was appropriate for the book.
I would definitely recommend this one. It's a bittersweet book, but the journey through it is funny, sweet, and intelligent.