A review by karen_k77
Gym Candy by Carl Deuker

2.0

This book was interesting, but not great. What I enjoyed was the perspective of an athlete. It's not something I understand myself, and there aren't a ton of football-centered books that I've read, so reading about football and steroid use was different for me.

However, the writing was a bit too simplistic. For a book that was trying to dig deep into the psyche of a boy who feels so pressured and so ambitious that he chooses to use drugs, it was too sparse. There's succinct, and then there's not enough actual depth. That's how I felt about this book.

Especially the ending. Suffice it to say the gigantic climax of the novel happened in about thirty pages, and it was altogether too rushed for my tastes. We didn't get as much insight as I had hoped for.

It was a decent book, but for one of the rare instances where I read about athletes, it wasn't profound enough to leave a mark. Deuker had some great lines (and I really mean that, he had some fantastic moments or prose), and I will fully admit that I'm left with greater understanding for Mick and the culture he's representing, but my overall impression left me feeling juvenile and incomplete.

I recommend it for the cultural niche it provides, but don't expect to be blown away.