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mrs_a_is_a_book_nerd 's review for:
The Serpent King
by Jeff Zentner
Really, more like 3.75. I have mixed feelings about this book, centered on three seniors--all "outcasts"--Lydia, Dill, and Travis.
Lydia writes a successful blog featuring alternative fashion and ideas that has gained her national notoriety and fame, but the scorn and derision of the "mainstream" student body at her small town Tennessee high school. Dill is the town pariah, son of a snake-handling preacher who is serving a prison sentence for having child porn on his computer. The townsfolk ostracize him, either for his family name and the legacy it suggests for him, or because he could have lied in court to protect his father, but didn't, thus depriving the church of its pastor and forcing its parishioners to travel long distances to worship. Dill keeps his head down and works hard to help his mom with the debt his father left them, even though she too blames Dill for their circumstances. Finally, Travis is a fantasy-novel-loving, quirky kid who takes shop classes and works at his father's lumber mill. He spends his nights in chat rooms, discussing his favorite fantasy novel series with other fans, and keeping a low profile around his father, an alcoholic who's none too happy with Travis being less than similar to his all-American football star older brother who died in service in Afghanistan.
Told in alternating narration, the characters' stories are compelling and their voices authentic. There are moments of sharp wit, deep feeling, and stark tragedy. Each character is finding his/her way toward a future after high school, whether it be one that holds promise of a bigger world, or a lifetime sentence of more-of-the-same. I loved how real and authentic these characters were; as a high school teacher, I could imagine students I've known who were similar to each of them. Their friendship, and the strength of their bond against the masses who tormented them regularly, was endearing, funny, and moving.
The reason I can't quite bring myself to rate the book higher was its somewhat sappy detour focusing on a romance between two of the characters near the book's end. It wasn't that it was implausible. I just felt like it was a little too cliche.
In all, I would still recommend the book; however, I was really hoping for a read to hand to some of my reluctant boy readers--which it was for 2/3 of the book--but in the end, the romance drove too much of the plot for me to imagine it would hold them until the end.
Lydia writes a successful blog featuring alternative fashion and ideas that has gained her national notoriety and fame, but the scorn and derision of the "mainstream" student body at her small town Tennessee high school. Dill is the town pariah, son of a snake-handling preacher who is serving a prison sentence for having child porn on his computer. The townsfolk ostracize him, either for his family name and the legacy it suggests for him, or because he could have lied in court to protect his father, but didn't, thus depriving the church of its pastor and forcing its parishioners to travel long distances to worship. Dill keeps his head down and works hard to help his mom with the debt his father left them, even though she too blames Dill for their circumstances. Finally, Travis is a fantasy-novel-loving, quirky kid who takes shop classes and works at his father's lumber mill. He spends his nights in chat rooms, discussing his favorite fantasy novel series with other fans, and keeping a low profile around his father, an alcoholic who's none too happy with Travis being less than similar to his all-American football star older brother who died in service in Afghanistan.
Told in alternating narration, the characters' stories are compelling and their voices authentic. There are moments of sharp wit, deep feeling, and stark tragedy. Each character is finding his/her way toward a future after high school, whether it be one that holds promise of a bigger world, or a lifetime sentence of more-of-the-same. I loved how real and authentic these characters were; as a high school teacher, I could imagine students I've known who were similar to each of them. Their friendship, and the strength of their bond against the masses who tormented them regularly, was endearing, funny, and moving.
The reason I can't quite bring myself to rate the book higher was its somewhat sappy detour focusing on a romance between two of the characters near the book's end. It wasn't that it was implausible. I just felt like it was a little too cliche.
In all, I would still recommend the book; however, I was really hoping for a read to hand to some of my reluctant boy readers--which it was for 2/3 of the book--but in the end, the romance drove too much of the plot for me to imagine it would hold them until the end.