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Another great aussie novel, only this time I got warm fuzzies instead of gut-wrenching depression. [b:Good Oil|8079815|Good Oil|Laura Buzo|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298925793s/8079815.jpg|12803237] is light, funny, occasionally sad, and discusses some important issues in well-written conversations that are as hilarious as they are thought-provoking. It's told from two different perspectives and I think it's the only novel I've read that hasn't bored me when going over the same events from an alternative point of view; it's also probably the only multi-perspective novel where I can't make my mind up which POV I preferred.
On one hand, you have Amelia. She is so many things that I have been at some point in my life: bookish, introverted, naive, and completely obsessively in love with her older co-worker. I think I enjoyed the book all the more because I'd read all the novels she talked about and compared to aspects of her reality; I've had most of the same thoughts, and I went through a similar stage where I first started to learn about feminism and it made me rather unpleasant and angry at the world. I really, really got this girl.
As for Chris, the co-worker and object of Amelia's obsession, he is my personal definition of the perfect boyfriend. I don't care much for these beautiful, charmless boys that have taken over the young adult genre, I've never wanted a guy with super-strength or magical powers, and I've never wanted a vampire (okay, there was that one time...). But I like that he is funny, charismatic and believable. Yeah, that's it, he's so real. I think this is an aussie thing, creating wonderful but realistic characters, I've seen it quite a bit lately. Well, Chris likes to go out and get drunk, he wants to get laid, he's sensitive but he hides it from most people... and I would have fallen for him too.
I thought the ending was handled very well and I liked how we left both Amelia and Chris. I was bracing myself for sadness but it was just the right amount of everything. I mean, throughout I was torn. I desperately wanted Amelia to be happy - the kind of happy she would have found with Chris - but I was aware of the age complications: 15 and 22 is nicht gut. I kept wondering how the author would resolve the situation, the answer is: brilliantly.