Monday, September 29, 2014

Book Review: Grasshopper Jungle

TITLE: Grasshopper Jungle
AUTHOR: Andrew Smith
PUBLISHED: February 2014
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Science Fiction, LGBT
PREMISE: In a small town the end of the world starts and a boy and his two friends are smack dab in the middle of it.
MY REVIEW: This is my first Andrew Smith book. So...it was an experience. His writing style is definitely unique. I honestly don't even know how to describe this book, that summary is vague on my part for a reason.
I'm going to say it up front: this one will probably not appeal to everyone. It's vulgar, Austin is a VERY horny teenage boy and thinks about sex ALL the time. I'm not sure how I feel about that honestly, because on one hand he is a teenage boy but on the other hand, it kind of falls into that stereotype of bisexual people just being extremely sexual (Austin is bi and is the center of a love triangle which makes for a nice change of pace). But on the other hand it is kind of refreshing having a YA book be upfront about the fact that teenagers think about sex and have sex. Kind of wish it didn't take up like eighty percent of the book though (yes, Austin is that horny). As for the plot of the book itself...that's another thing I suspect will turn off a lot of readers because it doesn't fit into the typical YA formula. This can either be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how open to it the readers are (you guys have to admit, we have our comfort zones and we're not fond when authors go out of that comfort zone).
So..,I don't know HOW to feel about this one. It's well written and definitely the most unique thing I've read this year. But when asked if I like it or not...well...

WHO SHOULD READ: Andrew Smith fans, open minded readers, patient readers
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five what even was this book looks

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