athena56's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book. I read all 400+ pages of it, hoping that at some point, it was going to click and I was going to immediately think that "This book is amazing." But it never came.
The author's disjointed stories were tough to read, but they never packed the emotional punch that you would expect a past like this to hold. Having read other stories of child mistreatment in "A Child Called It" and other books throughout my life, it is rare for me to be so unaffected by the actions of Jason and his father.
The author's disjointed stories were tough to read, but they never packed the emotional punch that you would expect a past like this to hold. Having read other stories of child mistreatment in "A Child Called It" and other books throughout my life, it is rare for me to be so unaffected by the actions of Jason and his father.
notoriouszoe's review against another edition
3.0
It was difficult to get through, because of the content and writing style. Too many disjointed incidents that made it hard for me to care much.
lexiww's review against another edition
3.0
“I lived my life in pieces.” That’s a tidy encapsulation of Schmidt’s tormented upbringing, the focus of his devastating memoir. Raised by his drug-dealing, ex-con father, Schmidt lived around the Pacific Northwest throughout the grim 1980s among strung-out squatters in decrepit homes (and even, once, a storage unit). The litany of physical and emotional abuse Schmidt endures is unbelievably staggering: His father beats and berates him. He is sexually preyed upon by a school principal. He is socially isolated as he and his dad nomadically relocate. Poor, dirty, and perpetually unsupervised, Schmidt threatens to run away, only to have his father threaten to have him committed. And when his dad contracts AIDS, Schmidt has to begin envisioning an entirely new future alone—one he must forge with limited guidance and a lifetime of scars. This title joins the ranks of harrowing stories such as Dave Pelzer’s A Child Called “It” (1993), Augusten Burrough’s Running with Scissors (2002), and other compelling accounts of childhood despair that are painful to read and impossible to put down. — Lexi Walters Wright, First published November 15, 2014 (Booklist).
dawnoftheread's review against another edition
4.0
http://www.unshelved.com/bookclub/2015-10-2#9780374380137
alexxcp's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Child abuse
Moderate: Racial slurs, Homophobia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Classism, and Grief
Minor: Pedophilia, Abortion, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, and Suicide
silodear's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't really appreciate the author's irreverent tone, but there were some aspects of this book that I enjoyed. Schmidt writes with real honesty about his experiences growing up with an addicted and abusive father who is dying of AIDS in the height of the epidemic. He didn't sugarcoat his experiences and he's raw in showing the reader how he grapples with his complicated feelings. I can appreciate this book, even though it was hard for me to read.
noramjenkins's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting spontaneous grab off the YA shelf. Not sure it is a YA appropriate book but I suppose kids are more grown up now.