A review by k_wazlib
Deadville by Ron Koertge
3.0
I believe that it was the cover (as well as a Goodreads recommendation) that intriqued me enough to check this book out from my library. After having read the description and giving it a shot, I found that I did actually enjoy this book. Mr. Koertge has some interesting insight into the mind of teenagers, and I found that he wrote Ryan's character very honest and humorously. However, even though I did enjoy the humor and honesty, when I finished I just felt like there was something missing. What that thing was I still don't know.
Ever since the loss of his sister to cancer two years ago, Ryan has pretty much smoked his way through life with his newest friend Andy. Getting high and listening to music appeared to be his only ways to get away from the pain, so he did them whenever he needed a release. However, when popular girl Charlotte Silano falls into a coma, Ryan feels drawn to her hospital bed and continuously visits her despite her father's uneasiness. Ryan isn't the only long term visitor, as he constantly bumps into Betty at Charlotte's bedside. Ever so slightly, Ryan begins to find himself falling out of his previous two year bad habits and onto a road to recovery both mentally and physically.
I really did enjoy the writing in this book. It was real and full of humor that left me laughing out loud quite a bit. Even though there is plenty of blunt tellings of the pot smoking and dealing, I don't feel that it took anything away from the book or could in any way offend anyone. The plot was interesting and cute in its own way. Really, I'm not sure how else to describe it.
The pacing of the book wasn't bad at all, if anything I kept eagerly reading as I was doubly curious as to what would happen once Charlotte woke up. It was an interesting and somewhat realistic ending. Her reaction, anyway.
Character-wise, I was pretty satisfied with them. Ryan, our main guy, was written in nice way, and I didn't find myself having many problems with him. Sure, he spewed so many references from all over the place, but I dealt with it. He was obviously broken and a bit strange, and overall I really liked him. The only thing that slightly bothered me about him was the way that he spoke to his parents. It sounded very awkward to me each time, and I found myself slightly cringing trying to imagine the results for myself if I were to speak to my own parents in such a way. Eek.
I did like Ryan's parents, though. Weird as that sounds. I also enjoyed how they all came to terms with Molly's death.
Overall, Deadville was nice book. I wasn't completely blown away by it but I didn't exactly hate it either. To me it was a bit average and a nice way to pass time. The story was cute, and I really enjoyed how well the main character grew and dealt with the death of his sister. The language was fun and the pacing wasn't too bad. Before I mentioned that I thought that there was something missing. It probably wasn't missing anything. I was probably just waiting on something monumental and out of the blue to happen like all of the other YA books out there.
I'm not saying that this book needed any of that, just that it didn't knock my socks off. If anything it kindly matched them and put them away for me.
☆☆☆/5
Recommend?: If you want a short and cute read.
Ever since the loss of his sister to cancer two years ago, Ryan has pretty much smoked his way through life with his newest friend Andy. Getting high and listening to music appeared to be his only ways to get away from the pain, so he did them whenever he needed a release. However, when popular girl Charlotte Silano falls into a coma, Ryan feels drawn to her hospital bed and continuously visits her despite her father's uneasiness. Ryan isn't the only long term visitor, as he constantly bumps into Betty at Charlotte's bedside. Ever so slightly, Ryan begins to find himself falling out of his previous two year bad habits and onto a road to recovery both mentally and physically.
I really did enjoy the writing in this book. It was real and full of humor that left me laughing out loud quite a bit. Even though there is plenty of blunt tellings of the pot smoking and dealing, I don't feel that it took anything away from the book or could in any way offend anyone. The plot was interesting and cute in its own way. Really, I'm not sure how else to describe it.
The pacing of the book wasn't bad at all, if anything I kept eagerly reading as I was doubly curious as to what would happen once Charlotte woke up. It was an interesting and somewhat realistic ending. Her reaction, anyway.
Character-wise, I was pretty satisfied with them. Ryan, our main guy, was written in nice way, and I didn't find myself having many problems with him. Sure, he spewed so many references from all over the place, but I dealt with it. He was obviously broken and a bit strange, and overall I really liked him. The only thing that slightly bothered me about him was the way that he spoke to his parents. It sounded very awkward to me each time, and I found myself slightly cringing trying to imagine the results for myself if I were to speak to my own parents in such a way. Eek.
I did like Ryan's parents, though. Weird as that sounds. I also enjoyed how they all came to terms with Molly's death.
Overall, Deadville was nice book. I wasn't completely blown away by it but I didn't exactly hate it either. To me it was a bit average and a nice way to pass time. The story was cute, and I really enjoyed how well the main character grew and dealt with the death of his sister. The language was fun and the pacing wasn't too bad. Before I mentioned that I thought that there was something missing. It probably wasn't missing anything. I was probably just waiting on something monumental and out of the blue to happen like all of the other YA books out there.
I'm not saying that this book needed any of that, just that it didn't knock my socks off. If anything it kindly matched them and put them away for me.
☆☆☆/5
Recommend?: If you want a short and cute read.