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A review by cornmaven
The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle
3.0
Remarkable book with one exception. It's a fabulously written coming-of-age centering around Quinn, a teen whose passion is writing movie screenplays, but who must navigate his sister's untimely death from a car wreck (as a result of texting him), his mother's disintegration over her death, and his fear about coming out as gay (even though everyone knows he is).
Loved the writing, loved the typical teen boy approach to life, loved the whole journey Quinn goes through, including refusing to use his cell phone again, among other things. His lifelong friend, Geoff, is amazing and totally loyal. I enjoyed the insertion of Quinn's fantasizing as actual screenplays.
I dropped it down a star because I just did not like part of the portrayal of his relationship with Amir, the college student who flirts with him, and basically takes advantage of Quinn's naivete and innocence. Amir is really a jerk and wants to be controlling. Quinn eventually figures that out, but I thought it irresponsible for Federle to include a sexual encounter between them that did not also include a condom, however realistic it might have been.
Loved the writing, loved the typical teen boy approach to life, loved the whole journey Quinn goes through, including refusing to use his cell phone again, among other things. His lifelong friend, Geoff, is amazing and totally loyal. I enjoyed the insertion of Quinn's fantasizing as actual screenplays.
I dropped it down a star because I just did not like part of the portrayal of his relationship with Amir, the college student who flirts with him, and basically takes advantage of Quinn's naivete and innocence. Amir is really a jerk and wants to be controlling. Quinn eventually figures that out, but I thought it irresponsible for Federle to include a sexual encounter between them that did not also include a condom, however realistic it might have been.