Rebel Bully Geek Pariah by Erin Lange
The Blurb On The Back:
The rebel, the bully, the geek, the pariah.
These four were never destined to like each other. But they’re speeding down the motorway together. In a stolen police car. Running from the law …
Well, it’s one way to make friends …
Ever since she was badly scarred in an accident caused by her drug-addicted mother, 16-year-old Sam has been conscious about her appearance, hiding her scars beneath a hat and avoiding interaction with her peers. But her mum’s been sober now for four years and Sam marks each anniversary by recovering something her mum pawned or sold when she needed money to get high. When a violin dating from her mum’s failed music career is stolen by Andi (once the most popular girl in school but now a dreadlocked rebel who shoplifts for kicks), Sam follows her to a high school party that gets busted by the police. The girls make their escape with York (a former high school football player turned bully) and his younger brother Boston (an academic geek intent on getting into an Ivy League university) but in doing so manage to steal a police car, run over a cop and find themselves in possession of a very large amount of drugs. They’ve never even spoken to each other before tonight, but somehow they have to find a way to trust each other if they’re to make it through alive …
I picked this up because I really enjoyed Erin Lange’s previous YA novels BUTTER and DEAD ENDS and I was interested in the idea of a road trip playing out over one night. There are things that I enjoyed in this book - Sam is sensitively written - self-conscious about her scars and by turns disappointed in, angry at and loving to her mother (who is shown with all her flaws but who you are sure does love her daughter). Some of the best scenes in the book are where Sam is forced to confront how she is not as invisible at school as she thinks and the flashback scenes showing previous interactions with Boston, Andi and York are pithy and packed with emotional truth. Unfortunately Andi, York and Boston were (for me) thinly drawn to the point of being caricatures and ultimately the series of events drawing them together and driving the plot just don’t ring true, especially the ending where the sudden reveal of information was disappointing and Sam’s actions didn’t convince me. Ultimately it’s a novel that (for me) had some good moments but pulled its punches and didn’t make me believe in the story, although I’d definitely read what Lange writes next.
The Verdict:
I picked this up because I really enjoyed Erin Lange’s previous YA novels BUTTER and DEAD ENDS and I was interested in the idea of a road trip playing out over one night. There are things that I enjoyed in this book - Sam is sensitively written - self-conscious about her scars and by turns disappointed in, angry at and loving to her mother (who is shown with all her flaws but who you are sure does love her daughter). Some of the best scenes in the book are where Sam is forced to confront how she is not as invisible at school as she thinks and the flashback scenes showing previous interactions with Boston, Andi and York are pithy and packed with emotional truth. Unfortunately Andi, York and Boston were (for me) thinly drawn to the point of being caricatures and ultimately the series of events drawing them together and driving the plot just don’t ring true, especially the ending where the sudden reveal of information was disappointing and Sam’s actions didn’t convince me. Ultimately it’s a novel that (for me) had some good moments but pulled its punches and didn’t make me believe in the story, although I’d definitely read what Lange writes next.
Thanks to Faber & Faber for the review copy of this book.
The rebel, the bully, the geek, the pariah.
These four were never destined to like each other. But they’re speeding down the motorway together. In a stolen police car. Running from the law …
Well, it’s one way to make friends …
Ever since she was badly scarred in an accident caused by her drug-addicted mother, 16-year-old Sam has been conscious about her appearance, hiding her scars beneath a hat and avoiding interaction with her peers. But her mum’s been sober now for four years and Sam marks each anniversary by recovering something her mum pawned or sold when she needed money to get high. When a violin dating from her mum’s failed music career is stolen by Andi (once the most popular girl in school but now a dreadlocked rebel who shoplifts for kicks), Sam follows her to a high school party that gets busted by the police. The girls make their escape with York (a former high school football player turned bully) and his younger brother Boston (an academic geek intent on getting into an Ivy League university) but in doing so manage to steal a police car, run over a cop and find themselves in possession of a very large amount of drugs. They’ve never even spoken to each other before tonight, but somehow they have to find a way to trust each other if they’re to make it through alive …
I picked this up because I really enjoyed Erin Lange’s previous YA novels BUTTER and DEAD ENDS and I was interested in the idea of a road trip playing out over one night. There are things that I enjoyed in this book - Sam is sensitively written - self-conscious about her scars and by turns disappointed in, angry at and loving to her mother (who is shown with all her flaws but who you are sure does love her daughter). Some of the best scenes in the book are where Sam is forced to confront how she is not as invisible at school as she thinks and the flashback scenes showing previous interactions with Boston, Andi and York are pithy and packed with emotional truth. Unfortunately Andi, York and Boston were (for me) thinly drawn to the point of being caricatures and ultimately the series of events drawing them together and driving the plot just don’t ring true, especially the ending where the sudden reveal of information was disappointing and Sam’s actions didn’t convince me. Ultimately it’s a novel that (for me) had some good moments but pulled its punches and didn’t make me believe in the story, although I’d definitely read what Lange writes next.
The Verdict:
I picked this up because I really enjoyed Erin Lange’s previous YA novels BUTTER and DEAD ENDS and I was interested in the idea of a road trip playing out over one night. There are things that I enjoyed in this book - Sam is sensitively written - self-conscious about her scars and by turns disappointed in, angry at and loving to her mother (who is shown with all her flaws but who you are sure does love her daughter). Some of the best scenes in the book are where Sam is forced to confront how she is not as invisible at school as she thinks and the flashback scenes showing previous interactions with Boston, Andi and York are pithy and packed with emotional truth. Unfortunately Andi, York and Boston were (for me) thinly drawn to the point of being caricatures and ultimately the series of events drawing them together and driving the plot just don’t ring true, especially the ending where the sudden reveal of information was disappointing and Sam’s actions didn’t convince me. Ultimately it’s a novel that (for me) had some good moments but pulled its punches and didn’t make me believe in the story, although I’d definitely read what Lange writes next.
Thanks to Faber & Faber for the review copy of this book.