Review: Intriguing Characters
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 10, 2012
This was a fast read, yet I found myself thinking about it long after I finished the book. Ted can't wait to hang out with his big brother Truck and his friends, but soon finds that the party atmosphere he was looking forward to has a darker underbelly. Ted's adoration is palpable, and I loved how Truck protected his younger brother, but Truck ended up being a much more complex character. I grew up in a city (suburbs actually) and the small-town life in this book was not the nostalgic friendly life usually depicted but seemed more gritty and desperate. You sensed the frustration of teens with little future prospects. At first, the contest seemed a little silly to me, but then I realized that the competition represented an accomplishment where there were few opportunities (besides sports) to excel. This was totally a boys' book -- the female characters were the saddest for me, existing only as props for the males in the story, and yet Truck's girlfriend and Ted's crush Kallea were the most sympathetic characters. I didn't know this was a movie, but I will have to check it out.