Review: Wonderful coming of age story!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 1, 2013
4.5 starsJason L'Estrange has tried to be 'normal' all his life. He wants to be accepted. He wants to be loved. As a teenager, he kept mostly to himself, dreaming of having lasting friendships and making something of himself. As an adult, he loses himself in drugs and alcohol, sad at what his life has become, but reluctant to accept his life is spiraling out of control.Brendan Spratt did a wonderful job of drawing me into the story and keeping me engaged until the very end. Although not usually a fan of flashback narratives, I found that it fit this story perfectly. My only complaint would be that the transitions lacked some kind of section break or identifying element as the fluctuations between the present and the past started happening within the same chapter. Other than that, I found that this story had the perfect combination of complex characters, range in emotions and realistic interpretation of events to make it a great debut novel.I loved how the author took me through the story, letting me know who Jason was - his thoughts and emotions - so that I could connect to him fully and understand where he was coming from. I found myself emotionally invested in Jason's well-being. I needed to see him make it through the hard times. I wanted him happy. I wanted him doing well.Lizzie and Ryan added to the story beautifully and although I wanted to smack them upside the head a time or two, I grew to cherish them as much as Jason did.I enjoyed his interactions with them and in the end was happy to see that they survived all their problems and kept their friendship going.Special Nobody is a heart-wrenching coming of age story that will tug at your emotions with every page you turn. By no means is this a light read, but it is an awesome read. My hope is that like me, you'll be drawn into Jason's journey, suffer through his past, yell at his mistakes and ultimately find joy at where he ends up.I received this title from the author in exchange of my honest opinion.