Review: Teenage Life
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 18, 2014
The older a person gets, it often feels like many people forget what life was like for their younger selves, what it feels like to be a child, or what living like a teenager is truly like. Antranig Dereyan was able to capture that feeling perfectly. While reading this novel I felt transported to my own high school, I felt like I was walking the halls of my old classrooms.The characters are simply wonderful, and are really fleshed out. I wanted to hug (or punch) several of them. All of the typical high school characters you expect are here, from the jock to the cheerleader, but they all have added wrinkles, new twists that take the story in unexpected directions.I gave up on trying to figure out where the story was going, the author managed to consistently elude my expectations, consistently keeping me on the edge of my seat. Would they make up? Would he get the nerve to ask her? I'm not sure how the author did it, but these normally tired clichés somehow felt fresh and new.The pacing was overall very decent. It is tight and precise when needed, but slower and more methodical when the story called for it. I especially like the fight sequence, I was somehow simultaneously inside Sev's head and a member of the audience at the same time. I had to reread the entire segment before I was able to move on.I was worried about the parts involving drugs, but the author was able to expertly weave them into the story so that it felt like a natural progression, not like a tacked on afterthought. It got a little darker than I personally like, but my tolerance for the topic is probably much higher than most.I'm not afraid to admit that I cried during a few later scenes, I'll avoid naming specifics to avoid spoilers, but needless to say the events rang a little to close to home for comfort. I wanted to laugh and scream at the same time. While not a perfect book, I highly recommend it, the ride is worth it.