Review: Profoundly optimistic
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 16, 2012
I picked up this book while it was free for Kindle; I feel like I should pay for it retroactively.  It's well-written, basically free of errors in punctuation and spelling (a huge pet peeve among readers of free Kindle content) and well worth the time to read.  My only caveat came with some tiny flaws in how he spoke about music (the notes C and B-sharp are two names for the same thing, almost no one composes in C-flat because that's another name for B.  But most folks neither know nor care about that kind of minutia.)Other reviewers have mentioned how appealing the protagonist is, and I heartily agree, but what stayed with me after concluding the book was its optimism.  When the main character, his circle of friends and acquaintances, his school, and his town are all facing some genuine setbacks (and the main character has a doozy) we readers aren't subjected to bitterness and bathos.  Often, the characters take action to address their situation - sometimes ill-advised, sometimes comical, but always motivated by honesty or a desire to do better.  I thank and congratulate Mr. Lawley for creating this caliber of YA literature - I'm about to go find something else he's written so I can actually buy his work this time.