anvos

Cameron has been coasting through high school and life in general. Right up until he's diagnosed with Mad Cow disease. The coarse of the disease is quick and brutal and within weeks he's in the hospital and failing fast. When an angel in fishnet tights with punk rock hair and pink tinged wings shows up in Cam's hospital room talking about the world's strangest road trip and a possible cure he's ready to listen. After all, why lie around waiting to die when he could take off on a roadtrip with his hospital roomie, Gonzo the hypochondriac dwarf, bent on a mission to save the world and find a parallel world traveling doctor who just might have the cure for Mad Cow disease. This is one of those books I picked up without ever having read the back cover and with no idea about the story inside. I loved Libba Bray's three previous books so this one seemed like a safe bet. I am glad I went into it blind - it made the story more interesting and kept me guessing throughout. Having said that however, this book is a complete and utter departure from the Gemma Doyle books in every way. The tone is different, the setting, the characters and the feel. It says something about Bray's talent as a writer that she so easily switches genres and styles. The good: Bray is a genius at characterization. That is what makes this book. Cameron, Gonzo, Balder, Dulcie - all of them leap off the page and come alive as you're reading. They draw you in and make you care. Sometimes they had me laughing and sometimes I wanted to yell at them and occasionally they were busy twisting my heart into knots. The humor is satirical and biting throughout and there were lots of things that had me laughing. Bray's description is very detailed and vividly paints a picture of the world's craziest road trip. The ongoing themes in the book, such as the snow globes, Rad soda, Disney, the Coyote & Roadrunner are at once binding threads and occasionally annoying intrusions. The bad: Bray is rather long winded. Her previous books, especially "The Sweet, Far Thing," also suffered a bit from too much padding. The story could have been cut and some scenes left out. In general, 70% of the book is taken up by Cameron's road trip and the sheer volume of pages feels disproportionate to the amount of time that passes in the story. At times it's hard to follow what is happening in the story and the underlying story and message can feel at once obvious and muddy. I have a feeling this is one of those books that would do well in book discussion and in-depth analysis of the themes, sub-plots, symbolism and meaning. I feel like there is so much more going on in the book then I got in a single read-through. I may have to take a second pass at this book. SPOILERS BELOW 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The ending could be inferred from much of the subtext in the story and in some ways I almost want to call foul on it for falling into the "it was all a dream" trap. And yet. One of the points made is that reality is what we make it. So was the roadtrip a reality for Cameron? Is it any less real because the journey happened in his mind rather than in real life? Is Dulcie just part of his dying brain's hallucination or a real angel sent to comfort him? There's no way to tell. I find the book oddly appealing and poignant in its awkwardness, satirical humor and rambling style. Somehow the book feels like Cameron's personality incarnate and there's a lot of sarcasm, a lot of cursing, a few insights and occasional bursts of wonder.

2022-10-14 04:46