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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
That slang, man. It took FOREVER to understand what the author was saying. And when I did, I didn't care. The story was interesting enough and fun and funny, but when you toss in an awful romance, and twisted plot twist, and unremarkable characters, the story falls flat.
DNF @ 12%.
I admire Beaudoin for being brave and really embracing a highly stylized form of writing. This leans into the neo-noir style so heavily it almost feels like a parody. I think this could have worked better in a short story or novella, but it is hard to sustain an entire book on style without substance.
Dalton Rev is a high school private eye who has transferred to Salt River High to solve the mystery of Wesley Payne's death. It's been ruled a suicide, but Dalton suspects it was a murder.
Salt River High is an absurdist version of a high school. It doesn't just have cliques - it has cliques that work like mob factions. And it doesn't just have ineffectual teachers - the teacher are regularly bought off by the students and the "Lee Harvies" (i.e., Lee Harvey Oswald, President Kennedy's assassin) keep the peace with their sniping skills. This book came out in 2011 when perhaps school shootings were not quite as frequent. But in a world of active shooter drills starting in elementary school, it is a little uncomfortable to have such casual gun violence starting in the first chapter.
There is a lot of made-up slang in the book, with passages like this:
"LEE HARVIES!" someone yelled, and there was chaos, more shots picking up the dirt in pairs, friends and enemies scattering. Plaths formed a black beret phalanx. Sis Boom Bahs circled like tight-sweatered chickens. The Balls dragged a groggy Chuff into the locker room as everyone shielded their heads, ducking into the relative safety of the school.
On the one hand, the creativity is high and some of the clique names are softly amusing, on the other hand, I just want a mystery, not to stretch my brain on new slang.
The women in this book also suffer horribly from the neo noir world - in classic noir style they are all gams and bad news. Even the principal is described thusly: "She was wearing a tight red dress that showed off considerable leadership talents." It's true to the noir genre, but it's eye-roll producing nonetheless.
Beaudoin does an excellent job with the neo noir style, and if you are looking for an absurdist noir, this book is for you. But the style isn't my thing and the pacing was too slow - at 12% it was just a bunch of people posturing and cracking witticisms at each other. I want a faster pace in a mystery.
I admire Beaudoin for being brave and really embracing a highly stylized form of writing. This leans into the neo-noir style so heavily it almost feels like a parody. I think this could have worked better in a short story or novella, but it is hard to sustain an entire book on style without substance.
Dalton Rev is a high school private eye who has transferred to Salt River High to solve the mystery of Wesley Payne's death. It's been ruled a suicide, but Dalton suspects it was a murder.
Salt River High is an absurdist version of a high school. It doesn't just have cliques - it has cliques that work like mob factions. And it doesn't just have ineffectual teachers - the teacher are regularly bought off by the students and the "Lee Harvies" (i.e., Lee Harvey Oswald, President Kennedy's assassin) keep the peace with their sniping skills. This book came out in 2011 when perhaps school shootings were not quite as frequent. But in a world of active shooter drills starting in elementary school, it is a little uncomfortable to have such casual gun violence starting in the first chapter.
There is a lot of made-up slang in the book, with passages like this:
"LEE HARVIES!" someone yelled, and there was chaos, more shots picking up the dirt in pairs, friends and enemies scattering. Plaths formed a black beret phalanx. Sis Boom Bahs circled like tight-sweatered chickens. The Balls dragged a groggy Chuff into the locker room as everyone shielded their heads, ducking into the relative safety of the school.
On the one hand, the creativity is high and some of the clique names are softly amusing, on the other hand, I just want a mystery, not to stretch my brain on new slang.
The women in this book also suffer horribly from the neo noir world - in classic noir style they are all gams and bad news. Even the principal is described thusly: "She was wearing a tight red dress that showed off considerable leadership talents." It's true to the noir genre, but it's eye-roll producing nonetheless.
Beaudoin does an excellent job with the neo noir style, and if you are looking for an absurdist noir, this book is for you. But the style isn't my thing and the pacing was too slow - at 12% it was just a bunch of people posturing and cracking witticisms at each other. I want a faster pace in a mystery.
So, I wanted to read this book b/c the author will be at TLA. It is an interesting premise, but if I need a glossary to keep your characters straight, you might have made things too complicated. I still don't know who killed Wesely Payne, but he is better off dead than in the pages of this novel.
This book was good fun to read, you can always tell when an author is enjoying toying with the reader and digging deep into their own world. I kept picturing this novel as a movie, it'd be wacky and wild to watch but I'm sure I'd love it just as much.
This book was...unusual, to say the least. If you're expecting a simple, easy-to-follow detective story, then I would turn away right now. You killed Wesley Payne is a great story, but the style of language used - some call it neo-noir - makes the plot somewhat hard to follow. You kind of have to leave your expectations at the door when reading this book; it becomes clear that the rampant corruption and racketeering of the cliques at the school is meant to be overexaggerated and definitely not reflective of real life. If you manage to get past the craziness, then there is a somewhat sweet story and a compelling mystery underneath.
This book was recommended to me by a fourth grader in my Middle School Book Club. He has nearly impeccable taste, so I gave it a go.
It's really fun (sort of reminded me of the movie Brick, but less of a downer). It has a bit of a comic book feel to it too--in the way that everything goes.
It's really fun (sort of reminded me of the movie Brick, but less of a downer). It has a bit of a comic book feel to it too--in the way that everything goes.
What an interesting book! I've never read a noir-style detective novel written specifically for young adults. I enjoyed the novelty of it, but I do wonder if very many of my students will recognize/understand Beaudoin's noir style. I enjoyed the witty sarcasm and all of the extra information at the back of the book about slang and the cliques. I would recommend this to YA guys and girls who enjoy a good mystery but also understand and appreciate a healthy dose of irony. Hopefully there will be another Dalton Rev book to look forward to - I'll certainly read it!
Like a lot of other readers of this book, much of the comedic elements and references were so obscure that the cumbersome glossary was necessary to understand the plot of the novel. I felt that the mystery was well thought out and exciting yet I struggled to get past the jargon and references that I didn't understand. I guess the teenage "slang" was meant to be part of the charm of the book but for me, it interfered with the plot and made it more difficult to understand.
However, this was definitely a unique book - partly because I had no idea that it was meant to be dystopia. I didn't understand how any high school or city could be run by a bunch of corrupt teenagers. But once I understood that it wasn't supposed to be completely realistic, I could focus on the plot more.
I did enjoy the complexity of Dalton's character. He is vulnerable and scared, and not afraid to admit his faults to himself. Each character was thoroughly involved in the mystery of the story, making it worthwhile to understand and read about them.
Overall, this was a intriguing book with many surprising twists that got bogged down by the technobabble.
However, this was definitely a unique book - partly because I had no idea that it was meant to be dystopia. I didn't understand how any high school or city could be run by a bunch of corrupt teenagers. But once I understood that it wasn't supposed to be completely realistic, I could focus on the plot more.
I did enjoy the complexity of Dalton's character. He is vulnerable and scared, and not afraid to admit his faults to himself. Each character was thoroughly involved in the mystery of the story, making it worthwhile to understand and read about them.
Overall, this was a intriguing book with many surprising twists that got bogged down by the technobabble.
This is a really sophisticated YA book. Beaudoin has crafted an homage to Mickey Spillane-like detective novels, a brutal look at the clique world of HS, an exposition of how teenagers actually live in two different worlds (that of HS and the 'normal' world of home), and an identity lesson all in one book.
The writing is extremely clever, as Beaudoin not only created the characters that interact, but a fictional detective and HIS creator as well, and then was able to maintain everything throughout the book. His clique names, were a hoot. As a mainstream mystery lover, I really got a kick out of all of that. And how could you not love a book that has Harvard offering a Danielle Steel Creative Writing Scholarship?
But I most appreciated all the literary references, within the clique names themselves, the dialogue,and the inner thought processes of Dalton Rev. AP HS students would recognize some of it, educated adults will recognize more; when Beaudoin throws in a reference to the Picasso Guernica painting, I thought, well, he certainly isn't writing to the lowest common denominator. The good thing is that he includes a glossary in the back, not only of the slang terms thrown around in the book, but all the Guernica like stuff he included, so anyone reading can get a nice education just from this book. And the glossary,too, is a hoot: Beaudoin's Chernobyl definition had me in stitches, but it was so true as well. Reminded me a lot of John Green's history lesson videos.
The story itself was wonderful, as were the characters. Good or bad, they stuck in your mind. Some were stereotypes, but that was by design.
Well worth the reading time.
The writing is extremely clever, as Beaudoin not only created the characters that interact, but a fictional detective and HIS creator as well, and then was able to maintain everything throughout the book. His clique names, were a hoot. As a mainstream mystery lover, I really got a kick out of all of that. And how could you not love a book that has Harvard offering a Danielle Steel Creative Writing Scholarship?
But I most appreciated all the literary references, within the clique names themselves, the dialogue,and the inner thought processes of Dalton Rev. AP HS students would recognize some of it, educated adults will recognize more; when Beaudoin throws in a reference to the Picasso Guernica painting, I thought, well, he certainly isn't writing to the lowest common denominator. The good thing is that he includes a glossary in the back, not only of the slang terms thrown around in the book, but all the Guernica like stuff he included, so anyone reading can get a nice education just from this book. And the glossary,too, is a hoot: Beaudoin's Chernobyl definition had me in stitches, but it was so true as well. Reminded me a lot of John Green's history lesson videos.
The story itself was wonderful, as were the characters. Good or bad, they stuck in your mind. Some were stereotypes, but that was by design.
Well worth the reading time.
The style, names and plot are agressive, but I thought they were fun. Some good twists that I wasn't expecting, including the actual murderer, Dalton's partner, and what he was taking the casework for.
I can get into this style, but you probably have to be in the right mood for this in-your-face, slang-ridden, over-the-top story.
Death, weapons, suicide, drugs, corruption.
I can get into this style, but you probably have to be in the right mood for this in-your-face, slang-ridden, over-the-top story.
Death, weapons, suicide, drugs, corruption.