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A review by katykelly
The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith
5.0
I would still say to those considering this read 'Grasshopper Jungle' first, which still rates as one of my favourite YA reads of all time. But this is very close behind it in terms of intelligence, humour and inventiveness. Andrew Smith just doesn't seem to think like other people, structure like other people, or invent characters like other people.
Like Grasshopper Jungle, we have disparate time streams that seem completely unrelated, that are in fact, closely linked by the end of the story. Like Grasshopper Jungle, you will also need a sense of humour about 'rude bits', this time it's not so much sex itself as a... solo act that is referenced constantly. If you're easily offended, don't read Andrew Smith.
The main plot strand follows Ariel in two segments of his life. Right now, he's living with his adoptive parents and brother in West Virginia, where the two of them (very reluctantly) have been shipped for the summer to a detox camp for techno-junkies (neither of them fall into this category). Most of the story takes place here. We also see why Ariel has been adopted. On his 14th birthday, he becomes a refugee as the sole survivor of an attack on his village, where he manages to escape by hiding inside a refrigerator for several days before being discovered. This section of the book does get quite upsetting, but Smith tells it very well, with Ariel's voice telling his history to his new and unwilling brother.
I wasn't sure at the start if I was going to like this effort from Smith. I felt confused at the change in narrative, as we are also sent back to an Arctic expedition gone wrong a hundred years ago through the diary of one of the men stuck in the ice. But I was soon won round. The boys at camp are hilarious, the wordplay, their misadventures, it's very very funny.
And the storyline that seems completely unrelated about yet another character, called enigmatically The Melting Man. Well, he is connected to it all, and is possibly the craziest character in a book I've ever come across. Channelling the voice of Josef Stalin telling him to kill everyone, his face literally melting off from the chemicals he's toting around, taking orders from his SatNav. Batty but brilliant.
And of course, there's a suicidal (reincarnated) crow that is also instrumental in tying together all the plot threads. In some ways it's as much a pleasure discovering connections between the strands as it is to read the book, but it really is another witty YA read that adults will love too. Surreal in a Douglas Adams-esque way, blackly humorous in a Catch 22-way.
My favourite segments were those at camp, with the tech-addicts and Ariel. But the whole thing is a delight to read. Occasionally brutal (some sexual violence may be best avoided by younger teenagers) but it's clever, hilarious and mind-bending.
Review of a Netgalley advance copy.
Like Grasshopper Jungle, we have disparate time streams that seem completely unrelated, that are in fact, closely linked by the end of the story. Like Grasshopper Jungle, you will also need a sense of humour about 'rude bits', this time it's not so much sex itself as a... solo act that is referenced constantly. If you're easily offended, don't read Andrew Smith.
The main plot strand follows Ariel in two segments of his life. Right now, he's living with his adoptive parents and brother in West Virginia, where the two of them (very reluctantly) have been shipped for the summer to a detox camp for techno-junkies (neither of them fall into this category). Most of the story takes place here. We also see why Ariel has been adopted. On his 14th birthday, he becomes a refugee as the sole survivor of an attack on his village, where he manages to escape by hiding inside a refrigerator for several days before being discovered. This section of the book does get quite upsetting, but Smith tells it very well, with Ariel's voice telling his history to his new and unwilling brother.
I wasn't sure at the start if I was going to like this effort from Smith. I felt confused at the change in narrative, as we are also sent back to an Arctic expedition gone wrong a hundred years ago through the diary of one of the men stuck in the ice. But I was soon won round. The boys at camp are hilarious, the wordplay, their misadventures, it's very very funny.
And the storyline that seems completely unrelated about yet another character, called enigmatically The Melting Man. Well, he is connected to it all, and is possibly the craziest character in a book I've ever come across. Channelling the voice of Josef Stalin telling him to kill everyone, his face literally melting off from the chemicals he's toting around, taking orders from his SatNav. Batty but brilliant.
And of course, there's a suicidal (reincarnated) crow that is also instrumental in tying together all the plot threads. In some ways it's as much a pleasure discovering connections between the strands as it is to read the book, but it really is another witty YA read that adults will love too. Surreal in a Douglas Adams-esque way, blackly humorous in a Catch 22-way.
My favourite segments were those at camp, with the tech-addicts and Ariel. But the whole thing is a delight to read. Occasionally brutal (some sexual violence may be best avoided by younger teenagers) but it's clever, hilarious and mind-bending.
Review of a Netgalley advance copy.