January 15, 2015
Myers is one of the most celebrated YA authors of all time. He especially appeals to adolescent boys, making him all the more valuable in my eyes. The only other text I've read by him was the highly-acclaimed Monster, and I appreciated the unique structure of that particular story, and the ambiguity of the main character's innocence. A couple of my students read the text I'm reviewing somewhat recently, and were enthusiastic about it. So when I was choosing my classroom book, and spotted this laying aside in our school library, I gave it a shot. I was unpleasantly surprised. This is the worst book I've read in a while.
Now, the themes of this book are rather poignant: teen drug use, trying to live in two different worlds (a theme covered masterfully in Sherman Alexie's YA gem, the semi-autobiographical The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian). But the main plot points are implausible to me. Myers fills the narration with so much flowery imagery that I came to think of Anthony, the first-person protagonist, as a shmuck at best (though "whiny little pussy" would be more accurate); Myers should have focused on crafting a much more solid story.
First off, Anthony seems pretty naïve for having grown up in Harlem. I don't even get why he and his parents, who both seem to have decent jobs, even live there. If they wanted a better life for their son, why throw so much money into a single year at an out-of-state boarding school, and instead send him to a prep school in the city, of which there are many? Anthony must be academically gifted, though this is never mentioned. At all. His going to Wallingford is important, but the how and the why of it apparently are not. I also don't get how Anthony feels so uncomfortable in Harlem after only a few months away, while he never seemed to feel as uncomfortable around his wealthier classmates, so far from home. What's his deal?
Secondly, I hated Gabi, his girlfriend, more than any other character, and none were particularly likable. Her sudden drug usage (and heroin at that) doesn't ring true to me. Which essentially is the whole conflict right there, Anthony trying to reconnect with her and help her get clean. Their love doesn't seem like it will survive, either. Gabi goes to rehab and gets a job in a stockroom, while Anthony begins his studies at Brown. They're truly in two different worlds now. Plus Gabi isn't ready to give it up, and Anthony's a young man in college, so...then again, he is a whiny little pussy, so never mind.
I joked to a colleague that our students are into some emo books, and this one was as melodramatic as they come. It could have been good if it had focused exclusively on Anthony's identity issues, or on Gabi's brother. A young teen in Harlem with a dying mother and an absent father turning to gangs and drugs seems more realistic, but it was barely a plot point. But his older sister, with a scholarship to Columbia, throwing it all away? The plot was so poorly constructed that I couldn't believe that.
I understand that "the Beast" is real, anywhere and everywhere. This book could have sent a positive message. It could have been compelling. But it wasn't. I described this book as "kinda shitty" to that same colleague, and I stand by my assessment.
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