Overall review: Now that I've reached the end, I understand why people hate Eldon. He is definitely an easy character to despise but Sedoti does this on purpose. In her biography, she specifically writes that she loves writing about angsty teens who are misunderstood and just don't want to grow up. Introduce: Eldon. He's a giant a**hole but I liked him and, no, it's not because I'm a giant a**hole myself but because it makes Eldon REAL.
If you're the type of reader who needs a book to have a lot of events and "things that happen" then this book is NOT for you. I could almost classify this book as a "400-page-book-where-nothing-happens" but it's because Sedoti looks more at character development, analyzing simple questions that aren't so simple, and the lasting effects of decisions we make when we're still young, naive, and unprepared for the future.
As a 30-year old woman, I have further insight into this book than my junior high students might have while reading this. I have the hindsight to see what decisions I've made when I was much younger and to contemplate how differently my life would be if I followed other paths. So, I think this book is great for young adults but also for adults even though we are all in different places in our lives at those separate ages.
If you're the type of reader who needs a book to have a lot of events and "things that happen" then this book is NOT for you. I could almost classify this book as a "400-page-book-where-nothing-happens" but it's because Sedoti looks more at character development, analyzing simple questions that aren't so simple, and the lasting effects of decisions we make when we're still young, naive, and unprepared for the future.
As a 30-year old woman, I have further insight into this book than my junior high students might have while reading this. I have the hindsight to see what decisions I've made when I was much younger and to contemplate how differently my life would be if I followed other paths. So, I think this book is great for young adults but also for adults even though we are all in different places in our lives at those separate ages.