Owen Matthews (2)

The Fixes was like Heathers in novel form, with the same tone: very fun, black comedy, and I really enjoyed it. Eric gets sucked into a group called the Suicide Pack, which aims to right the wrongs within a town filled with rich, privileged kids. The problem? This is usually done through crime, and even though Eric buys into the glamour (and the group leader, Jordan's affections) things go horribly wrong.

So this was a blast to read and it was very short, despite the page count being long - most of the chapters were one page, and a lot were only a couple lines long, so it was fun to just tear through. I think it really fits the tone of the book as well. I liked the characters, especially the Suicide Pack, who were all mostly pretty complex and well-realized characters. Jordan especially - you don't see how dangerous he is until it's too late, and he's definitely written as a Typical Love Interest and ensnares readers as well as Eric.

Another thing I'm glad about is that this gives Eric consequences for what he did, unlike Heathers, because they really did get up into some terrible shit. It was fun though. Accidental murder is always an interesting thing to read about.… (más)

Eric is driven and trying to achieve the perfect "Connelly Man" standards. When he meets Jordan, he is smitten. He joins Jordan and two other girls from school in a group called the Suicide Pack. Unbelievably privileged, the group come up with fixes to right the wrongs they perceive in their community. These fixes get bigger and bigger and increasingly dangerous and illegal. When Eric realizes how far Jordan is willing to go, he has to make some decisions about where he'll draw the line and what he'll do to stop the boy he's fallen for.
The book is written in short chapters and the pace of the action moves. Asides in parentheses pepper the text and the narrator (along with the reader) can see that tragedy is ahead for many of the characters.
An enjoyable read with a lot of edge.… (más)

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: This was an easy read and I related to the main character.

Opening Sentence: Adam Higgs is a loser.

The Review:

Adam Higgs is a loser. His brother, Sam Higgs, is a cripple. The only one in the family that is getting what she wants is their sister, a freshman, already the top of the food chain at their new high school. Adam is ready to become popular, and with a few parties and more than a few risks, he thinks he can be upgraded from Pizza Man to The Man. He’ll step on a few people. But nothing will get in his way.

I’ve been in a contemporary phase, which means I’ve been tearing through this genre. This also means this is the last of my review books that is contemporary, so I can no longer be productive about my contemporary binging. Sigh. Since I do follow Twitter, I was surprised to see that no one I followed had read it before me. Weird. I had no expectations except the Goodreads reviews, which were generally complementary. Therefore, I had a lot of hope riding on this book, which I saved for last, a final contemporary. I am happy to report back to you that I finished all five hundred pages within a few hours. It was good — very good. I’m going to let everyone know that this is definitely worth the read.

This book was an interesting form of prose. The style was third person. Usually, that might turn me off, as first person allows more connection with the character, in my opinion. But for this story it was definitely the right course of action! Anyway, the writing was like poetry in the uneven spacing and sometimes fragmented thoughts. I loved it. I have to admit, those five hundred pages (seven hundred on my e-reader), were it condensed to normal paragraph form, would have been shortened considerably. No one should be turned off by the size of the book. I promise, it isn’t as daunting as it first appears. The poetic writing style was raw, simple, but touching. It could break me with a single sentence.

In the book, Adam goes from loser to the most popular in school with a series of steps. He takes chances — he takes risks. I liked that about the character, that he was nervous, but not nervous enough to back down. Now, from a student’s point of view, a lot of what he did was not moral or ethical (in any way, shape, or form.) He does a lot of stuff I did not approve of. It starts off as a goal — he needed to get to the top, he needed to prove that he was more than a loser, but by the end, it was more of an obsession. The more harmless tricks he’s using to get in with the crowd get tossed aside for worse things — stealing finals, selling drugs. Strangely enough, I still found him likeable. One thing that I wish that the book had delivered better was development. He doesn’t really learn his lesson until the last ten pages, and even then, it isn’t fully explained what he’s learned.

Altogether, this book pleasantly surprised me in it’s interesting narrative form and well-paced plotline. I liked the subplot of Adam’s brother, Sam. He started out as Adam’s motivation to become more popular and well-liked. Then he became an excuse, as his risks became, well, riskier — “I’m doing it for Sam!” One of the moments for me that made me the most angry, the most disappointed, was a scene with Sam. But this book definitely toyed with my feelings, and it did it well. I think that people who enjoyed Falling Into Place (a novel with a character that can be considered unlikeable, and a popularity pyramid similar to Adam’s) might find a good read in How to Win at High School as well!

Notable Scene:

a) He doesn’t really want to hurt anyone.

b) He doesn’t really want to be dead.

That destructive shit, it’s the wrong vibe. Not even an option. It’s like, your thirsty, you don’t blow up the water fountain. You sure as hell don’t slit your wrists.

You’re thirsty? You fucking fight your way up to that water fountain and you drink, motherfucker. You quench your thirst.

Adam’s thirsty.

He’s ready to drink.

FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of How to Win at High School. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.… (más)