Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys

Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys

Author: Kate Brian
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
Release Date: Sept. 2006

Series: Stand alone title

Megan Meade has had it with the constant moving around that comes with having professional Army parents. When they announce yet another transfer, this time to South Korea!, Megan finally puts her foot down. She determines to stay in the US to finish her last two years of school. Her parents agree, but with a catch. Megan must live with family friends, a family that includes seven boys.

At first Megan looks at the prospect of having seven instant "brothers" as a chance to learn a little something about the male species. But the McGowan boys don't exactly welcome her with open arms. The youngest brothers, Ian and Caleb, feel free to go through her things, vandalize her clothing, and sabotage her bike. Middle twins Miller and Doug come with their own problems, Miller's in the form of Aspergers Syndrome and Doug's with a giant chip on his shoulder and a determination to hate Megan no matter what she does. Older brothers Evan and Finn show some promise. Evan looks like he's stepped off the pages of an Abercrombie catalog and Megan is immediately smitten. Finn offers a steady friendship that becomes a rock Megan finds herself leaning on more and more. And oldest brother Sean barely exists as part of the family.

Things become even more complicated when Megan becomes embroiled in the ongoing drama between Evan and his long time girlfriend - and Megan's soccer team rival - Hailey. Even though Megan feels like she has a home at her new school with new friends and a promising soccer season ahead, her home life is a constant battle as she tries to be accepted by the McGowan boys.

First, while the premise of this book hooked me almost immediately, it nearly became a wall-banger simply because the set-up of the situation contained the biggest plot hole I've ever encountered. Ostensibly, Megan does not want to move to South Korea when her parents are reassigned because she doesn't want to leave her friends, her crush, and her winning soccer team. This makes perfect sense. However, Megan's parents' solution is to ship her from Texas to Boston, Mass. to live with the McGowans. WTF? She didn't want to leave her current school and the life she had made, yet author Kate Brian has her moving across the country where she is the new girl who has to start all over again anyway.

I get that there is a big difference in moving within the US versus to a completely different country, but this incongruity really frustrated me. As the story unfolded, I understood why Brian need the McGowans to be strangers to Megan - something that would not have been the case had the family lived in Texas. And I honestly don't have a better solution to the problem, one that would keep Megan at her own school yet introduce the McGowans as people she's never met or doesn't have any history with. Believe me, as I writer I struggle with these kind of plot/premise problems all the time. Thankfully, the story was good enough that I forgave this beginning hiccup.

The best part of this book by far is that Brian did not do the expected. From simply knowing the premise - teen girl moves into a house with seven brothers - one might expect a lot of Mary Sueing and romance and perfect people all over the place. One thing the McGowan brothers are not is perfect. Yes, Evan is extremely handsome. But as Megan begins to play a role in his relationship with girlfriend Hailey, Evan turns into a very unlikeable character.

Too, middle brother Doug is presented up front to be belligerent and resentful of Megan's presence. He's angry that he's been made to give up his room to accommodate her, but as the story continues it becomes clear that he has deeper issues. Even when Megan goes out on a limb to help him, Doug continues to be nasty to her. He's usually at the center of the boys' efforts to gang up against Megan and freeze her out.

While brother Finn shows a lot of promise, I wish he'd been given more screen time and chance for us - the readers - to get to know him better. An artist, Finn becomes Megan's only ally and the course of their relationship is pretty clear even if it takes Megan a while to open her eyes. However, the ending of the story leaves things a tiny bit ambiguous.

Brother Miller is given some interesting treatment. As a person with Aspergers, Miller is hard to get to know, has compulsions that must be respected, and is at first wary of Megan because she represents change. But Megan persists in finding a way to befriend Miller. Their interactions are very sweet.

The three other brothers - the two youngest and oldest Sean - are only barely sketched and there mostly to cause problems for Megan. I wish Sean, especially, had been given a more significant role. As it was, the story could have been told just as well with only four brothers rather than seven.

Megan herself was an even character. She tended to be a tad bit too self-sacrificing and put up with a lot of crap from the boys with nary a complaint to anyone other than expressing her own internal frustration. In some ways she was too good to be true, forgiving and understanding where I think most teen girls would have been a lot more resentful and vindictive. Many times in the story I wanted her to lose her cool, especially in the face of what Evan did to her, because she certainly didn't deserve the treatment those boys dished out in spades. However, she proved that she could stand up for herself especially on the soccer field.

As for romance, there is a bit of the forbidden injected into the entire situation especially after John and Regina lay down the law that as long as Megan is living with them, she and the boys must treat each other like brothers and sister. It is not said explicitly but any romantic overtures between Megan and the older boys are strictly verbotten. Of course, knowing there are rules against it doesn't mean that feelings can be ignored, and problems do crop up when those feelings are acted upon.

One issue I had was with the McGowan parents, John and Regina. For the most part, they remained in the background. A little too much, actually. When the younger boys were vandalizing Megan's things and Doug was getting into trouble and smarting off to his mother, the parents showed no effort in discipline. However, when first Evan and Megan and then Finn and Megan come home late at night, they are grounded immediately. Too, Regina and John came off as rather clueless in how their sons were treating Megan. If I had boys who acted the way the McGowan brothers did at times, I'd be horrified.

The story is very good, although to talk about it is to risk revealing too much. There are several twists and turns that I did not see coming. Again I commend Kate Brian for taking a unique approach to the situation rather than the more predictable one. Yes, Megan does develop a crush on one of the brothers, and it does seem for a while like he will return her affections. But just like Megan, the reader is both surprised and frustrated by the events that unfold.

Other than the initial issue I had with the story set-up, this is a great book. I didn't want it to end which is the highest compliment I can give.

Rating: Couldn't Put It Down

Plan B

Plan B
Author: Jenny O'Connell
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/MTV
Release Date: March, 2006

Vanessa Carlisle is a planner, and the next year of her life has been plotted to the last second. Finish senior year at private high school Cabot Academy. Get acceptance into Yale. Spend the summer traveling around Europe with her best friend, Taylor. Then head to Yale, where she'll join her boyfriend, Patrick, who already attends as a freshman. She's dotted every i and crossed every T.

What Vanessa doesn't plan for, however, is learning that she has a half-brother who not only is coming to live with them and attend Cabot High, but just so happens to be a bad-boy TV star. Reed Vaughn has gotten into trouble one time too many, and his mother sends him to Chicago to gain some new perspective. Which means Vanessa must go from only child to sharing the spotlight with a Hollywood star.

From the outset, Vanessa resents Reed. She doesn't want him to come, she knows she isn't going to like him, and she determines she's not going to let his presence change one thing about her life. However, she soon finds that her carefully laid plans start to unravel.

The premise of this book - finding out you have a brother who happens to be a famous TV star - really drew me in. I couldn't wait to see how Vanessa handled the sudden fame, dealing with starstruck friends, and maybe even learning that Reed was just a normal teenage guy deep down.
However, Reed remained pretty much a background character throughout the entire story. We never get to know much about him or how he feels about moving to Chicago or what he thinks about being a star. In fact, Reed comes across as a pretty decent guy, and I felt rather sorry for him when nearly every guy at Cabot treats him like a threat and the only friend he seems to make is the one girl at school who doesn't own a television.

Too, Vanessa's immediate and inexplicable hatred toward Reed is never fully explained or justified. From the minute she learns about Reed, she determines that he will be nothing but a problem for her. She treats him rudely at best and is outright disloyal and cruel at other times. However, I never found Reed's behaviour towards Vanessa to be anything deserving of such hostility. In truth, she often comes across as a spoiled brat, far more of a diva than Reed. I can't say that I ever liked Vanessa or felt sorry for her situation because I never fully understood her problems to begin with.

A big part of the story focused on Vanessa's attempts to continue her relationship with boyfriend Patrick, who was attending Yale as a freshman. Unfortunately, every twist and turn this storyline followed was completely predictable.

Vanessa's journey throughout the story involves her ability to accept that sometimes things don't always go according to plan, and sometimes that opens doors for things to be better. While learning to live with an unexpected sibling requires Vanessa to adapt, I'm not sure that Reed was the catalyst to her changes. Over the course of the story, she experiences troubles with Patrick that had nothing to do with Reed. Ultimately, Vanessa fights against accepting Reed as a part of her life, and I would argue that she only barely concedes to this situation. She doesn't change because she's learned anything from Reed. She changes because she realizes she has no other choice. Ultimately, her Grand Plan is only affected slightly.

One question I had after reading the story was why O'Connell chose to make Reed a famous TV star rather than just a normal guy who comes to live with Vanessa and her parents. Reed's fame added nothing to the story. Granted, he was immediately accepted at Cabot High because of his status. But because this aspect of Reed was never fully explored - the situation never examined from his point of view - and it never truly affected Vanessa in any direct way, I still don't know why O'Connell chose this particular direction. It left me feeling as if a great opportunity was missed.

This is the second book written by O'Connell that involved Chicago as a setting, with Boston playing a strong secondary role. (The first was The Book of Luke.) I know from the information given about O'Connell that she currently lives in Boston, thus I can see her focus on that area. While the Chicago portions of the book are written as if O'Connell has done thorough research, I do wonder if she's ever actually lived here. Something about her sense of setting is a bit forced, as if she's relying on guidebooks rather than her own experience. I could be wrong about this.

O'Connell's saving grace is her ability to tell a story cleanly. Her voice is easy to read, and while her characters frustrated me, they were well written. The dialogue is natural and the narrative well paced. I only wish she'd do better in executing these wonderful premises that are promised on the back cover copy. With her books, I always feel like I've ordered a hot fudge sundae only to get served a fruit yogurt cup instead.

Rating: Held My Attention
Status of Series: This is a stand-alone title

The Book of Luke

The Book of Luke
Author: Jenny O'Connell
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/MTV
Release Date: April, 2007

"Nice Girl" Emily Abbott has really gotten handed a raw deal. Half-way through her senior year in high school, her parents decide to move the family from Chicago back to Boston. She's just received a letter from her first choice college, Brown, telling her she's been deferred. And on the morning that the family is scheduled to leave, her first real boyfriend, Sean, breaks up with her. Too add insult to injury, her father announces at the airport that, in fact, he's not moving with the rest of the family but rather staying behind in Chicago, to tie up some loose ends. Code for separation.

But when Emily arrives back at her old school, she finds that not much has changed. Her old best friends, Lucy and Josie, are there to welcome her back into the fold. And come to find out, they've been experiencing their fair share of boy troubles as well. In fact, Josie was just dumped - via e-mail - by hottest guy on campus, Luke Preston.

Fueled by their frustrations, the girls decide to write a guide-book for guys, a how-to-manual describing all the things boys do that drive girls crazy and how they can change for the better. Once this manual is done, the girls plan to put it in the senior class's time capsule so future generations can benefit from their knowledge.

But for some reason, Emily, Josie and Lucy determine that they need to test out their theories on a real live boy. And who better but the jerk Luke Preston? Emily is drafted into becoming Henry Higgins to Luke's Eliza Doolittle. Ostensibly, she will get Luke to fall in love with her, work her magic in changing him into the greatest boyfriend ever, then break up with him in order to add the humiliation cherry to the top of the cake.

As you can predict, this Grand Plan falls apart when Emily finds out that maybe Luke isn't so bad after all. In fact, he's actually kind of wonderful, and before she knows what's happening, Emily feels stuck between what she wants for herself and what she thinks she's supposed to be doing for the sake of her friends and for all girl-kind.
As a heroine, Emily had a great voice. She's easy to relate too, and despite all of the crap she's handed, she doesn't whine excessively. She constantly describes herself as a "nice girl", although other than spewing bits from her mother's etiquette books (her mother is a professional etiquette expert), I didn't find her any nicer or meaner than any other character.

My problem with this book is that the premise of the guide book is very flimsy. As it was described, this how-to manual the girls are writing is a list of observations of the things that boys do that drive girls crazy and suggestions to the boys on what not to do. When the threesome determine that the book needs to be "tested", I was thoroughly confused. The guide-book is not a how-to manual for girls, on things they can do to change the boys in their lives. So how was Emily supposed to "test" it on Luke?

Indeed, I never did see Emily testing Luke in any way. In fact, several times he did things she didn't like (standing her up for a dance, not calling her when he said he would), and she ignored her initial urges to call him out for acting like a jerk. Other than a handful of suggestions - like telling him to keep an umbrella in his car for rainy days and not sharing her french fries when he acted as if it were only natural that she would - it seemed Emily did most of the changing when she accepted Luke exactly as he was. In fact, the real test Emily seemed to engage in was to see if she could act in such a way as to get Luke to fall in love with her.

Too, the conflict in the book is based on a very weak base. Emily supposedly feels conflicted because 1) she's falling for Luke when she's supposed to be re-training him and 2) Luke used to date Josie and hurt Josie's feelings. If the focus of Emily's distress would have been on the fact that she'd developed real feelings for her best friend's ex-boyfriend, I would have been satisfied. As it stood, I never understood why, once she realized Luke was actually a pretty nice guy that she genuinely liked, Emily never put the brakes on and told her friends that it wasn't working.

So as the story continued, Emily's increasing conflict became more and more frustrating.

Additionally, in the end, Emily is left holding 100% of the blame when things spiral out of control. Despite the fact that the idea for the guidebook as well as the desire for Emily to be the one to test it out on Luke belonged to all three girls equally, everyone turns to Emily when it comes time to pass out blame and anger.

While this book kept me turning the pages, wondering how it would all work out, I did so with a lot of frustrations. Only Emily as a character kept me from not finishing it. I like her well enough even though I thought much of what she did towards the end of the book veered awfully close to Too Stupid Too Live behaviour. Add in a healthy dose of Big Mis that drives the conflict and I can't say that this was my favorite book ever.

Rating: Struggled to Finish
Status of Series: This is a stand-alone title

Adiós to My Old Life

Adiós to My Old Life
Author: Caridad Ferrer
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Release Date: July, 2006

Alegría Montero is a seventeen year old Latin-American girl, the daughter of a widowed music professor who finds herself the next potential super pop star, courtesy of a reality show competition to discover the hottest Latin music talent. Oye Mi Canto is the name of the show, and when Ali auditions, she never really expects to get through to the actual contest. But Ali's talent is unmistakable, and before she knows what's happening, she's caught up in the world of makeup artists, stylists, choreographers, fame, fansites, and career-destroying jealousy. Amidst the whirlwind of sudden fame, Ali meets Jaime, a production assistant intern who is interested in more than just her musical talents.

Adiós to My Old Life is a Young Adult title, told from Ali's perspective. It is well written, and the behind-the-scenes glimpse of what it might be like to be a contestant on an American Idol-like TV show is very compelling. Ferrer was extremely wise to use an ethnic culture to draw a parallel to the hugely successful talent show. While it would have been hard for me to buy into Ali's journey had Ferrer placed the story in the real AI world, I certainly could believe Ali's involvement on a smaller-scaled Latin version of such a show.
Ali was a very likable protagonist. She was savvy enough not to be a Pollyanna, yet she retained enough niaveté that I really felt sorry for her as the consequences of being on the show began to become problematic. When Ali becomes victim to the show's other female contender, Fabiana, a fame-whore type who will stop at nothing to win the game, I felt so sorry for her. Yet Ali was quite capable of standing up for herself.

If I have any complaints about Ali it is that she is perhaps a bit too perfect as a character. Through the course of the story, Ali turns out to be the most talented singer, the most talented musician, the most adored by her fans, the most professional performer, the most self-confident (despite being the youngest contestant), the best friend to other contestants, etc. She handles all of the obstacles thrown at her with a maturity that most adults would envy. Even at the end, when a terrible revelation is made, Ali's reaction is much less extreme than I would have expected. I wish that Ali had shown a bit more self-doubt about her abilities. Then again, as she is presented, she had no reason to doubt herself because Ali was the most talented.

Too, Ali tended to lapse into teen-speak clichés that got tiresome after awhile. For example, she referred to songs as "charts" and the large mansion where the contestants lived as a "barn". Her guitar was her "ax". Rather than giving Ali a distinct voice, I just found use of such slang in such a repetitive way to be an affectation.

What did work was the way that Ferrer sprinkled Spanish words into the dialog and narrative. I speak no Spanish yet was able to glean the meaning of the words via the context, and the use of Spanish kept me firmly rooted in the culture of the story. Never for one minute did Ali sacrifice who she was.

I was a bit disappointed at the predictable send-up of the show's fashion coordinator being a gay man. Too, a subplot involving Ali's chaperone Elaine, a long time family friend who harbored hidden feelings for Ali's father, left me kind of cold. The end to this subplot was a foregone conclusion so the whole thing seemed a little pointless.

What wasn't as predictable was how the competition played out. Needless to say, Ferrer didn't let Ali come to a happy ending by the normal route, although I did find things wrapped up a little too neatly as far as Ali's future relationship with Jaime went.

I did enjoy this book. I would recommend it for older teens rather than younger ones as Ali and Jaime do become somewhat physically involved. But anyone who has ever dreamed of becoming a reality TV superstar would appreciate Ali's story.

Rating: Held My Attention
Status of Series: This is a stand-alone title.

The Boys Next Door

The Boys Next Door
Author: Jennifer Echols
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: June, 2007

This book is not part of a series.

The story described on the back cover blurb held so much promise. Lori has grown up on the shores of a small lake, next door to three brothers whose family owns the local marina. They spend their summers working at the marina and wakeboarding their way back and forth across the lake. As Lori has grown older, her crush on middle brother Sean has grown proportionately. And through the years, her friendship with youngest brother Adam has become rock solid.

Finally, Lori has reached the critical mass of maturity and bodily development that she thinks she has a chance at making Sean see her as dating potential instead of just a tag along tomboy little sister type. Over the course of the summer's first new weeks, she employs all of the standard femme fatale tricks to gain Sean's attention, most of which involve exposing her newly developed body for all and sundry to admire. Too, she believes for some convoluted reason that pretending to have a thing for Adam will make Sean jealous enough that he'll go for her. All the while, she seems oblivious that the attentions Adam is showing her might mean his feelings run deeper than mere friendship.

At this point I'm sure it doesn't take a Rhodes scholar to figure out that Adam is, in fact, the right boy for her in all ways. Why it takes Lori the course of 300 plus pages is beyond me.
I have to confess right here that I did not finish this book. I gave it the old college try - got through seven whole chapters and skimmed the rest of the book before the poor writing overcame any resolve I had and knocked me out once and for all.

Because the writing is just plain bad. Not only were there numerous type-Os that did not get corrected in the copy editing stage, but sentences were so awkwardly worded they actually reminded me of something a fifteen year old might write.

But I should back up. My first problem with this book came in the form of the narrative. The story is told in the first person via protagonist Lori's viewpoint. Her thoughts are so scattered, I felt like I actually was inside the head of a fifteen year old girl. You might think this is a good thing, that the author really captured the narrator's voice. Not so much. It was simply hard to read.

Unfortunately, this scattershot approach extended to the dialog as well. The conversations took such sharp turns away from the original topic that I wondered if some of the text hadn't been dropped during the printing process. It felt much like the writer had an agenda to accomplish during each instance of character interaction, a number of plot points she had to establish, and whether or not they fit into that particular conversation didn't matter.

Too, I had to wonder about the intelligence of Lori as she's portrayed. At one point, Lori, who has lived next door to the Vader brothers her entire life and has supposedly spent a lot of time at their home, shows up to attend a party at the Vader house. She rings the doorbell, and when no one answers the door, she looks for security cameras. Wouldn't she know if the Vaders used a high tech security system? In fact, if she's so comfortable with this family and she knows they are having a huge party, wouldn't she just knock and walk on in and join the festivities?

Lori also had a habit of mistaking the two male leads of the story - brothers Sean and Adam. More than once Lori thought she was dealing with Sean only to realize it was Adam whom she was caressing or admiring. Even if these two boys looked so similar, I still find it hard to believe that a girl who has known these guys since early childhood wouldn't be able to tell them apart fairly easily.

Another issue I had was the animosity between brothers Sean and Adam. Now, I know brothers fight with each other. But these two boys really seem to hate each other. They verbally slam each other and physically pound out their frustrations on each other's faces. Again, this isn't necessarily a problem, per se, if the tone of this book wasn't that of a light-hearted romantic comedy. We are supposed to find this amusing. If that's the case, then I would have expected at the very least an undercurrent implying that the brothers really do care for each other and that most of their animosity is of the teasing variety. The portrayal didn't fit the tone of the story, much like finding a sardine in the middle of your hot fudge sundae.

Perhaps I'm the wrong audience for this book, given that I'm far from my teen years. However, I would argue that this is not the reason for my dislike of this book. The story itself is passable - what a fabulous premise. Who wouldn't love living next door to two gorgeous hotties and appreciate the fantasy of them falling in love with her? I'm there. But the writing was so awful I couldn't ignore it to focus on anything else. Since I know that there are many, many YA romances out there that do not have this problem, I can't simply chalk it up to an issue I have with the genre.

I wanted to like this book. Heck, I bought it.

Rating: Didn't Finish

Hail Caesar

Hail Caesar
Author: Thu-Huong Ha
Publisher: Scholastic/Push
Release Date: February 1, 2007

John "Caesar" Miller is the BMOC at his high school. His prowess in bed is legendary, and he's so irresistible, he can count close to a hundred girls who would know first hand exactly how good he is. He's good-looking, a basketball star, and well-enough off to drive a black Mercedes convertible, a gift from his widowed father for Caesar's seventeenth birthday. Guys - friends and enemies alike - all want to be him. In short, Caesar lives a charmed life.

And best of all, as far as he's concerned, Caesar truly doesn't care. Not about anyone or anything. Well, perhaps he does care about his two younger sisters. And he certainly cares what people think and say about him if it might damage his golden image. But as far as his future or real, meaningful relationships, Caesar can't be bothered.

Until he meets new girl in school, Eva. For some reason, Eva is the first person - male or female - who doesn't immediately fall for the notorious Caesar charm. He's at first angry, then intrigued, and then obsessed by this girl who refuses to fall in line with Caesar's view of himself. But as he gets to know Eva, Caesar is forced to see how very shallow his life actually is. All of the sudden, his ability to not care is stripped away, and Caesar's entire world is shifted out from beneath his feet.

Hail Caesar is a young adult novel told through Caesar's point of view. I had a love/hate relationship with this book that makes it hard to grade.
First and foremost, the protagonist of Hail Caesar is actually not a very likable person. He treats everyone around him like shit. Girls are no more than warm bodies to be conquered and left with as little fuss and muss as possible. He lives only to party, is completely narcissistic and ego-maniacal, and is concerned only with how things can service his needs. His aloofness and hyper-confidence are the very things that have put him on top of the social heap, but he's the kind of guy who seems as empty of genuine feeling as he would have to be to treat people the way he does. He's a first class jerk, and he must be as good-looking as he believes himself to be to actually get as many girls as he does. This guy is pretty much loathsome.

So perhaps the most surprising thing about this book is that I actually liked Caesar. Thu-Huong Ha writes him in such a way as to make me care about this particular asshole. I can't even put my finger on why. His treatment of his two younger sisters, especially his concern and protectiveness for thirteen year old Kelly as she enters his self-destructive world of drinking and drugging and sex, shows us that Caesar at least has the capacity to care if only he's given the right motivation to do so. And learning that his mother died when he was twelve gives us a pass to feel a bit sorry for him and to chalk his abominable treatment of others up to a lack of maternal influence during key formative years.

I've been trying to figure out why I would want to read about a jerky character who has only the slimmest of redeeming qualities. I suppose this is the supreme compliment to Ha's ability to create a compelling character. In the real world, I would stay as far away as possible from a person like Caesar, yet once in his world, I wanted to know what happened to him in the worst way.

Perhaps I kept reading to watch Caesar fall from his lofty tower. Not only does Eva openly tease Caesar and blatantly snub his attempts to charm her, but Caesar experiences for the first time in his life rejection by a girl he'd completely believed would never turn down his attentions. Watching him as he struggles to process this rejection, from trying to convince himself that the girl in question is clearly a bitch and unworthy of him to wanting to skip school so he doesn't have to face the whispers and questions about what happened and even to wondering how the girls will be tearing him apart during their locker room gossip sessions is both heartbreaking and satisfying in a Caesar-gets-his-comeuppance sort of way. As his confidence wavers, I began to wonder if I was reading a story about the toppling of an empire, the end of an era. And I was anxious to read about the fall-out, expecting it to be a hard lesson that in the end proves to be for the better.

Or perhaps I kept reading to watch Caesar come to care about someone, to experience genuine emotion for the first time in his life and see him change his evil ways. After her initial cold shoulder, Eva eventually does warm to Caesar, and the two of them begin the kind of relationship that is a first for him: a relationship with a girl that is not sexual. She challenges him, forcing him to think about things he'd never given thought to before. To question not only his beliefs but his very reasons for acting the way he does. Finally, I believed, Caesar had met a girl that would break through the aloof exterior and awaken the nice-guy that I hoped lived deep inside him. I wanted to watch Caesar really and truly fall in love.

Or, perhaps, I kept reading because Caesar is the guy in my own high school that I could never have, and this story - at long last - allowed me an insider's look at one of the Untouchables. I was getting a glimpse of what made him tick, what secrets he held that made him so darn irresistible. I wanted the mystery to be solved so that the power guys like him held would be diminished. I wanted to see the wizard behind the curtain and to find out that he was actually a lot more like me than I could have imagined.

Whatever the reason, I found myself unable to put the book down. I just had to know what happened to Caesar.

I did have some issues with this book. Some are technical and others regard substance.

First, I really struggled with Ha's dialogue style. Too often she failed to use any dialogue tags for either long stretches or when multiple characters were involved, leaving me completely baffled as to who was saying what. Since all of the key characters are teenagers with very similar, abbreviated speaking styles, the lack of dialogue tags became a huge handicap. Often I had to go back to the beginning and consciously track who was saying what. In some multiple character scenes, I never was able to figure out who was who when they were all conversing. While for the most part this did not frustrate me enough to send the book hurling at the wall, it was more than enough to pull me entirely out of the story.

And far too often the short-hand speech, which might mirror the way real teenagers do talk, caused me genuine confusion about what was happening in the story proper. Not only did it become tiresome to read, but nothing ever actually got said as far as I could tell. Without the body language and/or internal thoughts that might have appeared as diologue tags, I had no context in which to interpret the few words that were spoken and interrupted so often. What was being said made no sense to me, and I was left with a giant "Wha?"

For example, a very important conversation takes place between Eva and Caesar that pretty much has them defining their relationship. But in the end, I had no idea what they had decided, nor the reasons behind their decision because the dialogue was constantly interrupted, I was confused about who was saying what, and it was simply too much work to figure it all out.

Another problem I had with the story was an inordinate focus on the external environment. Caesar was constantly analyzing the darkness or the temperature or the sensations of water hitting his body. While some of this can give the novel a literary feeling, it damaged my ability to get lost in the story because I can't imagine that real teenage boys engage in such internal thoughts to that extreme. I couldn't forget that it was a female writing a boy's point of view, and this kept me always standing just on the edges of the story rather than feeling I truly was inside of Caesar's head. Granted, I'm not a teenage boy. Maybe they really do ruminate a lot on the sound of windshield wipers or the feeling of rain falling on their faces.

My final beef was the story's climax and ending. I can't say much without revealing major plot developments. However, I listed above some of the reasons I kept reading, and I don't know that any single one of these expectations was met. I felt very little closure by the end, like both Caesar and I had been through a lot without having come to any great revelations or changes, leaving us both hanging kind of useless in the breeze. Perhaps that was Ha's intent. Perhaps she was trying to give the reader the same sense of uncertainty that Caesar was experiencing. If that was her goal, she succeeded. But as a reader, I felt somewhat cheated.

In the end, this book proved to be a study in paradoxes. I couldn't put it down, but I was left frustrated. I liked the insider's view I was given, but I found it didn't ring true to what I imagine someone like Caesar would really be thinking. I thought Caesar was a big jerk, but I wanted him to find love and happiness. I liked the book, but I don't want to read it again.

I guess in the end, the Caesar charm wasn't quite enough for me to consider this book an unqualified keeper. To say I was disappointed would be a bit dramatic. Rather, I was left feeling...unfulfilled. Much like Caesar as a person, I found this story to have a lot of flashy bravado on the outside but ultimately not much of substance on the inside.

Rating: a qualified Couldn't put it down