Sunday, April 1, 2007

What Happened? by Peter Johnson

Hello again, we're back with yet another book review. We are reading these things left and right. This novel was one that we both enjoyed. Our latest reading pleasure was What Happened by Peter Johnson.
The story is about a 16 year old who has had many a misfortune in his life including the death of his mother and the desertion of his father. He now lives with his aunt and older brother, Kyle. The plot centers around an accident that happened as the boys were coming home from a high school party along with some friends. There are events that lead up to the accident and then the drama unfolds as the boys try to handle the repercussions of that accident. The events evolve into a climax that is somewhat disappointing.
Now for the pros and cons of the book. Pros: The story and the plot are very engaging and my floppy ears were always ready to hear what was going to happen next. I found myself anxiously waiting to see what the characters were going to do next. The novel is written through a series of flashbacks intertwined in the present tense of the story. It was fun to follow the characters through the story. Another quality of the story I liked, was the language. There were enough F-Bombs to keep this big dog's attention for a while. Name a profanity, it was in there.
Cons: The ending of the book was a definite let down from all the events that led up to it. And, as I mentioned before there were a series of dirty words throughout the book, and while these words perked my ears and kept my nose wet, this book is intended for high school students. Along with the profanity, there were also several sexual references, the lord's name in vain on many an occassion, and the characters drank and smoked pot through the whole book - sooooo, with that being said, I'm not sure that this book is the best for high school teenagers, although I think unfortunately some good relate to the characters and it could be good for them to see how to work out their problems. I know my owner felt uncomfortable at times knowing that this was intended for ages 12 and up, not even close. It should actually be for ages 16 and older.
So with all that said, my tail wagging opinion is that this novel would get:

4 Biscuits. Although this was by far the best book we've read so far, the profanity and other themes in the novel and knowing the intended audience, made me eat one of those biscuits. Not to mention, I was a little hungry.

We have gotten several new books in from other publishing companies, so we definitely have our work cut out for us. So, I've got to get back to laying at the living room window and catch some rays from the sun before my owner begins reading the next book. Yawwwwnn! I'll be back later.

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