I love Lauren Myracle. This was a new narrative, it was meaningful and filled with personality. I loved this, it was a bit more of a heavier read but I loved it

Lauren Miracle is the queen of teen pop culture, and most known for her internet series of books. This Boy seemed like an awfully odd departure for her. For me, it really didn’t work. My main issue with it is it seems like Myracle did a whole lot of research into “teenaged boy.” The main character, Paul, is so unbelievably cliched because of it. A horn dog with an obsession with swag, he has very few redeeming qualities. He makes decisions with little regard for anyone, like when he starts dating a girl his best friend also had a crush on and the proceeds to ghost his best friend for months. I have no problem with a flawed MC - in fact, I love them - but this is just too much. He’s not flawed, he’s unlikable.

Another key problem is the pacing in this book. The drama around the dating situation takes us about 3/4 of the way through the book. And then, out of left field, tragedy strikes. And then Paul descends into a really bad place and makes terrible decisions that change his life forever. (Except that we don’t really care because we don’t really like Paul, remember). All of this action is stuffed into the last 1/4 of the book.

I wouldn’t read this one, probably. It’s not worth your time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Candlewick Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.25 Stars

This review is based on an ARC of This Boy which I received courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher (Candlewick Press/Walker Books US).

I loved this. I love Lauren Myracle. She will never not wow me with her insight into teenage-dom. I mean, she's been present throughout (and before and after) my growth through my teens, and now, reading this, it's like, Dang, she's still got it!

Lauren Myracle is ever-aware of the teenage psyche and represents those kids facing the same daily struggle of surviving into adulthood without losing their shit minds. Though the slang and the trends change, Lauren Myracle's knack for connecting to the reader doesn't.

I am more than a little honored to have received an ARC from one of my favorite authors. I'm also sad and ashamed writing this, because I know that my review can't do This Boy the justice it deserves. I laughed, I cried, I woke my sister up to share a passage that absolutely could not wait until morning. In short, I adored this little adventure with ya boi Paul, and This Boy is a novel that is going to stick with me.

(Note to the publisher: plz change the spelling of the title to This Boi. I guarantee that you will sell more with that one-letter difference.)

Interesting concepts, poor execution. I liked the ideas behind the characters, the descriptions were decent but overall the story was bland and not entertaining.

DNF at 23%. I read mostly YA with either male or female protagonists but I could not find any connection to this. It’s easy to say I’m just not the demographic (which I’m not) but I didn’t find any of the writing interesting or compelling

It was an overall good book. The writing style was well and the POV was different than most books. It was interesting to read, I just was not the demographic for the overall story itself. I do applaud Myracle for the writing however and it was not a bad read. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy books of this genre.

-Stone

Last week I was lucky enough to receive an advanced reader copy of This Boy by Lauren Myracle.

I read this book in only about an hour or two and it was terrific to say the least. What made it is even more terrific was the experiences int he book were based on Myracle’s own son’s struggle with addiction.

There have been a few times where I have read a book that I enjoyed so much I wanted to make a listicle of what I loved about it rather than just a normal review post. While I had some slight issues with the book, I will just mentions those possibly throughout the review as the situation permits. They really honestly don’t have to do much with if I think you’ll enjoy this story or not (since I honestly believe most readers will).


So without further ado…

The Realistic Characters
One might think that Lauren Myracle writing from the point of view of a teenage boy could come off as unrealistic. There are times when YA authors will write teen characters as way older than the 16 year olds they are supposed to be or as though they are speaking in ways that teen’s just do not speak. I feel like Lauren got it close to perfect. There were a few times when I felt the lingo was a little heavy when it didn’t need to be or the character saying this slang would not be saying it to a certain character that exact way, but those were just minor issues. For the most part, it was used excellently. Besides speech, the thoughts of the characters felt so much like a teenage boy that it felt like I was reading a memoir at times rather than a fictional story.

2. The Unique Characters

When a book has so many characters it can be hard sometimes to differentiate between a few of them. Myracle made sure to create characters that not only differ from each other, but have unique backgrounds, experiences, home lives, etc. While some characters are a little more fleshed out than others, you at least can picture each person differently and probably won’t be getting any of them confused for another. This is an issue I sometimes have to deal with in books with large casts and I am glad this was not one of those books.

3. The Mother and Son relationship

I really loved the relationship between Paul and his mother. It was (as you probably guessed) one of my favorite things about this book. Paul and him mom have a great dynamic. You can tell they care about each other and would really do anything they could to make one another happy & healthy. If I talk more about this I may veer into spoiler areas, but just know this mother and son dynamic is one that will definitely make you smile.

4. The Research and Struggles

This book involves the topic of drug addiction and what comes with that. Myracle did a fantastic job with the research and citing different drugs, treatment methods, etc. She also did a great job in showcasing how Paul felt during his trips and what he was experiencing. I feel like Lauren Myracle did terrific research on this subject, but also probably used some of her own experiences too to contribute to the story. Which leads me to my final point…



5. The Truth Behind the Story

I love when nonfiction inspires fiction. While this book does feature a sad and upsetting situation it is worth noting that this book was inspired by Myracle’s own son’s struggles with addiction. I really liked how Myracle was able to take a hardship in her and her son’s life and turn it into a story that will hopefully help readers who may be going through similar situations. Lauren really put her heart and soul into this book & there is nothing anyone can say to make me believe otherwise.

Overall this book was heartwarming, realistic, and well done. Other than minor issues with the speech at certain times and the fact that I felt the drug addiction storyline came into the story a little later than I had hoped, this story is next to perfect. I can’t recommend it enough and I hope you will all consider picking up when it is released in April.

Paul Walden is an ordinary teen. He's not a chest-beating jock, he's just Paul, and This Boy takes us from freshman year to senior year. We meet Paul and his best friend, Roby; we meet Natalia Gutierrez, the girl they both fall for. They're ordinary teens, doing teen stuff: some beer, some weed, but mainly, video games and talking about girls. Until disaster strikes and Paul finds himself gripped by addiction, depression, and grief.

This Boy is Lauren Myracle is her most powerful. The story shows readers exactly how "this could happen" to the kid next door. We all know Paul: he lives next door, or have a class or two with him. He's the Everyman (Everyteen) of the story: living with his mom, not terribly close with his dad, loves playing video games and hanging out with his best friend. The dialogue is so painfully everyday teen; the small moments that make up the first part of this book are so spot on, that it makes the ensuing tragedy and Paul's spiral even more heartbreaking to witness. He tries to dull his grief, but the usual social drinking isn't working. He ups his game, becoming a full-blown addict. Paul's mother isn't invisible in this story; she's a scared parent who doesn't know what to do to help her boy. By trying her own methods first, she puts him in danger of a relapse, and has to come face-to-face with her own complicity in it. Paul's story is raw and gritty, with frank descriptions of sex, masturbation, and drug use.  A strong choice for teen collections, and a good book to hand to readers who enjoy Chris Crutcher, Laurie Halse Anderson, and Eric Devine.  Hypable has an excerpt available.

I'm super appreciative that that publisher sent me a copy of this book. It wasn't a book I normally would have picked up but I'm always game to read something new.
Shortly after starting This Boy, I realized this book is not meant for me. I'm 100% not the demographic that I think this book is best aimed at. The synopsis says "with perfect frankness, Lauren Myracle explores the point of view of a middle-class white kid" and honestly, that's very telling about what to expect from this book. I'm not a teenage white boy so I couldn't relate at all and I didn't find this character's perspective to be of any interest to me at all. I don't read Young Adult very often these days but when I do, I realize now that I usually grab a YA book with some diversity in it, something with a new perspective, something I can learn perspective from. This book isn't any of that.
Outside of the complete lack of interesting perspective, I felt like this book was incredibly slow and boring.
Overall, to be completely blunt, this book brings nothing new or exciting to the YA genre and even though I think some male teen readers might enjoy this book, I think there's many more YA books that provide a more interesting perspective and better plots. I've been reading YA for a decade now and I know there's so many books out there with this same perspective with better plots. I wish I could have enjoyed this book but the basic privileged, middle class, straight, white boy narrative isn't interesting even to compensate the extremely slow, boring plot.