Great character development, but the detail felt a little too much and forced at times which was a shame. Not sure I'd read it again.

Abel Torres has faced a tremendous amount of adversity in his lifetime. Known by his friends as "Copperhead", the novel takes a quick jump through his younger life and really picks up with his freshman year of college.

I ended up overall liking this book, but it did take a while to get there. The first 30%-ish of the book keeps shifting and feeling like a different style of book. Once it lands on the "spy/undercover" angle, and follows pretty much apace.

The book has sporadic shifts to Zachary's POV, which I think is amping up more for the sequel than really being relevant for this book.

The book tries to do too much without really landing on a single narrative or style and cuts back and forth a lot with a wide cast of characters and really short chapters.

Liked it, but probably won't be picking up the sequel.

Ended up DNFing this book. The writing style just wasn't for me which was upsetting because I was intrigued by the premise. Other people may like it, it just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Jubilation for this eARC!

I initially picked up this book because I wanted to try something that I usually don't gravitate to and wanted to see whether I'd be pleasantly surprised by it. Sadly, I wasn't. The writing didn't flow for me and I couldn't finish it. This could be just me, though.

DNF @32% I was not a fan of the writing. It just didn’t seem to flow. I really liked the concept for the book.

I was not really expecting too much from this because the only reason I requested it was because the guy on the cover looks like Neil from The Foxhole Court. But I was pleasantly surprised at how funny, fast paced, and twisty this book was. Although the plot is silly and requires a bit of suspension of disbelief- it's a good time.

I tried to get into this, but it wasn't for me.

The book follows Abel, a young singer who struggles with racism, homelessness, and family issues, as he comes of age in California. I related to the California elements, having lived there many years, but I couldn't get into the story.

The cover makes this seem like it will be a pop-y, light read, with a cartoon style and bright colors. It's not that, however, and reads more like a matter-of-fact memoir or biography, without a sense of fictionalized momentum, clear stakes, or tone. Nothing here is light or easy, and it's my own fault for not thoroughly reading the synopsis (though even that seems to be pitching more of a thriller than a straightforward, dark memoir style).

Ultimately, I wanted to love this, but the tone didn't land for me. I think if the cover was different, I wouldn't feel quite so uncertain, because my expectations would have been different going in.

Thank you, Jubilation, for allowing me to read Copperhead early!

I requested this because of the cover, but I didn't enjoy as much as I thought I would. Probably a case of "it's not you, it's me".