Fragments by Jeffry W. Johnston
My rating: 3/5 cats
this is a YA book perhaps best left to the YAs. it is not a book that hides its secrets well, and when it comes time for “the big reveal(s),” most people who are old enough have read a million books, or to have watched a shameful amount of TV/movies are going to be unsurprised and left a little cold. even people who read the entire book in the throes of physical illness bordering on feverish insanity and emotional unrest. (i.e.—me). i could see where part of it was headed on page three. and that’s no good. but for someone on the very-Y end of the YA spectrum, it is probably fine. fewer comparisons will be made, fewer things may be painfully obvious because of a shallower pool of references from which to draw. and that’s fine, but i personally wasn’t wowed by this book, even though it served exactly the purpose i needed it to serve—a distraction from the breakdown of my poor body and mind.
part of this may be the result of the influence of a religious mindset. and i am not knocking organized religion. i am very disorganized myself, but an observation i have made of modern writers coming from a religious background is that they are rarely edgy. jen opened my eyes to the fact that there are many who are not, with the relief journal her man (still??) is the editor of, but for the most part, there is a consistent feel in the stuff i have read that seems unaware of other, secular, literature. and this book isn’t overtly religious, not at all. the main character is the son of a minister, and the author is the husband to a minister, and this might be a completely crazy observation for me to make, but again—fever. there is a sense that these surprises are meant to be shocking, and the fact that they are so obvious points to a cluelessness that can be explained by someone who might be really sheltered in their available references. and again—i am probably just talking nonsense. it might just be that the author doesn’t know a lot about what teens do or think or how far YA lit has come in terms of writing density or themes. or that this was written in 2007. feeeeever.
but whatever the cause, there is no denying that the twists and turns can be seen from miles away. and even though it is a really short book, there are parts of it that seem too undeveloped. there is the very breeziest of romantic entanglements in this book, where there is no reason for two characters to become attracted to each other. and yet, they are, with no impetus except proximity. both the start and the finish of the “relationship” is muddled, unrealistic, and can clearly be seen to be just a plot-advancing device. i know young people fall into surprising attachments all the time (believe me, i remember any number of unsuitable matches) but in a book, i don’t want to be able to see the wires holding it all together as contrivance.
in short: brief book, no surprises, fever.
that concludes my book report.
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