Youth In Revolt By C.D. Payne - THE BOOK

Before I started reading Youth In Revolt, I wasn't even aware that it was a book. I had seen the movie trailers starring Michael Cera, and thought that the movie looked funny, but never once thought the story came from a book. I guess I have Hollywood's recent pumping of "geek" comedies to blame for that. 

Before allowing my fiancé to rent the movie, I decided to double check to make sure it wasn't based on a book. To my surprise, there is a whole series of books revolving the main character, Nick Twisp. I immediately downloaded the sample chapter onto my Kindle and started reading.

The book is written from the perspective of Nick Twisp, a teenaged boy who is obsessed with sex (learn more about Nick Twisp in my past posts). It is written in diary format. Since I had just recently read the Georgia Nicolson series, that is also written in diary format, I didn't have as much trouble getting into this one. It is also written a bit more like someone telling a story than completely like a diary as the Georgia Nicolson series was. For example, Nick's diary almost always writes in conversation format, where Georgia's diary quite often was written from one view point.

As I read the first chapter, I was starting to question whether or not I would really enjoy this book. I found that the author was trying almost too hard to be humourous at the beginning of the novel. I remember thinking as I read, this isn't really all that funny. I think it was lucky that the sample chapter was so long on the Kindle though, because it almost forced me to read through it, and I grew to appreciate the humour. It became legitimately funny. I ordered the book, and continued reading.

One thing I really enjoyed about this book, was that the conversation was never dumbed down just because the story surrounded teenagers. Not only was Nick perceived as an intelligent fellow, but the people he considered friends, kept up with his vocabulary, and level of intelligence.

Now, some would argue that Nick wasn't all that intelligent considering the trouble he got in to, but I think he was just too smart for his own good. 

The magnitude of trouble Nick got in to during the novel just seemed a bit absurd. At first it was funny, but later on it just got to the point where you're reading and thinking "how could anyone ever get in this deep?". It also made you wonder how the author was going to resolve everything before the end of the book. 

Now, I don't want to give anything away, because I'd really like my blog readers to read this book and post their own opinions about it. But, I found the end of the book a bit disappointing. I think C.D. Payne had no idea where to go with the character and suddenly he had to resolve things quickly! It was a little bit of a stretch,  and I would have liked to see it end differently, but unfortunately this wasn't a "choose your own ending" book.

Even though the ending wasn't quite what I expected, I still grew to appreciate the development of the characters, and found the plot entertaining. I am still interested in continuing to read about Nick and his craziness in the rest of the series. 

To those interested in reading this series or buying the books as a gift...I would say these books classify as late teen to early adult reading. Even though they are about a 14-year-old boy, they are sexually explicit. 

I'm really interested in seeing how they told the story in the movie. There are so many elements to cover from the book, so I have a feeling the movie may differ quite a bit. Hopefully it will still be entertaining.

Have you read Youth In Revolt by C.D. Payne? If so, please leave a comment as to what you thought.