Title: Streaks of
Blue: How the Angels of Newtown Inspired One Girl
to Save Her School
Author: Jack
Chaucer
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: September
27, 2013
Genre: Young
Adult
Reviewed by: Books4Tomorrow
Source: NetGalley
My rating: 3/5
SUMMARY
Adam Upton and Thomas "Lee" Harvey
are plotting the next big school massacre at their New Hampshire high school.
Nicole Janicek, who knew Adam in elementary school, tries to reconnect with the
damaged teen at the start of their senior year. But will Nicole’s attempt to
befriend the would-be killer disrupt the plot and turn Adam’s life around
before the clock strikes 12:14?
REVIEW
Again,
this is one of those books that have left me going meh. I seem to be reading quite a lot of them lately. It’s starting
to put me in a reading funk. Anyway, I requested this book for review from
NetGalley on the premise that it was inspired by the Sandy Hook tragedy, but
what I was hoping to be a deeply moving story, just turned out to be a lot of
blah with a tear-jerking scene or two.
It’s
not all bad though. It focuses a lot on bullying, and delves into the darkest
corners of the mind of an outcast. What I liked about the protagonist is that
she is a strong character who isn’t validated by what a boy thinks of her. It’s
not often in YA novels that you find the female lead to be someone who shows
compassion and understanding, and reaches out to one of her peers to not only
to save lives, but make a difference in his life as well. Many readers will
find this an inspiring read, but the story also promotes the notion that teens
won’t be taken seriously when they inform an adult who can deal with their
concerns, of their fears. That might just send the wrong message to a younger,
impressionable reader.
I do,
however, feel that the book would’ve had lots of potential had it been written
without the implausible forewarning-by-angels angle. Also, I felt the ending
was rushed and everything came together too conveniently, and the amount of
profanity was way more than I could handle. The dialogue felt forced and once I
got to the final chapter I still didn’t care about any of the characters.
If you
want to read a more realistic book about school shootings and what drives a
person to perform such an atrocity, give Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes a try. I
read it more than two years ago, and I’m still thinking about it. Streaks of Blue, with its unnecessarily long
title, just don’t cut it. Read it if you like (it does have an appealing
cover), but I don’t highly recommend it.
This
review forms part of my three-month participation in the NetGalley Knockout Challenge for 2013.
PURCHASE LINKS
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