Book Review: The Absolute Value of -1 by Steve Brezenoff

Rating: 4/5; really liked it, but had some issues with it.

Release Date: September 1, 2010

Synopsis:
The Absolute Value of -1 is the story of three good friends who each have problems of their own. Throughout the book one deals with heartbreak, the other with a parent's imminent death, and the third with drugs and an abusive father.

Thoughts:
Once I began reading this book I honestly did not put it down until I was finished. The writing is what I loved most and what actually kept me reading more than the story. Don't get me wrong, the story was good, but I still felt as if I did not completely get to know the three protagonists.
I am having a hard time finding the words to explain how I felt about this book. I found myself loving the fact that these three friends who seem pretty close to everyone around them had no idea what was really going on in each other's lives. At the same time you wish you could just open all of their eyes (especially that Lily!). If they could just take more interest in each other's lives maybe they would have been able to help each other throughout all the mess they had to deal with. It was somewhat frustrating to find out what the story was all about, but the writing was just so compelling that I couldn't stay away from it. The ending was not particularly interesting to me and I did not fancy that Lily's narration was often times confusing. It was also pretty boring in my opinion. As for Noah, he needed to get a life. Those drugs were making him so lame, it was pathetic and uninteresting too. As for his father, he could have freakin' done something about it (call CPS for example). Simon was fairly fascinating to read about and I wish he could have talked to someone more about what he was going through instead of just writing it down.
This book is unique, especially all the three characters' voices, but many will find it difficult to get into and/or finish. I think what I might like the most about this book is not just the writing, but how "friends" can be so near each other, yet know almost nothing about one another. That's just so sad.

*ARC provided by OneARCTours

Related:
Steve Brezenoff
realistic fiction
friendship


~~Lisette~~