Review: Reality Boy by A.S. King

By: unknown on Thursday, December 26, 2013

Reality Boy by A.S. King

Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Released: October 22nd 2013

Hardcover, 368 pages      

Reviewed by Angela

Gerald Faust knows exactly when he started feeling angry: the day his mother invited a reality television crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he’s still haunted by his rage-filled youth—which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle—and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school.

Nothing is ever going to change. No one cares that he’s tried to learn to control himself, and the girl he likes has no idea who he really is. Everyone’s just waiting for him to snap…and he’s starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that.

In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child “star” who finally breaks free of his anger by creating possibilities he never knew he deserved.

Review:

Well, this book just blew my mind. This book was such a fresh concept, I've never read anything like this before. I'm one of those people who barely watches television. I know, I know, I'm ashamed. But honestly, I don't know what to watch. And of the little I do watch, it never contains reality shows, so I have very little knowledge to it. But woooow, this was quite, memorable. It struck me in ways I haven't experienced and just knocked me over.

Gregory's family is the one of the most messed up families EVER. I almost punched someone because it was too frustrating to read about. Or maybe that was Gregory's influence. If you search "messed up", it would show a picture of Gregory's family. I wanted to bang his mom and his sister together in the head till they're unconscious (am i the only one who sees a different meaning to the above sentence? I don't know how to word it better...by 'bang' i mean smash..)

Reading inside the head of someone who's been emotionally traumatized from childhood was...interesting. The things he thought and how he sees the world was completely relatable. Maybe I'm crazy or something but I understand him. I feel him. That's one of the reasons I loved this so much.

Gregory's relationship with Hannah was so amazing. It wasn't like the mooshy smoochy stuff, it was so real and raw. It wasn't like just because they meet and fall in love they forget about their past, their mistakes and troubles. They still come out, and influence their relationship and shape it to be better in the end. <3

The story was also told in some flashbacks of the filming show days which I looked forward to but made me want to die, too. They were extremely frustrating but extremely interesting. The "nanny" was...weird. I don't know what else to call it. She had her moments, helping Gregory and knowing that Tasha was an evil, twisted girl. But then she'd act like an asshole. Like why.

This is another book that will stick with you for a long time. It will keep you  awake at night and maybe one day you're eating spaghetti and meatballs, you'll be like, "oh. Reality Boy." It makes you think, and feel.

4.5/5 stars