About book Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before (2008)
I'm mixed on how I feel about this book. It had a lot of things I liked about it, but it could easily distract me from all of its good points with a number of bad ones. I guess it had a bit of a "Chicken Little" effect for me, where you're supposed to like the main character, but you're not really sure why. Don't get me wrong, Albert is a very unique character, but every time he did something that made me laugh or relate to him (and trust me, I can relate to this character), he either thought or said something that made him come off as a REALLY whiny jerk or a REALLY big weirdo. I kind of get that that was the point, but there are times that I thought it crossed the line. Sometimes he was great to listen to, and other times, he just came off as unlikable. I also think that the world around Albert was way too mean spirited. I think I found myself cringing throughout this book more than I was laughing. This guy can't walk out onto the street without getting some form of verbal abuse. The way he is treated in school and in public, even before all the nonsense with Ryan, is just ridiculous! Again, is this supposed to make us like him more? The guy gets berated for standing in line... or just...breathing. Yes, he's the intentional loser, but to say he transcends all this and this is his treatment? I always thought it was just bizarre that he just brushes all this off. I'm in high school, and, like I said, I'm a lot like this kid! But sh*t like this does not happen! It also made it so when his treatment after bigger goof-ups (e.g. the Walk) seem moot. I got more of a disconnected punching bag in a universe full of complete a******s, rather than just your misunderstood teenager. Those were my big problems. What do I like? Well, I enjoyed Yoo's writing style. It's witty, it's quick, it sounds straight from a teenager's thoughts. I liked some of the characters, even though I thought Brett's friendship came out of nowhere and I felt like I was rooting for Ryan most of the time-- though maybe that was just because I didn't really like Albert. I enjoyed the interactions between Mia and Albert immensely, and I thought they played very well off of each other. I actually enjoyed the first third of the book the best, with the two just being wacky and opening up to each other. Yoo manages to make a bland setting like the Inn a really fantastic setting. Overall, I thought the book was an enjoyable read, though these problems really started to eat at me by the last third of the book. I'm going to try some of his other books, mainly for David Yoo's style and humor. This book is told in the perspective of a teenage Korean boy called Albert, who is an intentional loser. He meets Mia, a popular pretty and way out of his league girl at work over the summer. A relationship forms, and by the time school starts, they are officially "something". But then Mia's ex boyfriend Ryan gets cancer, and the whole town rallies up to support him, including Mia. Albert feels like Ryan is trying to steal Mia away from him, but since Ryan has cancer, Albert can't exactly say anything. I liked this book, even though at first it was hard for me to get into because I felt like the writer sort of blabbed on about things and I skimmed over a lot of the things I felt were unnecessary to the story. One thing I liked about the book was how I laughed out loud at a lot of the things Albert said and thought. I recommend this book to people, it's quirky and IPA good read.
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this book was good at the beginning, but got stupid when ryan got cancer
—Syrenna
