Friend is Not a Verb

After being kicked out of his girlfriend's band, and out of their relationship, Henry "Hen"Birnbaum is kind of down on his luck. Since his now ex-girlfriend and their band were the major basis of Hen's social life, he finds himself in a pathetic situation where he vegs out on tv with his crazy next door neighbor Emma. All the hum-drum that is his life changes when his sister, who disappeared a year earlier, magically reappears. Maybe life after his break-up won't be so bad after all.

Notice the length of my explanation of the story's plot. That should definitely signify how much this book disappoints the reader. Hen had moments of hilarity and silliness that I found charming at first, but when page are page are filled with (side thoughts) and juvenile humor the book loses its charm. This turned out to be a very whiny, plodding book. I felt like I really had to search to find the story and even then I wasn't sure I was on the right track.

I found Emma to be the only redeeming thing in this book. She seemed real to me in a way that the other characters lacked. Honestly, I don't know any parents who wouldn't even bat an eyelash when their missing daughter suddenly returns. They were such cardboard "oblivious parents" I wanted to scream. The writing itself wasn't terrible, but I am not a fan of books that rely heavily on pop culture references. While I know that I get the references, not everyone does and I don't think it's fair to alienate those who don't get the jokes.

All in all this was a poorly laid out book with some serious issues. I think this book felt very thrown-together and that, with a little more adding and editing, it would have been alright. As always, this is just my reaction to the book, so be sure to give it a shot it you enjoy an uneventful read. There is an audience for every book; I just wasn't part of this book's audience. Good luck!

Book received from Around the World Tours