Bookworm Dreams

You know it’s bad when you can use a book as a sleeping pill and it only takes one page to work the magic. At this rate I might have finished The Universe Versus Alex Woods in a couple of years, but why waste my time on boring book (or sleeping) when there are many more interesting books to read?

I guess it all comes down to expectations and how The Universe Versus Alex Woods didn’t have nothing of what I hoped for: humor and paranormal elements or at least magical realism. This is plain-old contemporary coming-of-age fiction written from a male perspective. I already decided when I read The Tragedy Paper that these kind of books are not my thing and if I knew there was nothing more to it, I would not have requested a review copy.

The Universe Versus Alex Woods started from the end and what an ending it was: intriguing, quirky or simply in one word WTF. But when plot rolled back to the beginning, everything got boring.

The only extraordinary thing about Alex Woods is that he was hit by a meteor and after hundredth repetition that fact is no longer interesting. I read until almost 50% of the book (that’s 200 pages) and it all came down to his tedious retelling of problems in high school. For me this was real snooze-fest. Even Gavin Extence nice and fluid writing style or references to Kurt Vonnegut’s novels could not pierce my bubble of boredom.

In The End…

Fans of contemporary fiction with literary flair writing about teenage boys coming of age problems in high school will probably enjoy The Universe Versus Alex Woods. For me it missed that mystical ingredient that sparks my interest to keep on reading…

Disclaimer: I was given a free eBook by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.