The Best Reader + TIME

The Girl Made of Cool — Alan Fox

From Amazon.com...

""THE GIRL MADE OF COOL" is Fox's vibrant new novel and the centerpiece of this collection. Here, Fox tells the story of a young man and woman who are falling in love with each other, but the young woman doesn't know it. She believes that she's falling in love with the man's far more handsome, more perfect friend. As the story unfolds and deepens, we see how these two highly talented young men must suffer, struggle, and wage battle to woo this young woman. This, as all the while, she grows into an ever greater beauty, a more charismatic personality, and an all-the-more alluring woman."

I had a hard time sitting down to read this novel because, first of all, the cover didn't catch my attention at all. Lately there have been many discussions throughout the blogosphere on the importance of covers and whether or not readers should let this get the best of them. Unfortunately, I couldn't help it. This cover neither grabbed my attention nor intrigued me to pick up the book. Because of this I picked up the book out of obligation to the author.

This negative, or rather indifferent, attitude toward the book really hindered my opinion of the book until I finally let go of those feelings and read, even if it was out of obligation. Almost immediately I realized how wrong I had been. The language is absolutely beautiful and fluid, almost poetic really. The characters, while a little bit generic, were easy to relate to. Despite the language being positively beautiful, at times, it seemed almost choppy and somewhat repetitive:
"They were all young, Ridly*, Jayne, and Chet — Chet was the eldest.
They were, all three, recent graduates. They were all fresh out of school and entering the adult world.
Now Chet was off to a running start. To a flying start" (14).

The plot, again while almost generic, really came to life and grabbed my attention once I got over my "cover issues," I realized that despite having generally generic characters and a generic plot, there is nothing generic about this story.

However, due to the fact that I, a passionate reader, had such a hard time actually opening this book and reading it, I will not be keeping this book for my classroom. This book will be passed on in a "Quick Giveaway" this week: Stay Tuned!

*Misspelling in the novel.

To the FTC, with love: Review book from the author

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The Girl Made of Cool — Alan Fox + TIME