Genre: Publication Date: February 19th 2013 Pages: 532 Published By: Balzer + Bray Website Michael Hassan Crash and Burn on Goodreads My review copy: Review copy provided by publicist in return of an honest review
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On April 21, 2008, Steven "Crash" Crashinsky saved more than a thousand people when he stopped his classmate David Burnett from taking their high school hostage armed with assault weapons and high-powered explosives. You likely already know what came after for Crash: the nationwide notoriety, the college recruitment, and, of course, the book deal. What you might not know is what came before: a story of two teens whose lives have been inextricably linked since grade school, who were destined, some say, to meet that day in the teachers' lounge of Meadows High. And what you definitely don't know are the words that Burn whispered to Crash right as the siege was ending, a secret that Crash has never revealed.
Until now.
Michael Hassan's shattering novel is a tale of first love and first hate, the story of two high school seniors and the morning that changed their lives forever. It's a portrait of the modern American teenage male, in all his brash, disillusioned, oversexed, schizophrenic, drunk, nihilistic, hopeful, ADHD-diagnosed glory. And it's a powerful meditation on how normal it is to be screwed up, and how screwed up it is to be normal.
Until now.
Michael Hassan's shattering novel is a tale of first love and first hate, the story of two high school seniors and the morning that changed their lives forever. It's a portrait of the modern American teenage male, in all his brash, disillusioned, oversexed, schizophrenic, drunk, nihilistic, hopeful, ADHD-diagnosed glory. And it's a powerful meditation on how normal it is to be screwed up, and how screwed up it is to be normal.
(Goodreads)
I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm not exactly the hero that everyone says I am.
Tell him Roxanne said that you can't make a fox into a dog no matter how hard you try. A fox is always a fox. And in the end, you have to let them go.
No. I do not fucking play soccer. Do you think I'd be this fat if I played fucking soccer?
Everything in the game mirrored exactly how I felt every single day of my life, while teachers and others tried so hard to sit me down and keep me still, even though I was spinning; while they were giving me my ADD medicine to try and stop my constant need to move, and to stop me from trying to break free from my chair and the room and the school. Letters on the chalkboard, words in a book, and all I could think of, all I could keep feeling, was get out.
He was also proving to be the supergenius that everyone said he was, getting perfect scores on standardized tests and acing his courses, breezing through the work and correcting teachers whenever they said something that he considered to be inaccurate, knowing all these minute details about virtually everything, like he was constantly preparing for a test that only he knew he was taking.
What can I say about Crash and Burn? Well, I can definitely understand why it has mixed reviews. It is this epic 500 page book that is raw, unfiltered, and feels so real. It is not your typical young adult novel. Crash and Burn is kind of like an onion, not everyone likes the taste or smell of onions but it's amazing how many layers onions have. That's how Crash and Burn is. It is so layered. So realistic. So epic-ly amazing.
What originally made me accept this book for review was the subject matter: a school shooting. However, it is so much more than that. Steven "Crash" Crashinsky is probably the most vile character I ever liked. I think I like him as a character but if he was a real human being that I knew, I'd declare him a womanizing asshole and dislike him. I definitely would not be his friend in real life. But, his story is really, really good.
This book definitely is not for everyone. There is a lot of swearing even though the swearing fits in really well. There's also a lot of drugs, sex, and mental health issues. I wouldn't be surprised if in the future Crash goes to some high end rehab like Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab or something. That'd be an interesting sequel.
It is brilliant in the way that it hits the nose smack dab on the head on what it is like to grow up in today's society. Our world nowadays is not cookie cut perfect like it was portrayed in the good ole days. Today, it's tough to be a teenager. I remember when I was a teenager and I had a lot of problems. And so does Crash. This story is seriously intense. It's a roller coaster of intense.
I definitely recommend this book to older teens and adults. I think this is one book I might see my brother reading (and that's saying something, because he doesn't read). I can see a lot of a boys reading this, but I think girls will like it too. It's raw and unfiltered and as I stated earlier, epic. It's definitely a book worth reading.
What originally made me accept this book for review was the subject matter: a school shooting. However, it is so much more than that. Steven "Crash" Crashinsky is probably the most vile character I ever liked. I think I like him as a character but if he was a real human being that I knew, I'd declare him a womanizing asshole and dislike him. I definitely would not be his friend in real life. But, his story is really, really good.
This book definitely is not for everyone. There is a lot of swearing even though the swearing fits in really well. There's also a lot of drugs, sex, and mental health issues. I wouldn't be surprised if in the future Crash goes to some high end rehab like Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab or something. That'd be an interesting sequel.
It is brilliant in the way that it hits the nose smack dab on the head on what it is like to grow up in today's society. Our world nowadays is not cookie cut perfect like it was portrayed in the good ole days. Today, it's tough to be a teenager. I remember when I was a teenager and I had a lot of problems. And so does Crash. This story is seriously intense. It's a roller coaster of intense.
I definitely recommend this book to older teens and adults. I think this is one book I might see my brother reading (and that's saying something, because he doesn't read). I can see a lot of a boys reading this, but I think girls will like it too. It's raw and unfiltered and as I stated earlier, epic. It's definitely a book worth reading.
And for the wonderful giveaway! :] Michael Hassan's promoter is letting us giveaway 2 copies of Crash and Burn to 2 of our lucky readers!!
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