Rating: 4 stars
Cover Rating: 3 stars (I like the older cover better, but I don't like the train tracks at all. They aren't a huge part of the story.)
Genre:Young Adult
Publication Date: April 26, 2011
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Page Count: 310 p.
Ade Patience is he King of Concussions. Whenever he gets knocked out he can see the future. Other students at Mantlo High thinks he's one step short of the Special Ed classes, and his best friend calls him selfish. Now Ade can't see thing that happen to other people, so it's not like he knocks himself out to be helpful to others. Ade just wants the high that he get after he's had a vision. Ade is a junkie, an addict. He has been crushed by his visions before. He has tried and failed at changing the future, but when he sees something really bad, and learns a lot of things he had no idea about, he might just have to try and change the future again.
If you have every seen the movie Donnie Darko
, this novel is kind of like that. It has a very weird feel to it. There is talk of science and physics, but in an abstract, psychic powers sort of way. I liked how Ade was portrayed as a junkie, but not a villain. His mom aided his addiction every step of the way, clinging to his vision like a life-preserver that might rescue her from her own unfortunate place. At times the writing seemed a little bit off, and things were mentioned as already happening that hadn't happened. I'm not sure if the latter is a writing tool to express the ins and outs of Ade's mental condition, or if it was simply poor editing. I wish that the letters that Ade received from the Doctors and others that he wrote to were included in this novel. It was a little disappointing only having one side of these conversations. I really like Ade and Vauxhall and how they were sort of like crappy superheroes. Superheroes who can't really save the world...yet. Jimi was a really odd character, out to get really odd things from life. It sucks that his childhood was crappy, but I think some people would be able to grow from that place instead of trying to screw other people over. The dynamic between Jimi and Ade was a weird one. At times I thought that they could be the same person and Ade had just completely lost it. There were so many surprises in this novel that kept you completely engrossed until the final pages. I liked that everyone in Jimi's life seemed to believe that he really could see the future and that it didn't seem strange to them at all. I do wonder how any normal person could survive after all that head trauma, but clearly being psychic grants you some leeway in the health department. I would not consider this novel a light beach read, though it was very good. Something you have to let your brain settle into and imagine the possibilities that Ade has before him, and the danger he faces. I anxiously look forward to Past Continuous
with Ade which is about multiple hims existing and vying for the right to be the one and only Ade.
First Line:
"Jimi Ministry didn't have this many tattoos two weeks ago."
Favorite Lines:
"I want to know every bump. Trace every vein."
Ade Patience is he King of Concussions. Whenever he gets knocked out he can see the future. Other students at Mantlo High thinks he's one step short of the Special Ed classes, and his best friend calls him selfish. Now Ade can't see thing that happen to other people, so it's not like he knocks himself out to be helpful to others. Ade just wants the high that he get after he's had a vision. Ade is a junkie, an addict. He has been crushed by his visions before. He has tried and failed at changing the future, but when he sees something really bad, and learns a lot of things he had no idea about, he might just have to try and change the future again.
If you have every seen the movie Donnie Darko
, this novel is kind of like that. It has a very weird feel to it. There is talk of science and physics, but in an abstract, psychic powers sort of way. I liked how Ade was portrayed as a junkie, but not a villain. His mom aided his addiction every step of the way, clinging to his vision like a life-preserver that might rescue her from her own unfortunate place. At times the writing seemed a little bit off, and things were mentioned as already happening that hadn't happened. I'm not sure if the latter is a writing tool to express the ins and outs of Ade's mental condition, or if it was simply poor editing. I wish that the letters that Ade received from the Doctors and others that he wrote to were included in this novel. It was a little disappointing only having one side of these conversations. I really like Ade and Vauxhall and how they were sort of like crappy superheroes. Superheroes who can't really save the world...yet. Jimi was a really odd character, out to get really odd things from life. It sucks that his childhood was crappy, but I think some people would be able to grow from that place instead of trying to screw other people over. The dynamic between Jimi and Ade was a weird one. At times I thought that they could be the same person and Ade had just completely lost it. There were so many surprises in this novel that kept you completely engrossed until the final pages. I liked that everyone in Jimi's life seemed to believe that he really could see the future and that it didn't seem strange to them at all. I do wonder how any normal person could survive after all that head trauma, but clearly being psychic grants you some leeway in the health department. I would not consider this novel a light beach read, though it was very good. Something you have to let your brain settle into and imagine the possibilities that Ade has before him, and the danger he faces. I anxiously look forward to Past Continuous with Ade which is about multiple hims existing and vying for the right to be the one and only Ade.First Line:
"Jimi Ministry didn't have this many tattoos two weeks ago."
Favorite Lines:
"I want to know every bump. Trace every vein."
I just finished reading this one as well, and my feelings for it were similar. I didn't know there was a sequel though. I also found the cover a bit odd, and I liked the ARC one better. Great review :)
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