LIC GAS!

And don't ask me why! ( )

The sleeve note has this as extremely funny - sorry Will - wasted on me.

I finished reading it - but why I couldn't tell you - just stubborn I guess ( )

Basically, I ended up falling in love with this book. It's extremely quirky and the main character is surprisingly lovable (in spite and because of his faults). The characters are well rounded, especially coming from a first person point of view novel. The writing is strong, though if you don't like British slang, this book might be hard to get through. It reminded me of Skins in many ways. And it ended perfectly, not a perfectly happy way, but just the way it needed to end. It was very funny and at times shockingly sad. I'm definitely glad I read it. ( )

'A coming-of-age tale that combines the coolness of Queer as Folk with the tenderness of Adrian Mole' Elle 'Will Davis is a witty writer who effortlessly conjures up the frenetic detail of Jaz's sixteen-year-old world' Independent on Sunday 'The dialogue fizzes with savvy one-liners Davis's observations of the dysfunctions of family and school are as sharp as his prose is fresh, and his debut is intriguing, touching and entertaining' Time Out 'Davis's narrative style makes this a stand-out read - it's a cross between Catherine Tate's Lauren and Vicky Pollard this is a journal for the Noughties' Gay Times

Title: My Side of the Story
Author: Will Davis
Genre: Coming of age
Rating: 4/5

Summary:

Jaz is 16 and feels no connection to his family, who he thinks is more or less a bunch of psychos. People around him make a big deal out of his being gay when they find out, some more violently than others, but in the end everyone's a little messed up, everyone's got issues, and it's all to do with growing up and the unavoidable rift between parents and children, no matter which generation we're talking about.

And then some:

A major peeve with this book was the over use of the word 'like'. Yes, it was part of the way the narrator (the main character) talks, but it still started to grate on my nerves at points. Mostly, though, I was able to ignore it. Other than that the narration was refreshingly relaxed and fitting as a voice of a 16-year-old.

I didn't give this book a rating of 4 out of 5 because I thought it made some big new point I hadn't ever come across before, or because I think this book is some great masterpiece in the huge pile of coming of age stories preceding it. I gave it 4 stars because it made me laugh, and it even made me cry a little, and most of all, because it made me remember what it was like to be sixteen.

A worth while read, one that I'm most likely going to read again someday, probably when I'm feeling a little blue and in need of some cheering up. Or in need of a reminder that there's not such thing as a 'normal family'. ( )

Will Davis' My Side of the Story is a fairly typical adolescent coming of age story and while it's not particularly innovative, it touches all the bases in reasonable fashion.

Jaz is 16, studying for his A Levels, lives with his 'remarkably undivorced' parents, his religious younger sister and his grandmother, and sneaks out to go clubbing with his best mate Al(ice). As the book starts everyone - from his family, to the neo-Nazi bullies at school to the in-the-closet-at work teacher, have all just found out that Jaz is gay, which is what catapults the plot on.

Davis takes Jaz round the usual houses - family squabbles, teenage angst, early mention of The Catcher in the Rye, running away from it all, trying to find your own space and own identity, school problems, and that most modern of touchstones, therapy - it's all here. Jaz narrates, a fast and breezy style, with a more or less convincing ear for adolescent speech (though it gets a bit overly repetitive in some places). He's a likeable enough kid, and his charm carries the book over some of the rockier patches. Partly because this is narrated by Jaz, and this is 'his side of the story' a lot of the other characters suffer in comparison, coming over as ciphers for Jaz to react against more than fully formed people in their own right. Arguably of course, that's a fairly accurate view of how a teenage boy sees the world.

It's not particularly original, and it doesn't leap out and grab you with its intensity, but this is still a fun, zippy book, with a few laughs along the way, and Davis captures that universal feeling of being a teenager and thinking you know it all well. ( )