Friday 23 December 2011

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber

Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber

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Source: Review from Thomas Allen & Son
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children
Format: Hardcover, 192 pages
Release Date: October 25, 2011

Perry Stormaire is a normal high school senior– he is busy applying to college and rehearsing with his band –until he agrees to go to the prom with the Lithuanian exchange student who is staying with his family. It turns out that Gobi Zaksauskas is not the mousy teenager that she seems but rather an attractive, confident trained assassin. Instead of going to the prom, Perry finds himself on a wild ride through the streets of New York City as Gobi commandeers the Jaguar his father lent him for the prom in order to take out her targets. Perry learns a lot about himself – and ends up with some amazing material for his college application essays.
If you've been searching for a break from your typical reads, Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick is the way to go!

From start to finish, this novel is packed with action and excitement. Images will be shattered, punches will be thrown and bullets will be fired - all in a very short time. This is the kind of book I can totally picture becoming a movie. It's not exactly a complicated plot - more direct lines from Point A to Point B - but it was fun to read nonetheless.

The characters for me were... pretty good. Perry is responsible and good-natured. I liked the genuine effort he made to be a good person. I'm not really quite sure what to make of Gobi. There were things I liked about her personality and things I found a little under-developped. Overall, Perry and Gobi were interesting to read about but not incredibly memorable.

I really liked the inclusion of the college essay questions. I thought they were a creative way to kind of guide what in the following scenes to focus on and besides, they were so interesting! It was definitely cool to see what different universities had asked and the wide range of topics that were explored.

An adventure that is both fast and fun!

Note: While this is technically YA, I would say it's intended for an older audience, perhaps even better suited for adults. Just a thought!

Cover Comments: Hello NYC! Looking nice and bright there. Not quite sure what you're wearing, Gobi, since I distinctly remember the outfits you wore (trust me, you will too) and a brown leather jacket doesn't seem to fit the bill, but whatever.

3 stars

5 comments:

  1. Great title that's for sure.

    I like what you said about the inclusion of the college essays -- certainly a unique way of advancing the plot, and I too would be interested to see what different universities asked :)

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  2. This one definitely sounds original! Looks pretty good, and I think I could already see it as a movie too, despite not having read it yet :P. Great review, will look out for this one :).

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  3. OOOH you mind reader, you. I was totally checking this book out the other day because I saw it's released in Australia early next year and thought it sounded kinda awesome. You definitely make it sound like a fun, fast-paced read! Which I'm so in the mood for lately.

    Thank you for making up my mind. Will be reading this when it's released here. Awesome review!

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  4. Freaking love that title. It sounds like a great book to read when you want a break from the usual stuff. Fast paced with lots of bullets is right up my ally right now. I'll be giving this book a go :)

    ♥ Trish

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