I hadn't heard much about Ballads of Suburbia, but I was in the mood for an edgy YA and it fit the bill so I decided to give it a shot. I'm so glad I did, because I ended up loving it. It's rare for a book to become a favorite after only one read, and I can't remember the last time I connected with a character and story line so deeply.
The format of this book is very interesting. It starts out with an epilogue, showing the main character Kara, returning to her hometown four years after a heroin overdose. She's there to visit her best friend and subsequently runs into Adrian, her high school boyfriend who ditched her after her overdose in order to save himself. Then the story rewinds and shows the events leading up to this moment.
The ballads are another cool thing about the format. They're basically confessions written by other characters in a journal they pass around. I wasn't sure about this at first, but I liked getting a glimpse of other characters' voices and pasts.
There was really only one character I disliked and he was definitely in a villain role. But other than that, I connected very deeply with most of the characters. I found Kara to be very relatable and similar to myself when I was younger. I loved her friends, especially Adrian. Now, I knew how the Adrian thing was going to turn out, partly because of the beginning and partly because I've known plenty of Adrians. But I fell in love with him anyway. I just couldn't help it.
Overall, this is an awesome read. Even though it's set in the '90's, it's definitely relevant and does a great job of showing how life in the suburbs isn't all white picket fences. I'm looking forward to reading Stephanie's first novel, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone soon, too.
2 comments:
Adding this one to my to-read list.
Yay, I love this one. It became a favorite of mine right after I read it too. It's just amazing, and I love the ballads. It really was cool to see inside the other character's heads for a bit.
-lauren
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