Book Title:  The Great American Whatever (Standalone)
Author:      Tim Federle
Number of pages:  288

Synopsis:

Quinn Roberts is a sixteen-year-old smart aleck and Hollywood hopeful whose only worry used to be writing convincing dialogue for the movies he made with his sister Annabeth. Of course, that was all before—before Quinn stopped going to school, before his mom started sleeping on the sofa…and before Annabeth was killed in a car accident.

Enter Geoff, Quinn’s best friend who insists it’s time that Quinn came out—at least from hibernation. One haircut later, Geoff drags Quinn to his first college party, where instead of nursing his pain, he meets a guy—a hot one—and falls hard. What follows is an upside-down week in which Quinn begins imagining his future as a screenplay that might actually have a happily-ever-after ending—if, that is, he can finally step back into the starring role of his own life story.

(re: Goodreads @ The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle)

Should this book be picked up? the tl;dr review:

– A coming of age fit for this generation
– Quinn can come off as whiny, self-centered, and difficult to sympathize for (blame puberty)
– Narrative voice is fluid, effortless, and conversational while cleverly employing screenwriting drafts to juxtapose escapism/realism
– Single mother family dynamics, intersectional supporting cast; bromance with best bud is solid
– Romance with an Iranian-American is not the central storyline

Initial Thoughts

Read “Federle” -> thought of Federer -> Timmy is secretly a Tennis player too (omg what am I on good friends level to call him Timmy?!)

Full disclosure: I received an ARC of The Great American Whatever. I extend thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for providing me the opportunity to review this title.

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