Kids of Appetite by David Arnold

Monday 8 May 2017

In the Hackensack Police Department, Vic Benucci and his friend Mad are explaining how they found themselves wrapped up in a grisly murder. But in order to tell that story, they have to go way back...

It all started when Vic's dad died. Vic's dad was his best friend, and even now, two years later, he can't bring himself to touch the Untouchable Urn of Oblivion that sits in his front hall. But one cold December day, Vic falls in with an alluring band of kids that wander his New Jersey neighbourhood, including Mad, the girl who changes everything. Along with his newfound friendships comes the courage to open his father's urn, the discovery of the message inside, and the epic journey it sparks.

A copy of this book was provided by Chapter 5 Books as a competition prize. This in no way influenced by thoughts. 

When reading the blurb, Kids of Appetite sounds interesting, if full of the type of pretentious, annoying teens I hate seeing in young adult fiction. Nevertheless, I tried to go into this with an open mind.

This failed, however, upon being introduced to the main character, Vic. If you like pretentious, philosophical teens with superiority complexes then you'll get along with him just fine. I however, have had my fill of these types of people and really wish young adult authors would find a less annoying trope to exploit. Not everyone has to be quirky, and even your quirky characters don't have to be so bloody annoying and downright odd. It makes me wonder if these authors actually know anything about the teens they're marketing their books towards.

Poor characters aside (because it wasn't just limited to Vic; Mad, Baz, Zuz, Coco, and everyone else are just as bad), the plot is very generic. Not necessarily bad, but just something that's been seen plenty of times before. Hipster kids adopt the outsider and have many philosophical midnight chats and just generally act like assholes, this time with added crime. If you've read any John Green books then you really don't need to pick this up because you've basically already read it. However, if you're a fan of Green's books then you might actually like this.

All in all, this just wasn't what I was expecting and I wish I hadn't bothered with it. It was nothing new or exciting and I really have nothing good - or even particularly bad - to say about it. I just didn't like it.

6 comments:

  1. This book has been on my tbr for a long time and ironically I saw it yesterday and considered buying it. I'm sorry you didn't like it all that much :( I can say that pretentious characters is something that I absolutely loathe in books, so maybe I'll hang off on this one for now.

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    1. If you can find it at a library you could still give it a go if you're interested. But if you don't like pretentious characters then just don't bother - they're so bad in it.

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  2. I literally said the same thing in my review ages ago about the characters being a lot like the John Green type - the pretentious, "I'm quirky but in a lovable and totally unique way" sort ahahah

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    1. Except they totally aren't lovable at all :P

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  3. On the plus side - 'added crime'! Lol :)

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    1. Honestly that was what kept me going through this!

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