Steve Review: Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach

Nov 30, 2011 by shanyn

Title: Stupid Fast
Paperback, 311 pages
Author: Geoff Herbach
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: June 1, 2011
Source: Book Expo America
Buy: Amazon
Add To: Goodreads

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Book Summary:
Fifteen-year-old Felton Reinstein has always been on the smallish side, but in his sophomore year he starts growing…and growing.

During gym one day he smokes the football jocks in a 600-yard race. Felton has never been interested in sports, but there’s no doubt-he is “stupid fast.” As he juggles his newfound athletic prowess, his mom’s sudden depression, an annoying little brother, and his first love, he discovers a shocking secret about his past which explains why he’s turning out the way he is.

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Steve Review:
Haha, how fun is this book?! Shanyn brought home quite a few books from BEA, and she is awesome enough to have picked some out she thought I would like. This was one of them. I have to admit that I had my doubts, I mainly like the fantasy and sci-fi genre’s and I read quite a few books that tend to take themselves very seriously. This was a really fun change of pace that I enthusiastically enjoyed.

Stupid Fast follows Felton as he goes through the summer before his junior year of high school. It’s told in past tense and he foreshadows a few things as he tells the story of his sophomore year ending and all the adventures of summer. I won’t give too much more of the plot away besides what was in the summary above because this Stupid Fast ride is just too fun to spoil.

The main thing I do want to mention is how well the story mixes the serious and the “stupid”. The usual teenage drama of girls, high school, friends, and sports is very well balanced with adult elements of suicide and mental illness. You grow to love Felton’s family and genuinely care how his life is evolving and changing. Shout out to his brother Andrew who is a unique and interesting character that keeps the story fresh and intriguing throughout. Let’s get to the points scale before I gush too much about this great YA novel!

Points Scale:
Cover: 3/5 – Felton looks too small to be accurate.
Title: 5/5 – Perfect.
Plot: 8/10 – Well told, nice elements and enough plot twists to keep me hooked throughout. Also, yay puberty!
Characters: 9/10 – Different than I’m used to but all of them were simply good fun.
Writing: 8/10 – Entertaining w/o being too serious and captures the teenage perspective quite well. Well done Mr. Herbach.
Ending: 10/10 – No sequel needed, really great conclusion. Ofc every time I say this a sequel comes out like 2 years later and I’m like wtf whyyyyy ;)

Total: 43/50 – Definitely a change of pace for me but as you can tell from this stupid great score, a welcomed, fun, awesome book!

PS: Shanyn wants me to tell you guys that I stayed up to 3am to finish this book. :p I wasn’t tired yet and it was well worth a little lost sleep!

Buy: Amazon
Add To: Goodreads

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