King of the Screwups by K.L. Going

Summary:

Liam Geller is Mr. Popularity. Everybody loves him. He excels at sports; he knows exactly what clothes to wear; he always ends up with the most beautiful girls in school. But he's got an uncanny ability to screw up in the very ways that tick off his father the most.

When Liam finally kicked out of the house, his father's brother takes him in. What could a teenage chick magnet possibly have in common with his gay, glam rocker, DJ uncle who lives in a trailer in upstate New York? A lot more than you'd think. And when Liam attempts to make himself over as a nerd in a desperate attempt to impress his father, it's his "aunt" Pete and the guys in his band who convince Liam there's much more to him than his father will ever see.
 
Review:

When I first saw King of The Screwups I was intrigued by not only the title but the premise that sounded quite interesting. Luckily, King of the Screwups was one teen's compelling story that often hit high reality points through the trials and tribulations of being in his own words, The King of Screwups. And while I did enjoy this book (I mean I raced through the whole thing in one sitting, what else could that mean?), it sometimes felt predictable.

The King of the Screwups had quite the mix of diverse characters; since from Pete, Liam's uncle, and his friends who were charming, funny glam rockers to Liam who was a character I instantly liked and supported while he went through the process of being someone who he wanted to be and not what his father wanted him to be to the girl next door who while didn't have plenty of scenes always managed to make a big bang in them, it left for them, the characters, to be the part that utterly made this book the compelling and exciting one it was.

The one part of this book that while hit reality right on but was hard to read were the scenes between Liam and his farther who constantly wanted Liam to leave up to unrealistic standards. Sometimes while the dad was telling Liam how awful and how disappointed he was in him, all I wanted to do was jump into the story and tear him, as in the dad, apart. Since you should never, NEVER, treat your child like that, especially when there's nothing truly wrong with them.

Moving on the plot, as mentioned above, often felt predictable and like one I've seen before. Though, the characters overrode this problem with how three dimensional they were, and the writing did so too because it always flowed nicely and the dialogue between the characters often felt real and not forced.

In all, while King of the Screwups had it's problems, it is still a coming of age story that I recommended it. Because I doubt I won't find anyone who doesn’t find Liam to be the least bit likable.
 
Grade: B-
 
King of the Screwups is now out in hardcover, but it'll be out in paperback on May 3, 2010!
 
Source: Library