Blog Tour & ARC Review: Jack Kerouac is Dead to Me by Gae Polisner
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Jack Kerouac is Dead to MeSeries: None
Author: Gae Polisner
Published April 7th 2020 by Wednesday Books
Goodreads Synopsis
Fifteen-year-old JL Markham's life used to be filled with carnival nights and hot summer days spent giggling with her forever best friend Aubrey about their families and boys. Together, they were unstoppable. But they aren't the friends they once were.
With JL's father gone on long term business, and her mother suffering from dissociative disorder, JL takes solace in the in the tropical butterflies she raises, and in her new, older boyfriend, Max Gordon. Max may be rough on the outside, but he has the soul of a poet (something Aubrey will never understand). Only, Max is about to graduate, and he's going to hit the road - with or without JL.
JL can't bear being left behind again. But what if devoting herself to Max not only means betraying her parents, but permanently losing the love of her best friend? What becomes of loyalty, when no one is loyal to you?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
In Jack Kerouac is Dead to Me, we follow 15 year old JL, who is juggling her absent father, her bipolar and dissociating mother, her lost friendship with Aubrey, and her new relationship with 19 year old Max. She can't wait for her dad to come home, after working away for so long, and for her mother to hopefully become more there, and not as absent as she is. She thought her friendship with Aubrey would weather anything, but now that she's with Max, who has his own reputation, Aubrey acts as if she's a Jezebel, just the name of her new butterflies. As real life seems to get too much for her, she plans to leave after Max graduates, and the two of them heading off to California, riding off into the sunset on his restored bike. What possibly could go wrong?
Quite honestly, this book was one of the worst I have ever read, if not the worst. The only reason why I forced myself to read it, and I powered through it in one day, was because I'm part of the blog tour, and I couldn't DNF it in good conscious. JL is an awful main character, and I was sick to death of her by the end. She complains about her mother constantly, but if anyone else says anything, she clams up. She's only 15, and knows that when she turns 16, she's going to sleep with her 19 year old boyfriend, who regularly calls her Jailbait - it's disgusting. And to make matters worse, right at the end of the book, it seems as if Max actually slept with her mother after prom, when JL was too drunk on the absinthe he gave her.
The book jumps around all the time, too, from the past to the present, and that was just the final straw really. I didn't want to have to spend so long getting my head around where we were in the story, especially not when I wasn't even invested in it. I've been scrolling through Goodreads, reading some of the glowing reviews, and I'm actually astounded by how many positive reviews there are, because I can't comprehend how or why anyone would like this. Really, the 6 hours or so I spent on it were a complete waste of time, and I wish I could take it back. Definitely a book I won't be recommending!
Dates Read:
March 29, 2020
Rating
1 Star
GAE POLISNER is the award-winning author of In Sight of Stars, The Memory of Things, The Summer of Letting Go, The Pull of Gravity, and Jack Kerouac is Dead to Me. She lives on Long Island with her husband, two sons, and a suspiciously-fictional looking dog. When Gae isn't writing, you can find her in a pool or the open waters off Long Island. She's still hoping that one day her wetsuit will turn her into a superhero.
LINKS:Website | Twitter | Goodreads
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