Thursday, September 15, 2016

The Boy Who Killed Grant Parker by Kat Spears- Blog Tour Review

The Boy Who Killed Grant Parker
by Kat Spears

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: September 13, 2016
Format: Thanks to St. Martin's for providing me a finished copy to read and honestly review.


Luke Grayson's life might as well be over when he's forced to go live in rural Tennessee with his Baptist pastor father. His reputation as a troublemaker has followed him there, and as an outsider, Luke is automatically under suspicion by everyone from the principal at his new school to the local police chief. His social life is no better. The new kid in town is an easy target for Grant Parker, the local golden boy with a violent streak who has the entire community of Ashland under his thumb.

But things go topsy-turvy when a freak accident removes Grant from the top of the social pyramid, replacing him with Luke. This fish out of water has suddenly gone from social outcast to hero in a matter of twenty-four hours. For the students who have lived in fear of Grant all their lives, this is a welcome change. But Luke’s new found fame comes with a price. Nobody knows the truth about what really happened to Grant Parker except for Luke, and the longer he keeps living the lie, the more like Grant Parker he becomes.





You know what I love and hate about this book?  That the main character is an antihero.  He's someone you want to root for because he's a total underdog, but he's definitely not going to let you root for him.  That would be too easy.

Luke moves from Washington, D.C. to Rural-Town, Tennessee to live with his preacher father that he barely knows.  He's branded an instant outsider by his band t-shirts and the fact that the town doesn't get new people very often (if ever).  After getting bullied and embarrassed by the town's golden boy, he fights back and finds himself in the odd situation of taking Grant's place in his absence.  He starts dating Grant's girlfriend, sitting in his prized lunch table seat, and going to the popular parties-- not the weird role-playing parties in the woods that his initial friend Don took him to.

I have COMPLICATED feelings on this one. While Jason from Breakaway became an instant book boyfriend for me, I know Luke is never going anywhere near that status. Every time I started getting my hopes up that Luke was going to have a breakthrough, he would fuck it up.  I wanted to like and understand him, but he just kept getting in his own way.  He's not the the overlooked kid with the heart of gold.... actually he's an average angsty teenage boy with cowardly tendencies.  It's tough reading about someone who never has their "moment" of growth.  Luke is who Luke is, but it makes the book feel more real.

I do love reading from a boy POV.  There's something about boy's random vulgar, immature thoughts that I relate to in ways that are probable not normal.  And then there's Delilah, the Police Chief's daughter who I kind of wished this book was really about.  She liked Luke (for reasons that are unclear to me), but she also didn't care about his bullshit.  She's only in the book when she feels like talking to Luke, and that's really not often enough.

It's an interesting look at bullying and crowd mentality, but Luke is so frustrating that it's hard to separate my other feelings about it.  I do appreciate the stories of high school hell, growing up, and being an outsider-- but I also spent a lot of this book pissed off at the characters.

OVERALL: Not a book that gives you lovable characters.  It felt like real high school where crowd mentality is strong, people do really hurtful things, and embarrassing stuff happens in bucketfuls.  I say read if you are in the mood for a book that puts high school cliques in the center spotlight.

Rating: 3.5/5













Kat Spears has worked as a bartender, museum director, housekeeper, park ranger, business manager, and painter (not the artistic kind). She holds an M.A. in anthropology, which has helped to advance her bartending career. She lives in Richmond, Virginia with her three freeloading kids. She is the author of Sway, Breakaway, and The Boy Who Killed Grant Parker.










 photo signature_zpsbfa41d62.png

10 comments:

  1. By reading the synopsis and your review, I feel like the title of this story is a little bit misleading. However, it does sound like an interesting read about a boy going through crap in his life. I'm sorry you weren't totally found of the characters. That can definitely affect the feeling towards books. If I don't like a main character, I usually have a hard time even finishing the story. :(

    Amber @ https://bibliomaniacbibliophile.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great review! Sometimes I think there can't be a better review than saying that it felt like real high school. I think these sorts of books can be few and far between. That being said, it's always a bummer to not connect with and/or like the characters in a book. Glad this had other redeeming qualities

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It gave me the same feeling as reading The Catcher in the Rye. I thought Holden Caulfield totally sucked, but I wanted to see if he'd ever do ANYTHING. So this is like that except Luke does actually do some stuff :)

      Delete
  3. That synopsis had me very curious but I don't know if I'm in the mood for an anti-hero who keeps getting in his own way. Still, I'm going to keep this on my maybe list. Thanks for the review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I definitely think you have to be in the mood for it!

      Delete
  4. I totally missed this one! Sounds interesting and like the real high school feel. I am not sure how I would feel about Luke though! Great review!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah Luke is Luke. He's doesn't change or have a "coming of age" moment.

      Delete
  5. Thanks for another fun review, Michelle. I had goals for Luke. So many goals. My goal was to make the reader sympathize with him just enough, identify with him through a few universals, so that when it became abundantly clear he wasn't anywhere near a hero, it would make you feel kind of icky for ever finding him at all relatable. Roger and Delilah are decent folks, so the fact that they seem to like Luke helps to make him okay in the reader's eyes, but Luke just keeps on doing his best to be a hopeless coward, in more ways than one. It was an interesting experiment. I like for my characters to be so completely realistic that there is no two ways they could behave. They can only be themselves. Because that's how I am. Try as I might to achieve some ideal as a human being, I never seem to quite get there. But hold onto your hat, because my next protagonist, Travis, is shaping up to be as wicked as Jesse, but better in touch with his emotions. I'll make sure you get an early copy come spring! Thanks, lady.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GAH!!! I am so humbled that you would even visit my blog and read my review!! I love hearing about your insights into what you envisioned for the characters. And OMG your next book sounds AMAZING. Can't wait to read it. PS-- I bought Sway a few weeks ago and hope to get to it soon!!

      Delete
  6. I'm with Grace - not sure how I would feel about this one. But I always give high props to a book that makes you FEEL things, vs being indifferent!

    ReplyDelete