TITLE: Grasshopper Jungle
AUTHOR: Andrew Smith
PUBLISHER: Dutton Books for Young Readers
PUBLISHED DATE: February 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-0525426035
PAGES: 400
I hated this book.
I really did. I struggled all the way through. I listened to the audiobook, and I think this may have been my first mistake in taking on this book. It was like listening to a profane laced phone book that includes the side notes of pedophiles in training.
Yeah...for me it was that bad.
Austin is a polish boy from a small town in Iowa who is in love with his best friend Robbie and his girlfriend Shan. The three start as friends, but due to the complicated romance both characters have with Austin, Shan and Robbie become jealous of each other. While Austin is having this huge existential crisis where everything makes him horny, and the only question on his mind is to fuck or not to fuck, their small time is invaded "unstoppable soldier" giant grasshoppers that go about eating and fucking. And when I say they eat, I mean they eat human beings. Austin tells the horrible stories of his family's origin in this small town, how his brother's balls got shot off in Afghanistan, and all of his friends and his older brother seem to receive blow jobs by two prostitutes. This book is both random and repetitive. I think the author just wanted to test the market and see if he puts out some crazy mess what will people do, and it seems, they'll give him an award, because this book was the Printz Honor for 2015. Well...this book is for somebody, but not this body.
Recommendation: People I hate. If I hate you, I recommend you read this book and feel as confused and like you wasted your life as I did.
Audience: Young Adults (Grade 9 and up)