Friday 11 May 2012

Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

Blurb
The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.

The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.

The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?

Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.


Review
The first reason I picked up this books was because it had an epic cover. No, I don't just mean it looked epic, but it even felt epic. I'm a sucker for good covers, so I threw it in my bag, and took it home. Again, I'm also a sucker for first lines. And the first line in this book got me hooked. I can't remember what the first line was, but it was told through Piper's point of view, the main character, and it really brought out a witty, confident and original voice. In my opinion, that's one of the important ways an author can attract a reader.

Piper is a deaf girl, and when she has the opportunity to manage a band and get some money so she can go to the school of her choice, she's in. Of course, what she didn't know was that she was getting herself into a band that was so out of sync. Which, for the record, is when she decided to call them the five flavors of Dumb. Because each one of the members were so different. Like flavours.

Reading a book through a deaf persons perspective was really refreshing for me. Something that took me out of all the regular books I read all the time into something new. The characters were all very likable, or unlikeable, but that's a good thing. Antony John got reactions out of me over what the characters did, and that's OK because it means that I actually cared.

Of course, in the end, I gave it a three star because the ending just didn't seem satisfying. It all wrapped up like a happily ever after, no hint of any despair, or future fame, or what not. Just, a yay! Now don't get me wrong, I loved the book, and the author did an amazing job, but still, there was something missing. The whole story lacked a sort of emotion. I think at points it was supposed to be sad, like the time the gang went to visit all the famous dead musicians. I didn't feel it. Or when Piper was using a broomstick to keep the band together by tapping it on the floor for a tempo. That, I think was supposed to be inspirational. I didn't feel it. So I think the problem here was the choice of events, or just the way the words were combined didn't really help bring out the best in the story.

Also, I guess the other thing that disappointed me was who ended up with who. That has nothing to do with the authors writing or what not, just solely based on my opinion. I was hoping the deaf girl somehow got to the 'egomaniacal pretty boy'. Also the lead singer, Josh. They just seemed to have this little spark going every once in a while, so it was kind of misleading me. Oh, well.

Overall, the book was properly put together to create a humorous, witty, and a finding-yourself novel.   

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