Let me just start off by saying I didn't finish this book. I made it to maybe page fifty before I could no longer take it. Here's the synopsis for those who're interested:
Virgin Territory explores the power of faith and our need to believe in miracles. Sixteen-year-old Dylan Flack is uprooted from his cozy life in New York City by the death of his mother of cancer the night before 9/ll. He finds himself transplanted to Jupiter, Florida, and in the chaos of the move discovers that his father has lost their treasured collection of family photos. Dylan feels that he has begun to lose the memory of his mother's face, and without access to those pictures of their past together, each day stretches darkly into a future without hope. Enter: the Virgin Club, a nomadic group of trailer kids whose mostly single parents drag them all over the country in search of sightings of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Although not looking for membership in any club, Dylan falls in love with their leader, Angela, who believes that change occurs in direct proportion to desire and the willingness to take risks. In a series of misadventures and brushes with the law in what Dylan comes to think of as "virgin territory," she teaches Dylan to risk a future without his favorite parent. Miraculously his newfound courage leads to a long overdue confession from his father that brings them closer together and catapults Dylan into a future that holds more promise.
I really don't know how to sum up this book, since I didn't experience much of it, but alas, I will attempt... It was boring. The MC, Dylan, was boring. The descriptions were boring. Just boring. I really think this has the potential of being a John Green-esque self discovery novel, but I couldn't connect with it enough to find out.
Let's meet the MC:
Dylan: Rough home life, an asshat of a father, and a mother who's passed on. His thoughts in a sentence, 'My life sucks and so does everyone in it.' AKA, mopey to no end. I get that the dude has a rough home life, but he's portrayed as the kind of person who curses at the Sun for being bright. I really would've liked to stick around and see how he progressed, but I just couldn't stand the kid. Also, I really disliked the way the difference between the relationship Dylan had with his mother and the relationship he now has with his father was presented. When discussing his mother he uses, 'mom' which is normal, but always refers to his father as Doug. 'Doug said this, Doug did that, Doug sucks eggs.' It got to be a bit too much. But, hey, I'm not the author.
Summing it up:
I don't have anything else to say about this really, but that I do plan on returning to this someday. It just wasn't something I was into this week.
To make up for this downer of a review:
WARNING: Extreme awesome may blow mind.
"The Town"-Macklemore,
