Monday 4 March 2013

YA REVIEW - 'What's Up With Jody Barton?', Hayley Long (Macmillan, 2012)

Me and my sister are twins. She's Jolene and I'm Jody. We've both got brown hair, we're both left-handed and we both have these weirdly long little toes which make us look like long-toed mutants. But apart from that, I'd say we're fairly different. Well, actually, we're a lot different . . . It's hard enough being one half of the world's least identical twins, without both of you falling for the same guy... Jolene's turned flirting into a fine art, but Jody? Not so much. And as if a twinny love triangle wasn't messy enough . . . there's something nobody knows about Jody Barton. Something BIG. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

It's feels very strange to be writing a review of this book, because, honestly the best advice I can give you before you read this book is not to read anything about this book before you start this book. Seriously, stop reading this review. NOW.

What's Up With Jody Barton?...Only kidding. You know I would never partake in any of the spoiling of the clever story without huge amounts of prior warning. But that doesn't take away from the fact that this is going to be a tricky one. Hmmm...

Let's just start with the things I loved about this one then, shall we? Well, for starters, Jody. Such a loveable character in desperate need of a hug. I can't imagine any teenager who wouldn't identify with Jody on some level or another. Even though their particular dilemma could appear very specific on the surface, we all been there - falling in love with completely the wrong person and developing a slight obsession with River Phoenix....haven't we?

And this is properly funny stuff, with Jody making a very amusing and informative narrator as well as there being some cracking and vivid supporting characters. One particular gag, courtesy of Jody and Jolene's mum, was a right corker that made me guffaw into my brew. But I won't spoil it for you here, adding to the list of yet another thing I won't mention about this book. In fact, I loved all the supporting characters and it's not too often that a contemporary YA gets the whole dialogue thing spot on, even old lady speak...

"If they took Tony Blair and Barack Obama and the ayatollah and that tiny little Frenchman with the big heels and that hunky Russian prime minister, Vladimir Rasputin and put them altogether in my front room with a great big pot of tea and a jar of ginger hard-bakes, you'd have every one of the world's problems sorted out by the end of the day. You mark my words!"

Have any truer words even been said? No, they haven't. Tea Rocks. End of discussion.

Right, there's no getting around it. You may or may not have guessed that there is a bit of a twisty twist lurking amongst the pages. Ok, a lot of a twisty twist. And I'm not usually a fan of twisty-twists because most of the time they're not that twisty. But this one of proper...corkscrew perm twisty. Yes, THAT twisty. It's ace.

But now I shall distract you from the twistyness with one of the many brilliant facts that are littered throughout this book. It's no secret that I love contemporary YA, especially contemporary YA set in my lovely home city of London. And this is a proper London book, complete with references to buses that pass through my neighbourhood. So lets leave it to Jody to give us a fact about London...

"I read on the internet that 7,172,091 people live in London. That's more than seven million people. They all wander down Willesden High Road at some point."

It's true you know. I'm one of that seven million and I have wandered down Willesden High Road. We were going to a gerbil breeder's flat to collect our new gerbils. True story.

Move along now. No twist to see here....

(Just remember to read the book though because it's rather brilliant)




20 comments:

  1. Love the sound of this! Think it's time for me to pick up a contemporary again. Great review, Anna :)

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    1. It's such as lovely read - funny and thought-provoking :)

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    2. and UK based! I haven't read a UK based YA novel in ages :) I don't really care where in the UK, so London will have to do ;-)

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    3. I've been reading nothing but UK stuff recently!

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  2. I hadn't read anything about this til now but it totally sounds up my alley. Firstly, because of the humor. Secondly, because I love London and all things set there. And thirdly, because I am beyond curious about all these twists. You honestly succeeded in making a review without letting me know ANYTHING about the plot. Well done, you jerk.

    P.S. I think you accidentally forgot a word in the third review paragraph. ("we both Jody making a very amusing")

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    1. Thanks for the typo highlight Flann. This is what comes from writing late-night reviews.
      This one is really worth tracking down

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  3. This book sounds so funny! I've seen it around quite a few times now and it does sound really good. I'm always looking for good contemporary reads so I'll definitely be picking this up. Glad you enjoyed it! :)

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    1. It felt very fresh and original - well worth reading!

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  4. Fab review! Definitely a hard book to review.

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    1. Thanks Michelle ;) I was sitting there staring at the screen for a good half hour beforehand. Damn those clever twists ;)

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  5. This sounds very intriguing.. I love books with massive (clever) twists. They're tough to review though.. you did well! ;)

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    1. Thanks lovely! It was a tricky one for sure

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  6. Great review Anna, this one is so tough to review, but such a fantastic read. There need to be more like it! :)

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    1. Thanks Michelle :) You're right, it's such a positive book in so many ways but...well, I can't really say anything else can I? ;)

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  7. Oh Anna, I adore this review! I loved it on Goodreads and reading it again just made me smile, especially the quote about tea.

    I want this book to get more attention!

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    1. <3 Thank you Mand! Yes, I agree completely. But a really difficult one to shout about for fear of spoiling

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  8. Oi Oi! What are you doing to me, Anna Scott? You're making me break a habit of a lifetime, that's what! I've never commented on a review of one of my own books EV-AH and, tbh, I don't tend to read them too often either. But anyway, I got the nudge about this review so I had a nosy. And I'm glad I did! Talk about Master of the Curve-ball; you're even better at it than me :-) You've skilfully managed to GIVE NUFFINK AWAY but made me laugh over my keyboard. If I didn't know the flipping book inside out (what with having written the flipping thing), I'd definitely want to check it out after reading this. Thank you, my friend. I'll go now before I get known as a 'Review Lurker.' x

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    1. Blimey. You have made my Friday evening, thank you lovely Review Lurker!

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  9. p.s In MY Willesden flat, there was at least one (feral) rat but no gerbils ;-)

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    1. My gerbil breeder was a vet student who was studying gerbil genetics. And he also had lizards. But no rats ;)

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