Cure for the Common Universe by Christian McKay Heidicker
Age Group: Young Adult
Genre: Sci-fi, Realistic Fiction
Publishing Date: June 14th, 2016 by Simon and Schuster
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Jaxon is being committed to video game rehab . . .
ten minutes after he met a girl. A living, breathing girl named Serena, who not only laughed at his jokes but actually kinda sorta seemed excited when she agreed to go out with him.
Jaxon's first date. Ever.
In rehab, he can't blast his way through galaxies to reach her. He can't slash through armies to kiss her sweet lips. Instead, he has just four days to earn one million points by learning real-life skills. And he'll do whatever it takes—lie, cheat, steal, even learn how to cross-stitch—in order to make it to his date.
If all else fails, Jaxon will have to bare his soul to the other teens in treatment, confront his mother's absence, and maybe admit that it's more than video games that stand in the way of a real connection.
Prepare to be cured.
What I Liked: There are too many aspects about this book to rave about, but there are two things I'd like to talk about. The first thing is that I'd never seen a book about video games that wasn't overly cheesy and or super intense. There is such a big market in the whole online, video gaming section that authors just want to neglect, and I'm so glad this book was written with the subject of video gaming in mind. The other thing I'd like to point out is that I'd like to continue with the uniqueness aspect. In his whole "rehab" scene, sure it was cliched when Jaxon was put on the underdog team, and sure, it was cliched when everything worked in his favor, but how each of the characters were developed were special. For example, there's this character named Soup, which basically has these insanely weird traits that make him so funny to read. Like for example, he's willing to cross-stitch for just to have a friend. It's little stuff like that that made this book so enjoyable.
What I Didn't Like: For this portion, there are another two things I'd like to point out. The first is the fact that the book curses like every other page. "But it's a YA book. Who Cares?" you may think. However, it's kind of ridiculous. I mean 90% of the book, it is actually useful. But I mean, there's one part of the book where part of Soup's celebration dance is to say every curse word he knows. Like really? I mean do you think that's necessary? Also, the romance between Jaxon and Serena is honestly the worse. I don't want to give too much away, but in my opinion, I just didn't like how it was portrayed.
Final Rating: 9.4 out of ten.
Why? Pretty good, of course. But profanity will getcha, and it happened here.
Genre: Sci-fi, Realistic Fiction
Publishing Date: June 14th, 2016 by Simon and Schuster
Summary: Sixteen-year-old Jaxon is being committed to video game rehab . . .
ten minutes after he met a girl. A living, breathing girl named Serena, who not only laughed at his jokes but actually kinda sorta seemed excited when she agreed to go out with him.
Jaxon's first date. Ever.
In rehab, he can't blast his way through galaxies to reach her. He can't slash through armies to kiss her sweet lips. Instead, he has just four days to earn one million points by learning real-life skills. And he'll do whatever it takes—lie, cheat, steal, even learn how to cross-stitch—in order to make it to his date.
If all else fails, Jaxon will have to bare his soul to the other teens in treatment, confront his mother's absence, and maybe admit that it's more than video games that stand in the way of a real connection.
Prepare to be cured.
What I Liked: There are too many aspects about this book to rave about, but there are two things I'd like to talk about. The first thing is that I'd never seen a book about video games that wasn't overly cheesy and or super intense. There is such a big market in the whole online, video gaming section that authors just want to neglect, and I'm so glad this book was written with the subject of video gaming in mind. The other thing I'd like to point out is that I'd like to continue with the uniqueness aspect. In his whole "rehab" scene, sure it was cliched when Jaxon was put on the underdog team, and sure, it was cliched when everything worked in his favor, but how each of the characters were developed were special. For example, there's this character named Soup, which basically has these insanely weird traits that make him so funny to read. Like for example, he's willing to cross-stitch for just to have a friend. It's little stuff like that that made this book so enjoyable.
What I Didn't Like: For this portion, there are another two things I'd like to point out. The first is the fact that the book curses like every other page. "But it's a YA book. Who Cares?" you may think. However, it's kind of ridiculous. I mean 90% of the book, it is actually useful. But I mean, there's one part of the book where part of Soup's celebration dance is to say every curse word he knows. Like really? I mean do you think that's necessary? Also, the romance between Jaxon and Serena is honestly the worse. I don't want to give too much away, but in my opinion, I just didn't like how it was portrayed.
Final Rating: 9.4 out of ten.
Why? Pretty good, of course. But profanity will getcha, and it happened here.
Thanks for your honest commentary. Gotta say, I don't think there's such a thing as a "useful" obscenity. There's so much more to language, people! But I get your point. The plot sounds unique and the write-up is intriguing. And I love the title.
ReplyDeleteIf I may clarify, in my eyes, profanity is okay when it drives the plot. In other words, it is used to show true emotion, and not to euphemize (to apply euphemism) anything. Anyways, thank you so much for commenting.
DeleteXD this sounds absolutely hilarious. It's sad to hear that the romance sucked and there was cursing every other page :/. Like seriously, cussing works sometimes...but not EVERY OTHER SENTENCE COME ON PEOPLE XD.
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds really unique. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your honest review. There are times when a curse word is effective, but if over used it gets boring. But, it sounds like a very funny story -- a book for boys or both genders?
ReplyDelete