Honk If You Hate Me by Deborah Halverson

Honk If You Hate Me Reviews

• 
  M.M. Strawberry Library & Reviews

  I glimpsed this book on a cart on a library trip to return a borrowed DVD. The cover caught my eye so I read the inside of the jacket and the story sounded interesting.
  
  I know this was a book for teens, so I didn't expect a long, detailed book. This isn't a bad book, really. The gist of the book can be summarized in the jacket flap (as well as the description here on Amazon) so it was pretty straightforward for me. This book is this author's first effort, and I could tell before I looked up this author because of the information on her in the backflap. This is not a bad effort for a first book. I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of the sex and drugs that seems to be so prevalent in teen novels today, so unlike most other 'teen' books, this is something I WOULD give to my teen (if I had one, of course)
  
  I was disappointed that the book wasn't a bit more fleshed out though. This story would have benefited more if Mona recalled some more experiences she had as the town outcast and exactly what happened with her mom. It's never clear WHY Mom died, and the ending also felt rather thrown-together to me, especially with the revelation about Paco. I mean, the author could have just left it with Dad and that would be perfectly plausible, but then to shift it over to Paco felt contrived. A bit more thought and detail would have increased the potential out of this book. A decent, light read at 3/5 stars.
• 
  TheSaint

  I got so tired of living in Our Heroine's head, that by the time of the Big Reveals I just didn't care. She was so whiny and vapid, that her turn-around, which should have made her more human and likable, just make her kind of pathetic.
  
  Her inner dialog was clunky and not entirely authentic for a teenager. Even a teenager whose inner life was mostly expressed through bumper-sticker wisdom.
  
  The author did a thorough job of describing the setting; I totally understood that their town was a pathetic, loser-ville. Or at least that's what OH thought about it.
  
  The narrative arc wasn't entirely predictable, which is a note in favor, but once again: just didn't care.
  
  And by the way, to use a big word to describe small: use minuscule, not miniscule. Normally, I'd let that slide (enough misuse of the word will undoubtedly shift the language to that spelling anyhow), but I hated the book so much by the time I came across it that I just couldn't give it a pass.
  
  
  
• 
  Tonya P.

  I didn't really understand the concept of the book. I wish it was in more detail and maybe longer.
• 
  Coralee

  Boring.
• 
  Fiona

  Wonderful story about finding your identity. The book is a young adult story but I also enjoyed.
  
  Mona lives in Muessa Junction. Her mother died when she was young so it´s her father who is raising her, or trying to raise her. He worked as a furniture designer at the local furniture warehouse and was well known for his designs. The furniture warehouse was the largest employer in town. Was, that is, until a fire burned it down 10 years ago when Mona was only 6 years old. Mona doesn´t remember the blaze but the town blames her for causing the fire. Her father was the savior who went into the fire and saved Mona and her best friend. For 10 years she´s been carrying the guilt. Now it´s time for the 10 year anniversary of the fire. How can she survive?
  
  Deciding not to be a wallflower any longer, Mona dyes her hair purple and begins performance art by standing on tables in fast food joints and reciting poems or from her multitude of bumper sticker sayings. She is a hit. Slowly her memory returns about the fire. She didn´t cause it after all! Her father? Her best friend? She must come to terms of who she is and if she lets the fire control her destiny.
  
  Great story about not fitting in with other kids at school and discovering who you really are.
  
• 
  Amanda Deconciliis

  I really struggled to finish this book, even with its short length. Often zoned out while reading and couldn’t quite keep track of all the characters and who was who. I thought the relationship between Mona and Glenn could have contained more, their arch fell flat. Not a terrible book but missed the mark.
• 
  Jennifer Wardrip

  Reviewed by Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com
  
  Monalisa Kent has had a strange childhood, one that has made everyone in town hate her and treat her like an outsider.
  
  But it's not Monalisa's fault that she accidentally burned down the futon factory, the one building that had tons of meaning and was considered the town's landscape and nucleus. She was just a kid, and it is what it is -- just an accident. Of course, no one in her town can understand this, or will find it in themselves to forgive her.
  
  Ten years later, Monalisa has changed (specifically, her hair color) and is all grown up. But the town still hasn't. This year just so happens to be the anniversary of the fall of the futon factory, and the events of the past are still on everyone's mind. You would think that after this much time has passed, people would forgive and forget!
  
  Monalisa is fine, though. She enjoys having purple hair, she likes her special hangout, and she doesn't mind having Glenn as a friend, since he is her only one. But soon Monalisa will see that in order for others to forget, she needs to stop hiding and help them get over it, even if it means having to deal with every single person in town.
  
  HONK IF YOU HATE ME is just as unique and funny as Mona's purple hair. Deborah Halverson creates a situation in which none of us want to be in but would rather stanf on the sidelines and root for Mona. Read this one if you want to laugh your butt off!
• 
  Barbara

  When Monalisa Kent was six years old, she accidentally burned down the futon factory which employed most of the townspeople including her father. In the ten years that have elapsed apparently the townspeople still hate her for this accident even though they have recovered economically by focusing on the university and its students and providing endless fast food joints. Every year the local TV station does a profile of the fire and the heroics of Mac Kent, Mona’s dad who saved Mona and her best friend Paco Glenn from the raging inferno and who hasn’t been the same since his wife’s death. Mona also collects bumper stickers which lead to her gaining attention in a whole new way when she stands on the table of a local fast food restaurant and shouts out a bumper sticker slogan leading to random poetry raids around town. This implausible plotline coupled with a series of quirky characters providing subplots to the tale but with no real discernable narrative thread make this book a tedious and repetitious read.
• 
  C.B.

  A fantastic and fully realized reflection on the damaging weight of self recrimination and the transcendent power of redemption, brought to life through a disparate array of characters. Engaging and enlightening.
• 
  Kami

  Don't you have to like it just because of the title?
• 
  Juliana

  Okay writing, adequate characterization and plot, but the ending was unsatisfactory and there were too many "Yeah, right" moments for my taste.
• 
  Queen of the Readers

  A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
• 
  Karan Page

  Cute book about growing up in a small town.
• 
  Kira Nerys

  I distinctly associate this book with my middle school library and the feeling of reading it too young. Perhaps 5th grade, possibly 7th . . . Honk If You Hate Me has always existed in my head as striking moments of clarity. Those moments belong to Mona, but to the reader, as well; our understanding comes--more deeply, perhaps--alongside her revelations. The sensation of standing on a table and shouting came through clearly, all those years ago, and it surprised me to re-discover the defensive anger that prompted it. Mona lines her narrative with pop culture references, movie quotes, and superhero illustrations. No surprise, therefore, that her story sprouts from the disgustingly mass-produced hamburgers of American fast food chains. Contradictions line the background of this story: a girl who hates attention yet dyes her hair blue, a town that's lost its prized factory and become addicted to the burgers that replaced it, a customer who visits the tattoo parlor but can never decide what to get. Beyond all else, this book confronts the evolutions and (in)consistencies of friendship, unraveling relationships to examine their insides. My largest quibble would be the pacing, which moves wonderfully slowly for the first half of the book and then increases like a train picking up steam. The abrupt change took my feet out from under me, yet I doubt Halverson could have charted such believable growth in a shorter timespan. My stance for future readers: I have a soft spot for this, but if you appreciate goth/punk styles, tattoos, or slam poetry, you'll enjoy this book.