| Title | : | The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl (The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0618723927 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780618723928 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 311 |
| Publication | : | First published September 6, 2006 |
Fanboy, though, has a secret: a graphic novel he’s been working on without telling anyone, a graphic novel that he is convinced will lead to publication, fame, and—most important of all—a way out of the crappy little town he lives in and all the people that make it hell for him.
When Fanboy meets Kyra, a.k.a. Goth Girl, he finds an outrageous, cynical girl who shares his love of comics as well as his hatred for jocks and bullies. Fanboy can’t resist someone who actually seems to understand him, and soon he finds himself willing to heed her advice—to ignore or crush anyone who stands in his way.
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl (The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, #1) Reviews
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Let us take a moment to analyze the title of this work of fiction.
Titles are tricky beasts -- you have to be careful with them. Titles, much like first sentences and paragraphs, make promises to the readers. Now readers, as everyone should know, are demanding little three year olds who want those promises kept, gosh darnit. As a reader, I demand (petulantly) that those promises be kept.
Astonishing -- that's a big word with lots of baggage that promises to be absolutely amazing and fantastic. For example, finding something that's big and little at the same time is astonishing. Going through a star gate and transcending to a higher plane of existence -- that's astonishing.
Lusting after a the gorgeous senior with the killer legs? The tantalizing boobage? Hoping the girl who sits across from you will open her legs even wider, giving you even a better a glimpse of her crotch? These are not astonishing. This is cliche and, despite the fact that the narrator is like the smartest guy in the school with the greatest graphic novel idea in the history of ever, is not astonishing.
It's just a pathetic cliche. So he gets punched in gymn class. Why should I, as a woman, give a frack?
So, the adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl are not astonishing. Fine. People have relative units of measurement when it comes to the human experience.
Fanboy and Goth Girl, Adventures of. So, we get to see Fanboy somehow reconcile his bitter existence with his parents, take off a graphic novel idol of his List of Everybody in the World He Hates. Great. Personal development - except he's still treating girls like objects for his gazing pleasure -- but never mind that. Boys will be boys after all.
So how does Goth Girl grow? What's her great adventure? What's her character development? Oh that's right --
SHE DOESN'T HAVE ONE.
She's just there to teach what's his face an important lesson. And to show off her titties not once, but twice, to make an Important Point (tm). Because a girl's worth is only defined by her sexuality.
No Thank You, Mr. Author Man.
Obviously, there is a limited understanding of female sexuality here. The sad part? Goth Girl gets it - she even attempts to nail it into the narrator's head. But then the ball is dropped - it's gone, and instead, as Fanboy -- poor little fanboy who can't get a girl or keep a friend, boo hoo -- is having one of his wettest dreams fulfilled as the Hot Girl bemoans the fact that guys just want to have a good lay with her, he wonders:
"Then why dress like that? why make it so we can't help looking at you? I don't get it. I don't understand."
Frak that bantha poo.
Men are uncontrollable hormone monsters. Women are vestal virgins when they're not being whores by dressing like sluts (and either two can become hormonally driven bitches if they happen to be pregnant or just having a bad day).
This is the antithesis of astonishing. This is a reaffirmation of the tired old gender roles that poison people's concepts of men and women and everything in between. This is not an adventure. This is just a re-treatment of the tired old ground that boxes women and men away in these tiny, little stereotypes that are too small for earth, let alone the gigantic expanse of a universe just waiting to be explored.
It is utterly wearisome.
And I want my five dollars back. -
I really had no idea what this book would be about. I had been hearing good things about Barry Lyga's other book, 'Boy Toy' and when I was at the library, this stood out as well. When I find an author that I like, I tend, like most people, to want to read everything by them, so, I grabbed it in the hopes that I liked his writing enough to want more... and I'm glad that I did.
That being said, The AAOFBAGG is truly well written, I don't know what I expected because I never read the back of the book but it wasn't a story about bullying with undertones similar to that Columbine genre that seems to be emerging. But, from the start I had this sort of dark pit forming in my stomach that had me wanting to put the book down in fear of a school shooting scenario. The writing is that good . The main character, Fan Boy, tells the story in his voice and I really had the feeling that I could understand the workings of an extremely intelligent, mostly ignored and/or bullied sophomore boy.
I think that dark pit opened when I was introduced to his security blanket, a stray bullet he found on his step dad's workbench, that he carries around with him at all times.
I'm not one to retell the story in a review, but more the feeling that I get when I read it. I was steadily sucked into this world of Fan Boy's, feeling the despair, anxiety and confusion that becomes his life in the span of the two weeks the story covers.
I would give this 4 1/2 stars, if I could, and it only falls short of 5 stars because I felt that the last chapter was just a bit too formulaic... almost like Lyga had to wrap up the story in a somewhat tidy package and I really don't feel that life works that way.
A great first novel though and I'm really looking forward to Boy Toy. -
The only reason I'm not rating this an absolute, bottom-of-the-barrel "1" is because I actually managed to finish it. It kept me turning the pages, if only for the last glimmer of hope that somehow things would work itself out in the end.
It doesn't.
My reviews don't tend to contain a lot of plot synopsis, so let's just leave it with this: a boy who perceives himself to be an anti-social geek, bane of the jocks' existence, has one friend who he likes comic books with. That friend is black, and we are not allowed to forget it. He (main character), meets a girl. She's rough around the edges. They both come from (what they perceive to be) broken homes. He writes a comic book. She likes it. They both bug out. The nerd learns people don't hate him and actually kind of enjoy his presence, and hey, he winds up cool in the end? Maybe? I don't even know.
Mostly I don't know because this book was directionless, dimwitted, and disgusting. I'll elaborate:
My favorite type of book is a bildungsroman, particularly one told from a male POV. They tend to have better written female supporting characters - but more on this later. So "fanboy" gets the impression that everyone hates him, and he spends MOST of the novel bitching about this. Come to find out, no one hates him, people kind of actually enjoy his company, and...whatever. It's directionless precisely because of that "whatever." There's no lesson learned. There's no growth. There's no care or stake in his success. There's no self-acceptance or logically-assumed new personality role. There's just Fanboy....continuing to be Fanboy. Which for us, as the reader, means he continues bitching and complaining about how unfair the world is, even when he's decided to make that world his oyster. Or whatever. I really have no investment in this dude.
The book's dimwitted nature can be found in its treatment of education, school related things, family relationships, school sports, the publishing industry, fandom in general, and, I guess basically the world. It's nice that Lyga felt he could just smoosh and change the actual, literal environment to meet the needs of his story. But for us, he's treating us like a bunch of toddlers dependent on and excited for this regurgitated baby food of a story. I don't even mind that it's profoundly dated...just don't treat me like an idiot by having the main character paint everyone around him to be an idiot, yet never having to own his own idiocy. Not to mention, he has no redeeming qualities, as other reviewers over the years have mentioned.
Which brings us to the novel's most heinous crime: its level of disgust. The treatment of women in this book is truly abhorrent. The women are one dimensional, "crazy," stupid (his teachers and mother, primarily), mentally unstable...you name it, Lyga's created a character with it. There's no breaking of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl here - our Pixie Dream Girl goes FULL manic. She never earns her own personality, her own future, her own anything. She exists to serve Fanboy and all his sick sexual fantasies. Then Dina - the beautiful sex symbol whom Fanboy pines longingly after - just throws herself at him? To satiate his preoccupation with sex? Good lord, the whole scene with her doesn't even make logical sense. HOW did this nonsense get past an editor? Who thought this was a good idea? Were the early-2000s just a different world entirely? Guess I was too busy with Harry Potter and The Perks of Being a Wallflower to pay attention the the crumbling selection of YA existing around me at the time.
Save yourself the trouble - avoid this at all costs.
The only thing I wish is that I had liked it more for the sake of my student who loved it. But I think instead, I'll just get some better books into her hands. -
A novel for all the underdogs out there. I'm giving this book four stars for the voice. Lyga captures that tortured, conflicted, awkward stage in life with Fanboy, a nerdy boy who's smarter than everyone else, a little picked on for his size and goody two-shoes, and completely clueless about girls. So authentic 15-year-old boy it hurts. Obsessed with his graphic novel and focused on getting good grades as his way out, Fanboy's view of life changes when he meets Goth Girl, an emo chick who questions everything with way too much take-it-personally emotion. I enjoyed seeing high school through fanboy's eyes, the good kid you want to root for, and watching him figure things out (note that as you wander through this boy's thoughts, he's going to think about girls). It's real and dorky and funny and a little dark and pure teenage overwhelmed with parents and teachers and students without being whiny. It's a great voice. I almost wanted to read a graphic novel after this, almost, but not quite.
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Before I start, I want to thank Ace (The Godfather of GR-TFG) for the book.
Who would not pick this book up from a rack? Great cover, a very clever title and not only that, as what Newsday said, what a find. I know some of you might say, what’s the diff, pretty sure that it’s another geek story novel but I tell you, it’s on how it was told. Barry Lyga makes me remember the fanboy in me. References to the comic gods like Brian Michael Bendis (House of M, Powers, Jinx), Neil Gaiman (Sandman) and Alan Moore (Swamp Thing, Watchmen) reconfirms my faith in comics. Those who are not into comics (or Graphic novel as what fanboy would defensively say) could still like the book because the story itself is heart wrenching.
Donnie is a 15-year-old comic book geek who spends almost all of his free time making a graphic novel of his own, schemata. Way too smart for his age and he hates almost all of the jocks at school except for hisonlyfriend Cal. Out of nowhere, Kary a.k.a Goth Girl creeps into his life and added a shade of black to the story. Great book but a little bit confusing and I'm almost not satisfied as to how it ends. I also hoped that there would be more explanation as to why Goth girl acts that way, a background as to how she become who she is when she and fanboy met.
Anyways, I would not go into a very detailed description of the book. Instead I wanted to share something I think both fanboy and I got in common.
1. We both like comics.
2. We both think that our stories and drawings could go somewhere (not now, but back when I was still his age).
3. I think that we both like it because it is our escape.
I think almost all of my drawings, comic strips and whatever are either lost or I already tear it up. Some are private or too personal that I'm not inclined to share. I've been able to dig up some (I'm just a kid when I drew them so be kind, hehehehe):
*I think, this one is way back grade school days.
*I was planning on making a comic book when I was on high school and if I remember it right, this one was a villain. hehehehe
*I was part of the school newspaper way back high school and we needed a comic strip to fill the spaces, but I think this one didn't make the cut. hahahaha
When I was reading TAAOFAGG, whenever fanboy was doing Schemata, I also felt myself holding a pencil and missing the joy it could bring to me. Feeling the paper first, then thinking of how you would execute what's on your mind with the paper infront of you. So to Barry Lyga, hands down to you. Great book. Rating: AWESOME!!!
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(Added an edit at the end of the review)
I usually wait a little before reviewing books, but the review of this one will have to happen now, while it's still fresh in my head.
This book doesn't suck exactly, but... it's not good. Let me count the ways:
Many of the other reviews I checked out mention the title, and how there's no "Astonishing Adventures!!" in the book at all. That is true, and that particular wording is in the title to draw people in, and it definitely worked with me. How could I not be drawn in when one of the characters is -supposedly- a goth?
So imagine my disappointment when I realized that Kyra isn't really a goth, but a stereotype of one instead, by a person who has no actual idea about the goth subculture. The stereotype is the usual "Angry at the world!! Jaded by nothing in particular!! Not like the other girls!! ~Damaged~!!" Mr. Lyga, you dropped the ball here. Do you even know anything about goths, other than the fact that we generally all like "The Sandman" by Neil Gaiman?
But hey, after all Kyra isn't supposed to be an actual character; she's the "muse" (the word is literally used to describe her at one point) for our main character Donnie, she's not supposed to have a character arc or anything. Just be reckless and lash out at any given opportunity, because she's ~damaged~ and ~rebellious~. What exactly is she rebelling against? Actually nothing.
Donnie, our lovely main character (NOT), is a pretentious, whiny, entitled kid. His character is easy to figure out from the very first pages, in which he sees his crush, Dina, as a piece of meat and not a person, and then proceeds to describe how he regularly looks up the skirt of his classmate; that chapter is actually titled "The Panty Algorithm"
Let's talk about the elephant in the room first: the sexism. I'm not exactly sure what the hell the writer wanted to achieve here. On the one hand, Donnie is a raging sexist, but on the other, Kyra is not and tries to correct him, to no avail, really. So is Barry Lyga a sexist as well, or was he trying to be "realstic" when writing a teenage boy or something? In any case, there shouldn't have been sexism at all. Why did I have to endure Kyra showing her boobs at random times? What was the point, except to tittilate (pun intended) Donnie, who was the center of the universe in the book, apparently? Why the descriptions of a 15-year-old's panties????? Why?? I need answers!
Also, the good old "our geeky and awkward protagonist has a heartfelt conversation with the popular girl he likes, he sees she's ~smarter than she seems~ (because he was so sexist that he never even considered her personality, only her body), she mentions that she has heard of him somehow, then they kiss, and then they part ways, our protagonist having learned a powerful lesson" cliche.
So yeah, I didn't like Donnie. Kyra was treated like a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, a ~not like the other Manic Pixie Dream Girls~ version, and the book is just a typical, YA teenage angst book. No "astonishing adventures" here, no "Fanboy and Goth Girl" when it's mostly Fanboy whining, them fighting whenever they're together, and Kyra being a Goth stereotype just for the plot to have her be ~edgy~ To borrow some Lemony Snicket language, "edgy" here means "a public nuisance" with her reckless driving and random lashing out at anything and everything.
I'm giving the book 2 stars, because 1 star ratings are reserved for books that I never even finished. This one I did, but I really can't ignore these glaring faults. There's also a sequel, which sounds even ~edgier~ just by the blurb. I don't think I'll read it. I saw in the reviews that there's even a lesbian subplot, which is very clearly to make the male teenage readers all hot and bothered. Nope.
EDIT: I cannot BELIEVE I forgot to comment on something I said in one of my updates. One of the characters, an otherwise likeable and rather mature one, Cal, has the username "IamaChildMolester" online, which is described as "his sick sense of humor at work" Here is a tip, writers: child molestation is N O T something to joke about. I don't care that your character is an "immature teenager" This is NOT a joke. I shouldn't even have to say this. -
This was an absolute dumpster fire. The only thing that kept me reading was that it was for my book club, where we write notes in it and the previous owner's notes were frickin' hilarious. The whole book is just the author's weird teenage toxic masculinity fantasy featuring a manic pixie dream girl, way too many boner thoughts about breasts and some really problematic racist and sexist language. If it was published today, it would likely be cancelled.
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The Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, as a title, is misleading in all sorts of ways. Not knowing anything of the plot, I was prepared and looking forward to a light, cutesy teen romance, with maybe a couple good one-liners. To say I was shocked by the staggeringly dark and disquieting story of the very angry Fanboy and Goth Girl would be a huge understatement. Though I’m not upset about the outcome of my reading experience, or about the depth Lyga unearthed in his characters, I think it suffices to say that I wasn’t ready for such an emotionally charged read, or for such an important one.
Fanboy, self-proclaimed geek and comic book enthusiast, is lost. His mom’s pregnant with the step-fascist’s child, his best friend is slipping more and more into the promise land of popularity, and he keeps getting beat up at school. The only thing that keeps him grounded is his security blanket: an old bullet he keeps in his pocket at all times. That is, until he meets Goth Girl, whose anger brings out plenty of his own, who seemingly connects with him on a level no one else ever has. The two build their friendship upon Fanboy’s sole dream of publishing a graphic novel, and for a while, everything goes totally smoothly. But Goth Girl has more problems than she lets on, and if Fanboy gets sucked into them with her, they’ll both end up with bigger problems than ever.
When authors write from the perspective of a victim of bullying, I tend to find that their voices aren’t authentic enough and don’t really explore the many emotions outside of helplessness or frustration. Lyga, though, pulled out all the stops and provided what I feel to be a totally accurate – and thusly horrifying - portrayal of a victim’s state of mind. Fanboy was resentful, aggravated, lonely, and livid, and his characterization and voicing perfectly demonstrated that, leaving nothing to be desired. This book made me so, so uncomfortable, and I love that, because it means Lyga did his job with Fanboy’s simplistically furious tone and Goth Girl’s destructive behaviour. The only disservice I think Lyga made by his characters was in the way he left them off in the ending of the book – the way that both characters were left off psychologically and socially seemed a little rushed – but there seems to be a sequel to their adventures that I’m sure will build on their stories.
What I especially enjoyed about Fanboy and Goth Girl was that both the school and home lives of Fanboy were developed and equally balanced in importance and page-time. Sometimes I feel that one area is more focused on, so it was wonderful to see so much attention being paid to even the smallest details in all aspects of Fanboy and Goth Girl’s lives. Although there’s a great focus on archetype and stereotyping – even the title of the book suggests as much – clichés are overpowered and there are reasons, from Fanboy’s jaded outlook on life to Goth Girl’s exasperation, for absolutely everything.
There are some all-too-convenient outcomes, and some totally unbelievable events take place, but if you take it in stride, I think there’s a lot to admire about this book. There’s no power imbalance between races or genders, there are parents always around, and tons of hilarious dialogue. If you’re looking for an authentic male voice in YA, look no further. Fanboy and Goth Girl certainly delivers.
3.5 stars -
Contrary to the title, no adventures take place in this story, nor anything of a particularly astonishing nature. Rather, this is a fairly standard teen novel about the difficulties of being smart and unpopular in high school. So I was a bit disappointed by the lack of action. However, Lyga does a good job capturing the angst and anxiety of this experience and doesn't make the kids too insightful or too nice to be believable.
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Such a quirky and off-beat book compared to most of what I've read lately. I enjoyed it thouroughly. It made me smile just about the whole time while reading it. I really don't get the ending of it though, maybe there is another book??!?!?
It would be nice to get some answers about the "goth girl", I know she is crazy-ish..... -
I'm just gonna say it. I am waay too old for this book. This was not for me.
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All right, an occupational hazard associated with doing an extended research project at the beginning of the school year is that the students are still figuring themselves and you (the teacher) out. So questions to the teacher are often few and far between, which leaves me with an extended portion of the period to wander about more or less aimlessly.
Often, when doing so, I'll pick up one of the books the MC specialists have on display. Because I know I'll be reading it in spurts, between those occasional questions, I usually choose something light and something I more or less avoid outside of school -- Teen Lit.
It's not that I have an overt dislike for the genre, it's just that many authors tend to oversimplify their work or take it too seriously. Fanboy manages to avoid those traps, and becomes a book about outsiders that doesn't feel an innate need to be The Outsiders. Lyga's dialogue and internal monologue of his main character are realistic without sounding stupid or overly sophisticated.
The book (aside from a very nicely managed close that ties together the title of Fanboy's comic book and the theme of the novel) manages to convey growth as it often occurs in the high school set -- Not as earth-shattering, life-rocking change nor yet as the whole "High school's a stupid joke and you should just sneer at it cynically" idea. The main character and the people in his life learn to see the world just a little bit differently, and their world becomes a slightly -- not completely -- better place.
As multiple hours pass there are a couple of other rather annoying attributes of teen lit that surface so often in the genre, I skipped over them in my initial review. The self-centered, power-hungry, overweight, bureaucratic assistant principal is there and, like in
King Dork, is accused/implied to have a thing for kiddie porn. And there's a teacher who is stupidly made a fool my the brainier, more sophisticated high school student (although in this book she's charmingly amused and impressed by the high schooler who tricked her, rather than vindictive and revenge-driven). And there's the oft-present scene in which the Senior Goddess warms to and briefly makes out with the geeky protagonist (if this happened in line as often as it does in male-authored teen fiction, everyone would want to be the geeky kid). Honesty compels me to admit that I was probably most riveted to this scene. It was either written well enough to let me suspend my disbelief, or else there's still enough of that geeky kid in me to root for him.
In retrospect, FB/GG really does little to stretch the high school of youth fiction closer to a realistic view. But despite pandering to these stereotypes Fanboy/Goth Girl was a good read, and I'll stand by my four stars, though 3.5 would probably be more accurate. -
Before I start the more serious portion of this review, can we just take a minute to talk about voice? Barry Lyga rocks at voice. Even when I don't particularly like his characters or what they are doing/saying/thinking; even if I don't want to understand where they are coming from, I do empathize and understand. They are surprisingly authentic. I can feel what they feel, I can see things from their perspective. I am allowed into their heads. I, a 28 year old woman, am emotionally turned into an angsty 15 year old boy -- that takes skill.
I would also like to take a moment to thank Barry Lyga for using real comic book/graphic novel heroes/heroines and their creators for his novel rather than making people up. It made for a great shout-out to some wonderful works, and a great spring-board into the genre for anyone interested. (Even if it did make me want to go read Gaiman's Sandman immediately following the book.)
Now to actually review the book. At the risk of revealing way more than I mean to or want to, reading The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl was very uncomfortable. It reminded me what it was like to be 13/14/15 year old me. It reminded me what is was like to be systematically bullied and picked on and treated cruelly by students and adults alike. It reminded me of teachers who should have stuck up for me but instead laughed along with the cheerleaders they sponsored or the boys they coached; of principles who didn't need to hear my side of the story. If I was right, someone couldn't play in the game that Thursday; if I was wrong, no one got hurt but me. It was a time of hurt, anger and frustration -- of impotent rage. There were no "It gets Better" Campaigns back then, and I probably wouldn't have believed them if there had been. It is not a fun time or mental space to remember. But it was real.
There were a lot of times while reading The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl that those old feelings (that I have since dealt with in more responsible ways) just welled up and all of that original hurt was felt all over again. You see, I had a list. But I don't think I am alone in that. A lot of us had lists. High School (well, school in a small town, period) was crap for me, it was terrible, it sucked, it felt like it would never end. But it did. It ended and life eventually got better and I learned that I was not alone. Many of those old "tormentors" were dealing with serious things of their own; some are even now friends, real friends. The problem with learning all that later, though, is that finding out later is a little too late for some. In amongst all of this "early intervention" and watching for the "warning signs" for the next school shooter or teen suicide, a lot of teenagers going through normal emotions are made to feel even more weird, even more alone. It is normal to want the people who daily make your life terrible to go away -- even violently. We humans think about and fantasize a lot of things that we would never really act on; that is part of what makes us human. But the teenager sitting at the lunch table, asking themselves how much further the guys at Columbine or guy at Virginia Tech had been pushed before they crossed the line, don't realize that. And it doesn't help that the very teachers and parents who should be helping that teen understand that they are normal, not alone, are often instead looking at the kid's black nail-polish and Misfits shirt and asking themselves the same question -- how long before they snap?
Here enters Barry Lyga's The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl. It does a great job of walking that fine line between letting kids know they are not alone and condoning violence against others. It says, you aren't the only one. It is a spot of hope before the "it gets better." I didn't really like it as present day me. There was a little too much angst. I didn't agree with everything it said. There were way too many cut and dried stereotypes. I will probably never reread it. BUT 15 year old Michelle would have loved it. Everything she ever felt or thought would have been validated. She wouldn't have felt so alone in a sea of people who didn't understand her. This book isn't for me, it is for her -- and the millions of other kids out there thinking they are going through a rough time all alone.
Review also appears on
Chronicles of a Book Evangelist. -
*MAJOR SPOIL ALERT, LIKE THIS WILL RUIN THE BOOK FOR YOU, IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET*
Kyra aka Goth Girl, really got on my fudgin' nerves. I wanted to reach through the page, grab her stupid mohawk, and just wail on the chick. I would yell advice with every punch, and then kick/head butt her back into the book, throwing in a depression pamphlet. Like, did you really need to kick Donnie in the balls? And 'welcome to the real world' was so stupid of a reason to do it. When life kicks you in the balls, there's usually an ice pack provided, so up yours, Kyra. You know what, don't kick Donnie in the balls, kick yourself in your own metaphorical balls because you suck!
And let me remind you, hating Donnie only makes you like all the other girls you despise and rant about, so don't tell him he has 99% of it figured out, like you have the whole 100! You don't! You are an idiot, just like everyone else. Get over yourself, god! You're such a hypocrite, you probably have about 4% of it figured out - why don't you work on that 96 left to go, honey? Work on that 96.
This is just my opinion, but yes, Kyra really pissed me off this much, like infinity.
*****Older Logan speaking*****
Whoo chile let me bump that to 2 stars for you and the only reason my younger self had such words for a female character was because I'm convinced Barry Lyga doesn't know how to write them and is a low key mysoginist -
"Perfect Practice makes Perfect!" Teenage Relationships, Family, and how to publish a Gothic/Comic Novel.
Remember "Sidekicks" w/Chuck Norris and that young boy, "Barry", well this book is similar.
This young man writes a Gothic Novel, describes the history of Comic books and Gothic Novels, meets girl who likes Comics, relationship w/Step-Dad and DAD is sour, Constantly bullied at School, interested in girls but can't communicate w/them, and how relationships dissolve and develop.
I really enjoyed the history of Comics and the about the Series that are now out in Movies. Also about drawing and what it takes to make things happen.
Real good plot and twists and turns just like real life.
Hard to put down.
Would read again. -
This is so fresh and fun and thoughtful, I wish I'd written it. Picked up my copy at a Hastings while I was doing a signing of my own novel - Blood Ocean. Lyga's title and first page sold me. But it was a used copy. Still, I ran through the book in two days, enjoying every second. Likable characters and an homage to the 80's got me happy early. Going to buy the next book(s) for kindle for an upcoming trip. I highly recommend.
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It's 4 am and I have no regrets.
Buuuut the book was kinda good, I really liked the parts where he talked about comics and all but the book as a whole is just missing something. Plus there were a lot of unnecessary drama and stuff -
This book is defiantly different and I really enjoyed. I don't think this book is for everybody cause it very edgy. Anyways, I can't wait to read more from Barry Lyga.
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Picked this up at a Friends of the Chestnut Hill Library sale, monthly because javaczuk was fascinated by the title. Now I wish Schemata was a real graphic novel, so I could read it.
"There are three things in the world that I want more than anything. I've told you the first two, but I'll never tell you the third."
2021 pandemic resurgence/Delta variant read. (Please wear a mask, get vaccinated, and stay safe.) -
With a gritty, harsh view of reality for modern teens from the perspective of a bullied kid, The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Gothgirl left a bad taste in my mouth at times, but won me over in the end. Donnie or Fanboy carries a bullet in his pocket to empower him when his classmates make fun of him for being too smart. He fantasizes about gunning them all down and I almost put the book down for good after one of these scenes, a little too similar to real life tragedies like Colombine or Sandy Hook. But the one singular thing that sets us apart and makes us the people we are is whether we act on these kinds of urges.
Written from Donnie's perspective we get an intimate look at what it's like to have the same kid beat on you every day in gym class, a class that exposes you to a whole group of kids that you would never have to deal with in your advanced placement classes. It's not just that this kid is smart, but he's also clever and even as someone who has worked as a school librarian, I found his shenanigans endearing. A history teacher that is insistent on getting one single cause for The Great Depression prompts Donnie to come up with an elaborate lie concerning sea turtles.
While I found Donnie to be a realistic character with sympathetic situations, Kyra or Goth Girl was a much different character. While we barely get the color of Donnie's hair, Kyra is described multiple times in intricate detail down to the color of her nose ring. She's larger than life and feels a little mythological with her ability to show up at the right times in several different cars, wearing outfits that can only be described as costumes while she helps Donnie sort through the issues he's dealing with. Donnie gets called Fanboy by Kyra when she discovers his affinity for graphic novels and teases him about the heroes in the comic books he reads. Not that I didn't enjoy reading Kyra, but I found her a lot harder to see as a real teen.
The novel takes a delightful turn when we learn about Donnie's love for graphic novels and the fact that he's been working on his very own in secret for the last several months. He hasn't even told his best friend at school, Cal, a jock who nerds out with Donnie about comic books when the other jocks aren't watching.
With a title like The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and GothGirl, you'd think there might be a bit of romance between the two title characters. I was surprised to find out that the romance element was not a primary plot line. The novel ends with a few loose ends, encouraging you to read the sequel,
Goth Girl Rising. -
This book has a great blend of humor and drama. Fanboy's voice is strong, sarcastic and often hilarious. He also has so much depth and heart that the reader can't help but root for him every step of his tumultuous journey. He is a cunningly smart 15 yr. old who attends a typical high school where he is often overlooked and just can’t seem to fit in anywhere. He despises the jocks, yet his best friend, Cal, is one. This particular dynamic thread proves itself to be one of the most interesting relationships in the story. Then there’s Goth Girl. Ah, Goth Girl. She’s fearless, predictably unpredictable, and in many ways just what Fanboy needed in his life. The two of them together (often hilarious, sometimes dark, essentially realistic) are quite the pair and it’s a treat to witness their adventures.
There are also lots of in-jokes about the world of comics. If the reader doesn’t know comics well, most of these jokes may be lost. This use of humor based on the world of comics would make me recommend this to a person who has read a lot of comics but doesn’t read a lot of traditional novels. Fanboy’s cynical voice and wry observations of high school and the world of comics makes for an enjoyable book.
The book is also, at times, very dark and depressing. There is a constant threat of violence throughout the book. Fanboy has a List, a running tally of all those who have ever tormented him. These are not petty bullying episodes, they are violent incidents that are completely unjustified. Fanboy is quiet, keeps to himself, is viewed as weak, and is therefore a target. It is at times difficult to read and you question why he just won’t stand up for himself. In addition to the List, he carries a bullet with him at all times, reaching for it almost like a religious icon when he is being bullied. Kyra is far more vocal about her violent tendencies, and one of the central stories of the book is learning why she is so angry.
I particularly enjoyed the fact that the two title characters are not romantically involved. They have great banter, constantly bickering with each other but developing a great friendship. So many books of this sort show the weak hero all of a sudden coming into his own and finding the love of his life. Fanboy definitely begins to stand up for himself, but he isn’t shown getting a relationship. Not every milestone has to happen before the age of 18. -
Fanboy & Goth Girl It took me some time to warm up to this book, but I got there. This was almost a four-star read for me, except I found the end too open. Yes, I was aware that there is a sequel (which I've started to read), but it's still possible to have some internal closure while still leaving more story to tell. Okay, I guess in some ways there were, but the end was quite cliffhangery.
"Fanboy" is the name our narrator gets from the "Goth Girl," Kyra. He's 15 years old, and convinced he's got one of the worst lives ever because he's nerdy, the jocks tend to enjoy tormenting him, and his parents are divorced. But he's secretly working on a graphic novel* called Schemata, and he's sure that once he shows his sample pages to Brian Michael Bendis** at a nearby comic convention, he'll be on his way to a brilliant future taking the comics world by storm.
Without going into spoilers, I will just say that our Fanboy is more than a little naive about how one breaks into the world of graphic-novel success. Oddly, we never learn his name. Early on, I found myself annoyed by his unrelenting negativity, and lovely things like referring to his stepfather as "the stepfascist" and the obvious disgust he felt about the fact that his mother is pregnant. He carries a bullet that he lifted from his "stepfascist," and I swear it's like this book's equivalent of the stupid unlit cigarette Gus from The Fault in Our Stars insists on having. But there is growth and change! Yay.
*Memo to Fanboy: a graphic novel is a comic book, but not all comic books are graphic novels. (He will "correct" anyone who refers to his graphic novel as a comic book.)
**I didn't realize until after I was done and looking at the author's webpage that Bendis is a real-life comics guy. D'oh.
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I have been wanting to read this book for a while. When I got "Goth Girl Rising" through the Amazon Vine program; I decided that that was the perfect excuse to go ahead and buy this book. It was a very good book. I enjoyed it and had trouble putting it down.
Fanboy is having a rough year. His mom is pregnant with his step-dad's kid, his step-dad doesn't understand him, he only has one friend, and everyone at school picks on him. There is one thing that he lives for and that is a graphic novel he is working on called Schemata. He meets Goth Girl, aka Kyra, and in her finds a kindred comic book spirit. Kyra has troubles of her own though.
This was a great book. I loved the comic book references. Mainly this book is about finding your place in life and becoming who you want to be, never-mind what the rest of the world thinks about that. This book accurately catches the feelings and troubles of high school; with real characters that you are rooting for and really like. Fanboy challenges the American perception that being smart is uncool and being a hard headed jock is awesome. He also deals with how smart jocks moderate their behavior to fit in with both types of high school crowds.
I liked Fanboy and thought he was a believable and interesting character. As Fanboy tries to get his graphic novel noticed you are holding your breath and waiting for what will happen next. Goth girl came off as a bit annoying and brash; but I think that was the point. The plot was well done; my only complaint would be the open ending. I guess the ending was a bit too "real life" for me; that is we don't really know what happens with anything. I am hoping some of that is resolved in "Goth Girl Rising".
A great book all around. This should appeal to a large audience; especially young adults or people who want to re-visit high school trauma. Comic book geeks or smart people in general will find a lot to relate with in Fanboy. -
"Wow. The pecking order doesn't just peck me. Cool."--Fanboy, p. 255
I know there's a lot going on in this novel such as suicide, bullying, family relations, boy/girl relations, etc., but the recurring theme, for me, centered around isolation and misperceptions. All of the major players feel some sense of isolation due to the perceptions of others.
1.Dina, who is the Goddess, feels isolated because she knows that her 'friends' only use her as a status symbol for their own popularity. The physical manifestation of her isolation comes at the party when Fanboy finds her sitting outside alone in the dark.
2.Cal suffers from isolation because he can't be himself. He's smart, athletic, and likes comics, but he has to portray a false persona because of image.
3. Kyra's isolation is obvious. She's isolated due to her anti-conformist attitude and emotional turmoil.
4.Fanboy's isolated from everything-family, classmates, teachers, etc.
Each character seems to represent a certain set of students (geek, goth, goddess, jock)who suffer from the same insecurities.
This novel is full of people's perceptions of one another. Fanboy can't understand why Dina would be unhappy, Dina can't understand why Fanboy doesn't have a girlfriend, Cal plays into the black athlete role that's expected, Kyra has a complex about boys only liking breasts, and Fanboy hates all jocks and lumps them all into the brainless, bully category--even though Cal is his friend.
I also really liked the way Fanboy and Tony (aka step-fascist) connected. I know that's kind of a romanticized view of their relationship, but it was nice to see them find a common ground. -
Lyga captures awkward misery better than just about anyone (save John Green or Sherman Alexie, maybe--and it would be close). The Fanboy of the title is a true comic book geek: a comic con attending, aspiring graphic novelist, and friend of superheroes. His life is not easy to say the least. He gets outrageously bullied on a regular basis. His best friend Cal, a jock with a closet case of comic fanaticism himself, turns his friendship on and off at school depending on which of his popular crowd cohorts tend to be in the vicinity. His family is--if not quite broken--pretty fractured. Then he meets Kyra, a girl who is even more more emotionally damaged than him and his insular world is shaken to the core.
There are some undoubtedly dark bits in the book that will raise some parents' eyebrows: it provides some food for thought on the subject of school violence and the culture of ostracism and ritual cruelty that can feed desperate acts. Kyra's character (unfortunately relegated to a mere foil when you get down to it, like many a comic book sidekick) is like a female Marlon Brando from The Wild One, rebelling against anything and everything, the Id to Fanboy's constant overanalyzing Superego. Still, it all could make fantastic fodder for a book club discussion. And for anyone who has looked down that seemingly endless dark tunnel that is high school, this is going to be a phenomenal read. -
The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl is primarily a look inside the life and thoughts of a 15 year-old testosterone fueled, lust addled, teen geek with no friends and less self confidence.
Like any hormonally overloaded guy of that age he's girl crazed and amazed. He's used to being smart and having things he wants to know come easy to him. But when it comes to girls, he's got no clue.
The tumultuous inner monologue of a nerdy pubescent teen as he thinks about girls, and things sexual, and the comic he's writing and the goth girl that throws his world further out of kilter is funny and nostalgic to those of us with enough emotional distance from it to have gained perspective. Hearing this material for the first time as an audio book made those crazed ramblings even better.
Some teen male readers will identify, others will just NOT understand the appeal of a book like this. However if you're up for a roller coaster ride of emo emotions inside the head of a not at all self confident high-schooler in what might be his first boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, you'll probably enjoy this book a lot. Not sure how it would play in print though, be sure and try the audio-book. -
Two and a half, really. Ag. There's so much good here is the thing! But unfortunately so much of the good things that happen to our protag here reek of wish fulfillment. Hate both the boob-flashing moments, really hated them. Like, up until the first I was enjoying the book, but that was the point when I realized Kyra wasn't written to be her own person, she was just there to serve Donnie's character.
I hate the party scene so much, and I would like to find one actual geekboy who got kissed by the hottest girl in school, because this trope keeps showing up in YA lit and yet I don't know anyone who experienced this.
As someone else said in their review, ending was completely unsatisfying, though it did just hammer in the fact that despite her name being in the title, this was not Kyra's story. And to me that's really unfair.
Major points for the Bendis scene though. I'm glad this didn't go into the wish fulfillment arena, but I'm also glad it didn't go absolutely insanely awful (until Kyra of course but I've already voiced that complaint).
(read: 231 - I am determined to make 250 this year dammit!) -
It can feel middle-school-like sometimes, although it's about sophomores in high school. I have my issues with it, but it was fun to read. My empathy for both Kyra and What's-His-Name is high, but I can't understand them sometimes.
And with that, I conclude: Friends are never perfect. Books are your friends, especially empathetic books like this. Ergo, books are never perfect. I really liked this book, but it has some issues. Does it deserve more than 4 stars? Would 'love' be too strong a word? I love my friends, even though they also have issues. Or do I just really like them, and then loyalty fills the rest of the way? Can one be loyal to a book? How would loyalty for a book be accounted for on Goodreads? Maybe I should make a new shelf; name it 'books i am loyal to' or some such thing. They're not always great, but I love them. (There's the word 'love'.) I will be mulling this over for a time. -
Donnie - xianwalker76 - is a good student with a passion for graphic novels. He's small for his age (15) and defines himself as a "geek." He lives in the basement of his pregnant mother and step-fascist's house and he keeps a "List" of all the people who treat him badly and bully him. Kyra - Promethea387 - is a goth-dressing, mysterious, revellious, motherless girl who drives a different car every day (without a license), and who tried to commit suicide in the past. When they become friends, Kyra forces Donie to confront some of his ideas about people and relationships and pushes him to publish his own graphic novel, Schemata. Donnie's best friend Cal is an African American lacrosse player who also likes graphic novels and comics. Donnie has a crush on Dina Jurgens, a blond and beautiful senior. There are many graphic novel references (Eisner, X-men, Gaiman's Sandman, etc.) and Donnie makes lots of observations about people and life that are on target. I think that quite a few high school and mature middle school students would find Donnie and Kyra's world to be very realistic.
