ButterErin Jade LangePublished: September 4th, 2012 by BloomsburyEvery plan, good or bad, starts with the spark of an idea. It takes less than fifteen minutes to set up a website: get a free domain name, find a premade format, copy the HTML code, and start tinkering. A spark and fifteen minutes was all it took for Butter to announce his plan--his plan to eat himself to death live on the Internet, atwww.butterslastmeal.comHe set out to command the conversation, to make sure that when people talked about him it was because he invited him to. Butter expected pity, insults, and possibly sheer indifference. What he gets are morbid cheerleaders rallying around his deadly plan. Yet as their dark encouragement grows, it feels a lot like popularity. And that feels good.But what happens when Butter reaches his suicide deadline? Can he live with the fallout if he doesn't go through with it? (From the hardcover edition)
I did a "Waiting On" Wednesday a while back about this book, and I've been pacing for it ever since. I believed it was being released on the 18th, so when I was at my local Barnes & Noble on...oh, September 9th, or so, and I saw it on the shelf, I thought I was the luckiest person on the planet and immediately snatched it up. The concept caught me from the start, and the cover stands out to me- No pretty girls, no crying boys. I like this.
The book is told in the first person from our main character, Butter's, perspective. Butter is sarcastic and rude while being sweet and absolutely amazing all at the same time. His insecurities are never hidden from the reader, nor are his thoughts. Lange gets into the mind of a teenage boy beautifully, while not making him sound fake.
The story here is what really stuns me. When I first got into this, I was sure I knew how the pieces would fall-- It seemed obvious to me. But I was dead wrong. This book had me laughing, crying, laughing again and then full blown sobbing, and not once did I want to throw the book and say "Screw it!" I think this may be a first. I usually chuck it as punishment for making me cry, but this book...Aaah! I would never. Never, ever, ever. I can't even tell you all what I thought! Because it is such a complete 180 that I'll give it all away, and I don't wanna do that. I want you all to read it and be as shocked as I am.
I will say this; Butter is brutally realistic and heartbreakingly honest, digging into topics not many people are brave enough to touch: teen obesity, suicide, peer pressure, and sheer ignorance. The story doesn't have a dull moment or a weakened area. All the characters and developed beautifully. I don't have words to describe how amazing this novel is.
Lange is definitely high on my Favorite Authors list, and I cannot wait for her next novel to be released! Excellent read!
My Rating:
Erin Jade Lange writes facts by day and fiction by night. As a journalist, she is inspired by current events and real-world issues and uses her writing to explore how those issues impact teenagers. She is an only child, which means she spent a lot of time entertaining herself as a kid. This required her to rely heavily on her own imagination, which is probably why she became a writer. Erin grew up in the cornfields of northern Illinois along the Mississippi River, in one of the few places it flows to the west. She now lives in the sunshine of Arizona and will forever be torn between her love of rivers and her love of the desert.
Find Erin:
No comments:
Post a Comment
We love to hear from you!