132,948
edits
Changes
Waiting For Gonzo by Dave Cousins (view source)
Revision as of 08:21, 11 February 2013
, 08:21, 11 February 2013no edit summary
Oz is newly arrived in the sleepy village of Slowleigh. At first, he wishes life there was more exciting, but drawing a moustache on a photo of schoolmate Isobel Skinner - nicknamed Psycho - might bring him the wrong sort of excitement. Someone else who's wishing her life was rather less exciting is his sister Meg, who's hiding a secret which Oz knows but her parents don't - can he survive Psycho and help his sister?
I haven't got round to reading Cousins' [[15 Days Without A a Head by Dave Cousins|15 Days Without A Head]], so this was my first experience of reading one of his books. It was very different from what I was expecting - the cover and blurb seemed to suggest knockabout comedy. While it's definitely a funny book, with some parts which made me laugh out loud, it's significantly deeper and more thought-provoking than I was expecting, with one particular topic that's very rare to see covered in teen fiction.
Oz, writing the book in the form of a message to the mysterious Gonzo, is a really good narrator and I thought the relationship he had with his older sister was especially well-portrayed. There are also some excellent supporting characters, notably Isobel - who when not terrorising Oz is actually really helpful to his mum, working as her assistant in creating sculptures after Oz accidentally causes her to break her arm - and Ryan, Oz's Hobbit-obsessed friend, whose hobby of taking part in battle re-enactments supplies much of the humour in the story. In addition, it's cleverly plotted and everything builds to an exciting and unpredictable climax which neatly ties things together.