The Field Guide To The North American Teenager was a wonderful birthday gift and a lovely surprise from my friend Kat! I think she knows me preeeetty well by now, given the fact that I really enjoyed that one! Read my full review below!
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe Published by Balzer + Bray on January 7, 2020
Genres: contemporary, young adult
Format: Paperback
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Norris Kaplan is clever, cynical, and quite possibly too smart for his own good. A Black French Canadian, he knows from watching American sitcoms that those three things don’t bode well when you are moving to Austin, Texas.
Plunked into a new high school and sweating a ridiculous amount from the oppressive Texas heat, Norris finds himself cataloging everyone he meets: the Cheerleaders, the Jocks, the Loners, and even the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Making a ton of friends has never been a priority for him, and this way he can at least amuse himself until it’s time to go back to Canada, where he belongs.
Yet against all odds, those labels soon become actual people to Norris…like loner Liam, who makes it his mission to befriend Norris, or Madison the beta cheerleader, who is so nice that it has to be a trap. Not to mention Aarti the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, who might, in fact, be a real love interest in the making.
But the night of the prom, Norris screws everything up royally. As he tries to pick up the pieces, he realizes it might be time to stop hiding behind his snarky opinions and start living his life—along with the people who have found their way into his heart.
☂️ TRIGGER WARNINGS:
racism, depression, mention of an attempted suicide, alcohol consumption, emesis, police brutality discussed, bullying, divorce, cheating, sexism, slut-shaming, mention of drug abuse, microagressions, homomisic slur.There are no spoilers in this review.
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I ENJOYED…
☂️
- The Field Guide To The North American Teenager is about Norris, moving from Montreal, Canada to Austin, Texas, when his mother is offered a job there. Not thrilled at all to be leaving his friends, his hockey, his entire life behind him, Norris will be thrown into a new world that, with his legendary wit and big mouth he can’t shut, will be quick to label with every cliché he can think of. Yet… there might be more to everyone and to this Austin life than Norris thinks… I loved this synopsis already and this book promised to be really fun. I’m so happy to say: I wasn’t disappointed!
- The main character of this story, Norris, isn’t someone you’ll necessarily fall for. I read a lot of criticism about his with, his judgmental attitude and so on, so… you have been warned. That being said: I personally found his voice very refreshing. I loved getting to know him, I loved him being snarky at all times, hell, I even grew fond of him despite his insensitivity, at times. While he is certainly an unlikeable character, I really enjoyed my time with him on the page!
- The story is quick to build up on clichés, the shallow cheerleaders, the hot and brutal jocks, the solidary, lonely guy, the manic-pixie-dream girl and so on… yet, little by little, as Norris lets them into his world, he finds out that there’s more to them than he first thought. I really liked that and I loved how each side character was built and how each of them proved to be more than they seemed to be.
- The friendships in this story were so lovely. I liked seeing how Norris managed to make friends, little by little and it warmed my heart to see his little snarky heart soften for some of these people he was so quick to judge, at first.
- The romance! While I thought, for a long time during my read, that I wouldn’t enjoy the romance, it took a turn that I ended up really appreciating and even rooting for, so… I’m pretty happy with it all. I love how realistic the romantic feelings felt in this story, too. No spoilers, of course!
I HAD A HARD TIME WITH…
☂️
- While I liked how it ended, I’m also a tiny little bit frustrated by it, but well… that’s really a me thing!
- There was one particular character I was never really on board with: Aarti. While I expected to see a bit more…growth on her part, or just, something more that would make me actually grow fond of her, this didn’t happen and it made me a little sad.
OVERALL
☂️
The Field Guide To The North American Teenager is a lovely YA contemporary I’d recommend to fans of the genre, for sure. While Norris has a particular voice that might throw off some people, I personally grew quickly fond of him and his sarcastic wit and ended up devouring this book!
FINAL RATING : 4 stars
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Did you read The Field Guide To The North American Teenager, or do you want to? Do you have any recommendations of books with a unique character’s voice? Let me know in comments!
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Ahh.. I’m so excited to read your review. I read this book last year and loved the main character and message of this book 😍 like you say he was a refreshing main character to read from, so different and entertaining in his own way. The growth was important though.
I didn’t particularly like Aarti either 😔
I think we had similar thoughts with this book which I love. It was great to read your review!! 💜 p.s. Love this book cover too 😍😍
Ahh thank you Sophie, I’m so happy you enjoyed this book as well, it’s such a great read! 🙂
OMG – SAME ON THE PARTS I DIDN’T LOVE AND THE PARTS I LOVED!! I’m so happy you enjoyed it. I honestly sent it, because a) I adore the book myself and b) I thought you might like it haha
Great review!!
Well you once again were right, you know me really well and I love it! 🙂 THANK YOU again SO much!! <3
I haven’t read this one yet but the synopsis really intrigues me too. Great review, Marie!
Oh thank you so, so much! I hope you’ll give it a try sometime! 🙂
I have to tell you, this is a favorite of mine. That said, I want a sequel so bad because the ending felt sort of like the beginning of something, and I wanted to see where it would go.
AH YAY! I’m so happy you liked it as well. I agree, I wouldn’t be against a sequel, I’d love to see where these characters are now too 🙂
Ooo, this is on my TBR and… actually on my shelf. I’m glad to hear you liked it because I’m not sure I’ve read any other reviews of it? Also glad to hear that there’s a snarky-voiced protagonist. Definitely refreshing!
Ahh yay, I hope you’ll give this one a try soon Amber and that you will love it 🙂