(ARC) REVIEW | The Not-So Breakfast Club Shenanigans (Rebel Bully Geek Pariah by Erin Jade Lange)

[note note_color=”#000000″ text_color=”#ffffff”]Rebel Bully Geek Pariah by Erin Jade Lange • February 16, 2016 • Bloomsbury
Website | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble |  The Book Depository | Indigo | Library

Four very different teens and a night changes them forever. 

The Rebel: Once popular, Andi is now a dreadlocked, tattooed wild child.
The Bully: York torments everyone who crosses his path, especially his younger brother.
The Geek: Tired of being bullied, Boston is obsessed with getting into an Ivy League college.
The Pariah: Choosing to be invisible has always worked for Sam . . . until tonight.

When Andi, York, Boston, and Sam find themselves hiding in the woods after a party gets busted by the cops, they hop into the nearest car they see and take off—the first decision of many in a night that will change their lives forever. By the light of day, these four would never be caught dead together, but when their getaway takes a dangerously unpredictable turn, sticking together could be the only way to survive.[/note]

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from Bloomsbury for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First sentence: “Everything is gray.”

What does Rebel Bully Geek Pariah have? The Breakfast Club? Eh, sort of. Cinematic storytelling? Well, you can say that. Compelling emotional depth? No, not really for me. Thrilling ride? I guess.

Reading Rebel Bully Geek Pariah was like watching a drama, but it turned into a crime flick I hadn’t intended to watch. You think it’s gonna go a certain way, but it does a 180 turn. I thought this book would be like an ode to The Breakfast Club—where you see the characters chilling and having heart to hearts, and although you see the resemblance, the over-the-top events stray away from every assumption I had about this book. (I should’ve really read the synopsis carefully.)

Expectation #1: Rebel Bully Geek Pariah will have The Breakfast Club elements.

Reality #1: Well, yes it does. In Rebel Bully Geek Pariah, you have four characters with designated stereotypes come together because of the crazy events that happen—

• The Rebel: Andi, the dreadlocked and former popular girl, who ropes Sam into her life.
• The Bully: York, the jock, who bullies everybody and tries to get his brother to break out of his shell.
• The Geek: Boston, the younger brother of York, who just wants to go to an Ivy League.
• The Pariah: Sam, who has an addict for a mother and tends to stay on the sidelines—be invisible.

They are all forced together after they try to flee from the cops, and find themselves with something that puts their life at jeopardy. Other than the whole designated stereotypes and being forced together, The Breakfast Club comparison is loose and holds little weight because the book uses common high school character tropes that exists in most books/tv shows/movies. To specify it’s like The Breakfast Club makes me expect something that’s similar to it.

Expectation #2: The book will be written through four points of views.

Reality #2: Not at all. Just one character. I had been under the impression we’d get four points of views because of the synopsis, but no such thing. Where are the other POVs? I was misled! It’s just told through Sam’s point of view.

Expectation #3: The characters break out of their stereotypical molds.

Reality #3: Not really. I never felt like these characters were more than or grew out of their respective stereotypes. They were the stereotypical rebel, bully, geek, or pariah character with added parental issues like their parents who were addicts, deadbeats, or putting pressure on them to achieve greatness. The characters weren’t likable, which would be no big deal because I like unlikable characters but only when they feel like realistic people. The back stories of each characters felt forced and one-note, and didn’t evolve to give that emotional impact I expected. These characters hadn’t been developed to their full potential.

Expectation #4: It’s like watching a movie.

Reality #4: Rebel Bully Geek Pariah has the cinematic storytelling down. I can confirm that! You know those films where a group of characters are just hanging out and they find themselves with a bag of drugs? That’s exactly this book. I could imagine everything playing out like a movie.

Expectation #5: These characters will have an emotional bond.

Reality #5: Eh, it fell flat. I didn’t believe that they genuinely liked each other by the end. I feel like they would’ve just gone their separate ways at the end because they don’t really have anything in common outside the events that happened. You need more than a crazy event to bond you. Everything felt shallow.

Do I recommend Rebel Bully Geek Pariah? I’ll give you a tentative maybe? What may not work for me, may work for you! I had too many assumptions about what this book was going to be about, which ruined my experience of the book. I know a few people have called this book fun. You’ll be breezing through this book with the way it’s written. You have to suspend your disbelief a bit because the events gets slightly ridiculous and cliché, but maybe you’ll enjoy it better than I did.