REview: Reality Boy by A.S King
Reality Boy by A.S. King
Blurb: “Gerald Faust started feeling angry even before his mother invited a reality TV crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he's still haunted by his rage-filled youth--which the entire world got to watch from every imaginable angle--and his anger issues have resulted in violent outbursts, zero friends, and clueless adults dumping him in the special education room at school. No one cares that Gerald has tried to learn to control himself; they're all just waiting for him to snap. And he's starting to feel dangerously close to doing just that...until he chooses to create possibilities for himself that he never knew he deserved.”
Reality Boy by A.S. King is a fantastic look on what happens behind the screen and how anger and a lack of love can effect you but also help you find who you are. I enjoyed this novel as I did and continue to do for every single A.S. King book I read. This post might be a bit shorter than the others since I am readying to go of to university and registering for classes, getting dorm things situated and all that other fun stuff. Anyways, this book’s look into anger, I found to be very interesting and will be the main thing I discuss in this post. SPOILERS AHEAD!
Our main character Gerald Faust is followed by a nickname “the crapper” after his brief T.V appearances on the show Network Nanny. We are opened up to a scene where he is literally pooping on the dining table at his house. As the novel goes on you realize that Gerald is in fact not insane but is doing this for attention and as a statement, an outcry for help and for care that he is grossly not given for most of his life. We also find out that his Tasha is literally INSANE and tries to kill him multiple times. What frustrated me as well as Gerald is that his own mother did not believe him even though she saw the abuse with her own eyes, she even was attacked by her own daughter AND, the cherry on top, she let her own daughter and the daughters rat boyfriend, sleep with each other all the time, in the house, being loud as hell. Of course anyone who lived in that situation would have anger issues or some sort of trauma. The only people that recognized his pain and the awful situation he was in was a random lady at a hokey game that gave him a big hug that he desperately needed and Hannah the junk man’s daughter. Hannah, like Gerald, was followed by her own labels. At times I found her annoying but her role in the story was a vital one. I also really liked Joe Jr. and I think he was also integral in helping Gerald. The anger aspect I liked. He actually doesn’t have anger issues he is just angry with his family. He also shouldn’t be in the sped program but he is because his mom pushed him in there so his psycho sister could feel better. That part was so upsetting. I think that as the novel goes on you sympathize with him more and understand the real problems lie with his crazy mother. I loved the ending when he finally leaves the craziness and forms a new life. Anyway, I apologize if this is a but rushed but the book is actually really good and I highly recommend it.
4.5/5 stars; would definitely recommend and definitely enjoyed
Happy reading!
