Peter Davidek is in eighth grade when he first visits St. Michael the Archangel High School. The school's reputation is far from shining: grossly underfunded, filled with delinquent students, religious zealots, and downtrodden kids desperate to fit in. Not to mention that the building is literally falling apart. After witnessing something especially horrible on the day of his visit, Peter’s parents shock him by mysteriously deciding to send him there. When the first day rolls around, Davidek meets and bonds with some other new freshman. Noah Stein is quick to become his friend: somewhat cynical yet not averse to a fight or a laugh, his scarred face hides a scarred past. Together the two boys face the campy villain Ms Bromine, who loves detention-giving more than life, and the scheming Father Mercedes. We also see events through the eyes of their fellow student Lorelei Pascal, a girl who seems to be good at heart but will also risk anything to fit in, as well as a horde of bullies bent on hazing and a faculty that is strangely supportive of it. If they are to survive, they might have to unlearn what they thought they knew.
I tried and tried to give this book a chance, but reading it honestly got to be like pulling teeth. It seemed as though it was part Mean Girls, part American Horror Story, with some of the protagonists being moderately dynamic and somewhat relatable. That is, except when they are driven to extreme violence and cruelty .The antagonists were clearly not written to be liked; their negative actions and influences dominate the book's tone, which may explain why I had such a difficult time enjoying it. The egotistical football player with the perfect but cruel valedictorian as his girlfriend, the teacher who hates kids and loves detentions, the bully who only bullies to feel better about himself. Breznican makes a great effort to weave in themes of teen angst and the struggle for identity, and to this end has characters frequently spell out their motivations directly during dialog. Though does get his point across, I quickly felt as if he was beating me over the head with it. I did find this book to be somewhat thought-provoking, it was anything but a feel good read. Those interested in fiction written about young adults (this book is definitely not suitable for children), might enjoy it more than I did; hopefully not everyone will find brutal youth so brutal.
I tried and tried to give this book a chance, but reading it honestly got to be like pulling teeth. It seemed as though it was part Mean Girls, part American Horror Story, with some of the protagonists being moderately dynamic and somewhat relatable. That is, except when they are driven to extreme violence and cruelty .The antagonists were clearly not written to be liked; their negative actions and influences dominate the book's tone, which may explain why I had such a difficult time enjoying it. The egotistical football player with the perfect but cruel valedictorian as his girlfriend, the teacher who hates kids and loves detentions, the bully who only bullies to feel better about himself. Breznican makes a great effort to weave in themes of teen angst and the struggle for identity, and to this end has characters frequently spell out their motivations directly during dialog. Though does get his point across, I quickly felt as if he was beating me over the head with it. I did find this book to be somewhat thought-provoking, it was anything but a feel good read. Those interested in fiction written about young adults (this book is definitely not suitable for children), might enjoy it more than I did; hopefully not everyone will find brutal youth so brutal.
4 comments:
I definitely liked this book more than you did. Enjoyed our discussion today! My review:
"Catholic school - as vicious as Roman Rule." (Death Cab for Cutie)
I really liked this book though it was very disturbing and dark. As a teacher, librarian and nurse at a Catholic high school, I have heard that phrase a million times since the song with those lyrics came out ~2005. There seems to be no end to the inventive ways that students find to torment each other. Though this book was set in the 1990s, many of the behaviors and problems described exist in school settings today. Students in high school are faced with academic pressure, shifting loyalties, betrayal, bullying, and other issues that so make these NOT the best days of their lives. The students in BRUTAL YOUTH come from different backgrounds and home situations that make their ability to succeed more difficult as kids compete with each other to stand out and be different while still wanting to belong to at least one group or clique. The blind eye or ignorance of what was really happening at St. Michael the Archangel was sort of unbelievable but definitely adults don't always get the real picture because students don't often confide the complete truth. A critical conversation or intervention by an observant teacher, mentor, coach or staff might have helped immensely -- I thought most of those employees should have been fired!
I originally thought this was a YA novel but I can see that it is not as I don't feel that most high school students would read between the lines for the insight that is there in the stories of the teens at SMTA school. The lack of resolution and the missing happy endings is difficult to accept because the reader, given the benefit of knowing the real inner workings of each character's mind, has definite thoughts and feelings as to how things should end. Consequences. Punishment? The level of abuse meted out to students under the watchful eyes of equally disturbed adults was horrific. I will be thinking about this book for a long time and I hope it keeps me mindful of the myriad ways in which I personally can be empathetic and helpful to the kids I interact with each day. Observant and open. Watchful and ready to step in to prevent the bullying or the "jokes" made at another's expense. Are students more vulnerable now given the impact of social media? I think everyone is potentially a target and that learning to handle it is one of the main learning experiences of the high school years, but no student should be left unprotected by the adults given the charge to keep them safe from mental and physical harm. The adults described in the book were horrible stereotypes of all the myths about Catholic school, but demonstrate how toxic an environment can be if allowed to go unchecked. I don't care what people say, any kind of "hazing" by upper classmen is inappropriate in a school community. Adults can and should model behavior that encourages students to be kind to one another and they should be vigilant to weed out and help break the cycle of "do unto others" when that means being cruel.
I'm sure I will be thinking about this novel for a long time and would love to discuss it with others. It was disturbing but pertinent. I'd recommend it.
4.5 stars Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-book copy to review.
this sounds interesting.
I really like this book. It gave me a sense of what a cruel and unloving high school would be like. I like the way the story was set up in the way the storyline was mapped out. I like the way the characters got along I like the way the mood of the story was changing very often sometimes very happy others not so joyful. I would rate this book 5 stars because of how well it was written. I won't lie I was pretty apprehensive to read this book because when I read the front page I didn't see the kind of beginning of the book I usually see I didn't get the happy endings in the in the story that I would constantly read in my room but this book change my point of you and even though it is set as a boy is the main character which I don't often read the book itself wasn't only about the boy it was about a girl and some other people and I like that. I like how the book was set up to where it was in the point of view of many different people. All in all this book it's an A+ for me.
Brutal Youth rings true in the harshest of ways, with hypocritical religious figures, a near constant undertone of depression, and relatable characters set in a failing Catholic insitutuion. The most prominent reason to read this book, surprisingly, is the end. Or lack thereof, because we as readers are conditioned to think the end is happy. Or, at the very least, an ending the characters deserved. But I think Hannah's trick on the entire student body was an ending so expected of her character, and yet still managed to shock the reader. Though the entire story is well paced and has great tone, the book transcends the typical YA novel as it goes. The love triangle is quickly swept away by kindness, delusion and deception. The grand finale is a great deal more subtle than other books, but just as significant. And th endings of all the characters aren't romanticized in the slightest, and for that reason they are amazing. I think Breznican did a great job of perfecting the themes that run throughout a hopeless story such as this
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