This book is a haunting portrait of a high school senior, Keir, who feels that he is a good guy, that no one would think him capable of doing anything horrible. He contradicts himself by crippling another football player during a game, vandalizing a local statue, pulling embarrassing pranks on the soccer team, and date raping his friend Gigi. Although all of these events happen, he still feels that somehow he can never accept that he is a part of these; they all are “inexcusable” acts. He uses the word “inexcusable” multiple times during the book, describing things that shouldn’t be done, but in actuality he does do inexcusable things. His father allows him to drink alcohol with him and doesn’t seem to mind that he is out all night long. He gets along well with his father, but their relationship to me felt more like they were brothers. He never seemed to get any real discipline, and when it was attempted he would lash out.
Reading the story from Keir’s point-of-view was a bit disturbing, because you found yourself wanting to believe him, that he was “good” and that he really didn’t mean to do the things he did. He turned out to be the opposite of what he felt he was, and even came to the realization of that at the end of the book.
Overall it was a very powerful novel that really got into the mind of a teen that has a lot of issues with drugs, alcohol abuse, and family problems. I would highly recommend this book for high schoolers and maybe even mature 8th graders.
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