The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

Standalone. Alfred A. Knopf (October 2008) Own

So, my beautiful fat girlfriend, Cassidy, is threatening to kick me to the curb again, my best friend suddenly wants to put the brakes on our lives of fabulous fun, my mom and big sister are plotting a future in which I turn into an atomic vampire, and my dad, well, my dad is a big fat question mark that I'm not sure I want the answer to.

Some people would let a senior year like this get them down. Not me. I'm Sutter Keel, master of the party. I'm your man when it comes to cranking the wild times. But, don't mistake a midnight philosopher like me for nothing more than a shallow party boy. Just ask Aimee, the new girl in my life. She saw the depth in the Sutterman from that first moment when she found me passed out on the front lawn. Okay, so she's a social disaster, but that's where I come in. Isn't it my duty to show her a splendiforous time, and then let her go forth and prosper?                                                                                    Yes, life is weird, but I embrace the weird. Let everyone else go marching off into their great shining futures if they want. Me, I've always been more than content to tip my whisky bottle and take a ride straight into the heart of the spectacular now.

I can't even begin to put in words this book. It threw me for a loop. I don't even know the right words to respond with to what I've just been through. I know I say it time and time again but this book was not what I expected. I've been obsessing over this book's movie trailer because it looks like simply a romantic movie with it's up and downs. But, it's not reality. I think a lot of this book is about that. What really happens in the world. 

This wasn't a love story at all. The trailer made me think that and want it so much that it took me so long to realize this book isn't what I bargained for. Now that I've calmed slightly and I mean slightly down I realize that this book may have not been what I bargained for but that may not necessarily be a bad thing. I still have mixed emotions and can't seem to process this story but maybe I will tomorrow or in a week or in I don't know how long. I'm just this big one confused jumbled mess that doesn't know what to do. 

A lot of people talk about how it was weird getting into the mind of an eighteen year old boy and I guess it is weird. I just never thought of it that way because I felt I could find him in my high school. I don't think anyone was as extreme as him but I can just imagine him as an everyday normal kid too. Even Aimee (well of course Aimee) who was not at all who I expected - I could imagine her in my class. I actually imagined her as me. I could see myself be swayed by a guy like this who's actually a good guy with good intentions but he's so... I could see me in her, the nerdy-glasses-wearing-social-awkward girl that no one notices. It was heartbreaking to feel that for her. 

For those who read The Spectacular Now:

Can we please talk about this ending? If anyone's read this book message me on Goodreads or something because I need some closure here. I have this sense of dread after reading it. Maybe that's the point? I heard the movie has an ending. I've got to watch it before I go crazy!

Overall: I was expecting more romance than the actual reality of what life can hold for you and how you see yourself in that world. Sutter was the main subject and I like that about the book. It was more intense than I expected too. This is a book that you either love it or has you searching for answers. 

This book like I mentioned has a movie that just came out. The trailer is awesome. Check it out and fall in love: