Review: "Reality Boy" by A.S. King

In this fearless portrayal of a boy on the edge, highly acclaimed Printz Honor author A.S. King explores the desperate reality of a former child "star" struggling to break free of his anger. Gerald Faust knows exactly when he started feeling angry: the day his mother invited a reality TV crew into his five-year-old life. Twelve years later, he is 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.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review an ARC of this book.

Did I like this book?

I'm not sure why I held off on reading this book for so long, but I wish I hadn't.  I really loved this book, so, so much!  It has jumped right onto my list of favourites for 2014, and from completely out of nowhere!

Poor Gerald!  He is one seriously messed up kid!  I honestly couldn't believe some of the crap he'd gone through, most especially at the hands of his eldest sister!  My heart was breaking for him from the first page. Yes, he has violent outbursts and has trouble controlling himself, but it didn't take long for me to empathize with his situation once I got a bit of his backstory.  And even though this book can be quite serious, and sometimes tear-inducing, I found myself laughing like a hyena at other times, and don't those make for the best books?

Will you like this book?

I'd like to say that because I loved this book, everyone else will too, but I'm not sure that this is the case.  I think if you can be forgiving of a narrator with more than his fair share of flaws and enjoy reading about seriously dysfunctional families, then "Reality Boy" might be right up your alley.

Will I read more by this author?

This was my first book by A.S. King, and after I finished, I immediately added her other titles to my TBR list.  Very excited to read more from her!

My rating:  4.5 stars!