Review Detail

Down Under author Brigid Lowry brings us Guitar Highway Rose a novel told in everything from prose to poetry to stream of consciousness writing and in multiple viewpoints. We primarily hear from Rosie and Asher, the two teens the story revolves around, but their parents and friends and even the people they meet also get their say.

The story flows surprisingly well for something that jumps around so often from character to character, from style to style. Once you are caught up in it, the story weaves a web around you or perhaps it would be better to compare this to a day at the beach, standing out past the breakers. You drift along, pulled this way and that by the waves, but gently and without resistance.

Rosie is fifteen and ready for adventure. Asher is the new boy with dreadlocks and a problem with conformity. Hes also having a tough time with the divorce of his parents. They meet up and after a semi-rocky start, really hit it off. When Asher is wrongfully accused of stealing a teachers wallet, the two decide to take off together.

They hitchhike up the Australian coast, meeting people along the way and discovering things about themselves and other people. Meanwhile, of course, their parents are going crazy.

The thing that makes this novel really unique is the way it is told. Everyone has their say, in their own way. A peek into Ashers mind is like being bombarded by thought after thought, while Rosie is more orderly. I like that everyone including the parents have their say. This isnt just about two teens escaping ordinary life, it is about everyone that is affected by it.

Recommended for readers aged 12 and up or anyone longing for some excitement in their life.