Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Reader Rabbit 1

Fanboy has:

one friend
his own personal bully (ies)
one hell of a bruise (courtesy of the aforementioned bully)
a love of comics.


He also has The List-a collection of all the people who have pissed him off throughout high school. These are the people that'll he'll remember when he's older, stronger and famous. These are the people that make Fanboy sympathizes the Columbine massacrers. But, he says, clearing things up, "none of these people are worth dying for."


What keeps Fanboy going is his love of comics. And a secret-he's been working on his own comic book. Soon, there's going to be a comic book convention and he'll get to show his comic book to David Bendis, one of his idols.


But, then Kyra (Goth Girl) walks into his life, bringing with her an anti-rules attitude and her very own set of problems.


Fanboy's definitely not your typical main character. He's not particularly likeable. At least, not at first. He seems angry. Resentful. Lonely. And, maybe, a little depressed. But, it later reveals, he's also smart and wonderful with comics-stuff that most people don't necessarily see as such a good thing.


Which is where Kyra comes in. Kyra first "meets" Fanboy when she watches him get punched by someone else. Struck by how he stands there, unflinching and not letting the bully know how much it hurt, Kyra calls him "an Indian warrior". And, soon, Fanboy and Kyra become friends, brought together by mutual hatred of some people at their school and later, a love of comics.


Now, you might think that a book like this might get depressing. But, the author brings out some humour as well.


"Smoke?"

"No thanks."
"Goody- two shoes." She lights up and makes the pack disappear.
"Nothing goody twoshoes about it. I just happen to have an allergic reaction to cancer. Gives me tumours."




Besides Fanboy and Kyra, the other characters are well developed and realistic.I was worried that his stepfather wasn't really going to be fleshed out-but Barry Lyga managed to show us his character as well.


And, of course, you can't review this book without mentioning comic books. Fanboy loves them. Kyra loves them. And, I'm guessing Barry Lyga loves them. But, YOU don't need to like them to read this novel-I can count the number of comic books I've read on the fingers of one hand and still have, uh..all/most of them left over.


All in all, The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl, was well-done and I desperately want to read the author's other books.