2 out of 4 stars
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Randy Love...at your service by Shay Carter is a story reflecting the life of young adults as they go through the period of discovery and stability. Randy Love, at the end of his second year at the University of California, has been given a gap year. This means ample time of practising what he has been learning in school hence getting the feeling of what is going on in the real world situation.
Randy’s first move was to look for a job, and move out to his own rented apartment. This promised him freedom of socializing with friends away from his father, John Love. In every job he landed, Randy Love gave exceptional services compared to his colleagues. Employers grew fond of him, as a result, and gave him privileges over other employees. Being an egoist, this recognition got into his head more, further fuelling his egocentrism. His social relationships would have been left in shambles had it not been for his eldest sister, Heather.
Shay Carter uses this book to reflect on huddles young adults usually have to overcome in their journey towards freedom, both financial and emotional. For instance, leaning how to pay rolling utility bills such as rent, and food budget. The youths also learn how to cope up with life away from parents, and becoming accountable for decisions they make in their lives.
My favorite part in this book was one of the discussions Randy Love had with his father's oldest friend, Michael Goddard. They were discussing about the relevance of university education in real life. Michael argued that some universities rob students of valuable time of catching up with current affairs in this fast-paced world. By giving students to many lessons in class, they end up being overqualified and half-baked to meet the real demand in the job market. According to Michael, students should keep a wide eye on the changes happening in the real world so as to be at pace with solutions the world needs.
However, I disked the overall editing of this book. I noticed some long sentences which would have been more effective if splitted. This resulted in many punctuation errors. There were also typographical errors; an indication that this book was not thoroughly proofread. The author also used single quotation marks for direct speech, and double quotation marks for quoted words. Personally, this did not go well with me as a reader. I find books which use double quotations for direct speech, and single quotations for quoted words more attractive to read. I believe that the author’s investment in professional editing can earn this book its rightful position in the readers’ bookshelves.
I’m, therefore, awarding Randy Love...at your service by Shay Carter 2 out of 4 stars. With perfect editing, I would have rated it 3 out of 4 stars. However, I would not give this book the perfection score even with perfect editing due to my preference for strong literary skills. I recommend this book to young adults, for there are many lessons they draw from this book.
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Randy Love...at your service
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