2 out of 4 stars
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Randy Love…at your service is a coming of age novel set in Britain. The protagonist, Randy Love is a handsome young man who, although smart, still has a lot to learn about life, responsibility and the value of the human connections he has with those around him. For most of the book, Randy jumps from job to job and cannot manage to live in the same place for more than a couple of months. He also can’t seem to stay out of trouble and constantly gets his father, friends, and others to bail him out.
Initially, I liked Randy because he seemed easy-going and had a way with words that helped him get out of sticky situations. But as I continued reading it became apparent that he is manipulative, spoiled and narcissistic, something his sister, Heather, makes him aware of towards the end of the book.
Moreover, Randy also jumps from woman to woman – even a young girl in one instance – and seems to have very little regard for these women’s feelings as he purely considers them from a physical/sexual point of view.
This is something that turned me off throughout the book. I understand that because we are looking at the events mostly through Randy’s eyes this may have been an attempt on Shay Carter’s part to give us a glimpse of how the mind of a typical man works. However, since the book is written in the third person and several times other points of view are included; Carter could have done more to develop the female characters in the book beyond just their physique.
Proper character development is something the book lacked in general. Many characters were introduced and not explored substantially before the plot moved in a completely different direction. Some of these characters, like Nadir, Toby and other of Randy’s friends were interesting and I would have appreciated it if they’d been explored in a little more detail. Other characters though, I felt did nothing to push the plot forward and could have been left out altogether, consequently leaving space for characters with more convincing storylines.
In my opinion, the book has only two redeeming factors: great writing and good humour. It is because of these factors that, although tempted, I do not give Randy Love… at your service a rating of 1. I give it a solid 2 out of 4 stars. A confusing plot with no climax or clear message is what robs this book of a higher rating.
There is a fair amount of vulgar and explicit scenes in the book, so I wouldn’t recommend it to sensitive readers. If you are looking for something deeper and more engaging than a light read, this is also not the book for you.
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Randy Love...at your service
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And yeah, Randy is a tough character to put up with
