2 out of 4 stars
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Born as what is known in some parts of the world as the ‘after thought baby’, Randy Love came into the world when his parents were heading towards retirement, with an empty nest as his two older siblings had since been gone. His mother, then passed away when he was still quite young. The current story, however, is about grown up Randy the young adult, battling with the ups and downs of being an adult as well as other issues that seem psychologically bound, which make others slow down for him. However, he is charming and quite the ‘ladies’ man’, with a wandering eye, he never seems to be content, until… In a sense, it appears as though he gets a pass in life because of the tragedy he experienced, which can be understood more by reading the book. He is also very admired by those around him in a way I failed to understand which can only be left to personal judgement. Shay Carter has made sure to not give away Randy’s age which is left to the reader’s imagination and more of a challenge because of things that Randy and his peers say. Although classified as other fiction, this book emanates an incline towards true story, in the way it is worded, how most instances resonate to real life, as well as the way the characters are portrayed.
What I liked most about Randy Love At Your Service, is the irony within the title itself as the only person Randy was willing to serve was himself and no one else, which made him appear self-centred. The second thing would be how the book outlines life as we know it nowadays, in terms of sexuality, employment, physical looks and so on, despite there not seeming to be any social media mentioned to boast about many of the occurrences in the text which would have been considered ‘insta worthy’. Thirdly, although the headings were a nice touch, they prevented the reader from making their own conclusion, as they would head into the chapter looking for exactly what the heading suggested. I also like the psychological undertones it had which although subtle, explained much of the behaviour exhibited by Randy. Lastly, it gave the feel of it being short stories which had a link in this case the main character, which I liked, which gives another explanation for the headings, which could be considered as mini titles.
What I did not like most, was the way women were portrayed, which made it seem as though they were not being given more credit beyond their physical appearance. I also disliked the fact that looks were used to dismiss other people without getting to know them beyond what can be seen.
This book, would be suited to young adults and older due to its explicit content. It is also for those who are into a bit of romance and a great read for those who are not afraid to venture beyond their comfort zone and put themselves in the shoes of the characters. On the other hand, it is not suited for feminists as much of the content, will result in being infuriated over the representation of the fairer sex.
I award this book a 2 out of 4 due to the mistakes thorough editing could have resolved which were not very grave but easily noticeable. Also I feel the unpacking of the story could have been done a little better because at the end it felt as though there were some missing parts.
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Randy Love...at your service
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