Review of American Dysfunction

[Chris Alex Powell]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "American Dysfunction" by Ryan Rex.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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America Dysfunction: The Ballad of Alex Walker by Ryan Rex is a book about family, adolescent living, love, and the consequences of decisions. Alex Walker comes from a wrecked family, which contributed to the impaired childhood he had and also the struggle of acceptance he faces as an adult. His ordinary life takes an unexpected turn when he engages in a fight with Richard Zilla over his girl, Gina. This leads to his arrest and bail by his divorced parents. Bailing him provides an opportunity for his mother to meet her third husband, the father of Richard Zilla.

However, his brother, Joseph, gets involved in a fatal accident while conducting their father’s business because their father was away bailing Alex out. His band, Polyester Anarchy, comes to perform at Joseph’s fundraiser, and this event brings his mother and her new family, whose visit spells doom for Alex’s family. Richard and his father promise to deal with the Walker family and will not let anything prevent them from carrying out their threats.

There are a few positive aspects of the book. First, Ryan Rex’s writing style is unique. The author had used present tenses, which made it possible for readers to live in the here and now of the story. Second, the use of raps and old-school songs by the author in his characters is intriguing and shows how much the author must have enjoyed raps with his late brother, whom he dedicates the book to. Third, if there is any lesson that the book teaches, then it should be in Chapter 26, where the author, through Alex Walker, teaches that the differences that exist among people mean little and should not be a reason to dislike them.

There are some negative aspects of the book. The preliminary pages of the book are not properly arranged. The preliminary pages do not contain the dedication section before the cover page, as was done in this book. Again, there is no table of contents in the book. Lastly, the use of foul language and vulgarities is high in the book. This may be distracting at some point.

I was able to identify only a few errors in the book. This shows the level of professionalism employed in editing the book. I will be rating the book 4 out of 5 stars. I removed a star because of the negatives identified above; however, this book's positives outweighed the negatives. I will be recommending this book to teenagers above the age of 18 who had a wrecked childhood. The reason for this age restriction is because of the high sexual and profane content in the book. Lovers of thrillers would enjoy this book.

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American Dysfunction
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[anais_]

This seems like an interesting book. From your summary, I don't really understand what the stakes of the story are... but it still made me want to read it at some point. Will Alex overcome all these issues within his own family? How does he deal with it?
Thank you for this review.

[Sahoor]

This book is kind of similar to one of the interesting books I have read. The journey of Alex caught my attention since I love mysteries and fiction. I love that the book could give out lessons that are helpful in life. I think this would be a great choice for me. Thank you for your amazing review, Chris!

[RutvikPatel]

"America Dysfunction: The Ballad of Alex Walker" by Ryan Rex offers a unique narrative style and meaningful lessons but lacks proper preliminary page arrangement and contains explicit content. Recommended for mature readers who've experienced challenging childhoods and enjoy thrillers.