Official Review: Odd Boy by Gunter Schaule

[dhomespot]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Odd Boy" by Gunter Schaule.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Odd Boy by Gunter Schaule is a coming of age story geared toward young adults. It is not a very long book, but it is a decent read.

Jack is a teenager that has chosen not to speak. He can read and loves math. There comes a time when he decides that he needs a friend and decides that the friend should be a female. Jack chooses to text Sarah to see if he could build a friendship with her since they used to carpool together. He decides the best way to become friends with Sarah is to tutor her in math. Their friendship grows and they decide to travel together as a couple. While they are gone, there is a slight disruption to Jack’s plans when Sarah falls for her surf instructor and decides to move out. They eventually work everything out and make a life for themselves.

There were parts of the book that made the story drag out for me. These were the poems and the mathematical equations. I felt like the equations could have been left out of the story with no harm being done. I say the poems just because I am not much of a poem person, and one of the poems was a little long for my comfort. I found myself just scanning through it.

I give this book 2 out of 4 stars because I felt like the characters were not developed enough for their parts of the story. Their talk and actions are that of young preteens instead of those that are getting ready to head off to college. I also noticed a discrepancy that threw me a little bit. It says in the beginning of the story that Jack dropped out of school, but then he was going to take his university entrance exams. It does not say if he ever went back and got his diploma or GED.

I noticed some errors that lead me to believe that the book is not professionally edited. The use of maths and realise instead of math and realized threw me just a bit also. I am assuming that the story is set in the UK or that the author is from that area. I always look for a moral to a story and in this one, it seems to be that you can overcome any “disability” to make your life a happy one. In Jake’s case, he found Sarah and in doing so, he found the will to want to talk.

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Odd Boy
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[Dgious]

The book is awesome

[Kibet Hillary]

The title is good. The review is also good but it seems the book for sure lacks character development. I do not understand why the boy chose not to speak. I hope the book delves into this.

[cpru68]

I guess I’m a bit befuddled why the main character chooses not to speak, so then how does one help someone else with math? I’m not a math person per se. It has its function for us, but a book with that as the subject doesn’t seem of interest. Throw in the grammatical errors like you said here, and I’m out. It sounds like it needs a lot of work.

[Libs_Books]

Selective mutism (or maybe that should be elective mutism?) is rather a mysterious phenomenon. I'm not sure that the combination of Maths* and poetry would work well for me, and the ending sounds a bit unrealistic, but the book may offer some useful insights.


*Yes, I'm a Brit

[SkyeDragon]

I am confused about how the main character chooses not to speak but is tutoring a friend in math. Maybe this is explained more in the story. I think this is a good review and is well written. Based on this review this book does not sound like a book for me.

[stacie k]

It sounds like there is a good premise for a story here, but it hasn't been developed to its potential. The idea of Jack and Sarah growing a friendship so close that they decide to travel together seems unrealistic to me. And the poetry feels out of place, too, given the other information you shared. Thanks for your informative review!

[bnoy]

Slightly confused by the development of the relationship between the two. If he chooses not to speak then how do they communicate and become friends? However, it is a shame that the character's are lacking in development as this could be a really great read. Thanks for your review, I will probably give the story a miss.