4 out of 4 stars
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Last Chance California by Brian Price is a contemporary novel that describes a young man named Wyatt, who tries to follow his dreams while trying to break out of childhood trauma.
Wyatt is a young man who lives in New Jersey, but his dream is to go to California. The abuse he faced as a child affected his life to adulthood. As he tries to break away from this trauma, he tries his best not to become like his father. Working his way to California was not an easy task. He had to leave behind his family and friends and go to another country. It was a strong decision, but Wyatt made it clear that he wanted to go to California. Do you think he would make it in California influenced by drugs, alcohol, and substance abuse? Or is his dream a mere one? The answers to these questions are found in this exciting book.
The novel of an adventure genre as it provides us with the main character's epic journey. The book uses a kind of comedy that jokes about serious topics, also called black humor. The book reflects the absurdly dark aspect of life while using it to get a comic effect. The protagonist is written in a realistic way, how he left his family to chase his dream even though he had no idea of what was ahead of him. The settings and plot are also well used. Even though the book has varying locations, it still makes every adventure worthwhile.
What I love about the book is that the story is very relatable with challenges and emotional changes. Even though the character had an arduous life, I love how the author uses humor to describe his daily life. I also love that Wyatt followed his dream of going to California. On page 80, he cried when he knew he was finally leaving his family, and on page 314, he was told to come back but chose to stay in California and face whatever problem awaited him. From the beginning of the book, it was pretty confusing as the main character's identity was unknown. Still, after reading further, I knew who the main character was, and it became more interesting as I dived in.
The scenes where hard drugs and alcohol were consumed could be disturbing for some readers, especially younger readers. That is not a problem for me. I couldn't find negative aspects in the book. The book is exciting, and I enjoyed it down to the end. I would undeniably award this book 4 out of 4 stars. Also, it deserves the rating because it has a few errors.
I want to recommend this book to fans of adventure novels with a bit of black humor and those who would like to face their dreams, as this would serve as a motivating book for them.
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Last Chance California
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