The Story of Awkward by R.K Ryals | DNF Rant


The Story of Awkward | R.K Ryals
Pages: 268 
Genre(s): Young Adult, Contemporary, Fantasy
Published: April 11, 2014
Format: E-Book
Source: Purchased


If you are looking for a narrative without emotion, without regrets, and without mistakes, this is definitely the wrong story. 


This is by no means an uncomplicated tale about uncomplicated people. It is by no means sweet or light. 

This story is ugly. 
This story is complicated. 
This story is emotional. 
This story is tragic. 

In short, this story is about being awkward. 

Peregrine Storke is an artist with an odd sketchbook full of pictures she’s drawn since she was a child. It is a book full of strange sketches and awkward characters, for there is no better way to hide from bullying and life than to create a world of your own. With a stroke of her pencil, she has given life to a spectacled princess, a freckle-nosed king, a candy loving troll, a two-horned unicorn, and a graceless fairy. 

At nineteen, Peregrine leaves her home, her sketchbook, and awkwardness behind. But what happens when something goes wrong in the world of Awkward? Trapped inside of her complex realm with the bully she thought to leave behind, Peregrine discovers there is nothing worse than falling for your own villain. 


That's one hell of a blurb right?


On christmas, after I cried my eyes out for receiving what I wanted, I decided to do what all readers do when a new e-reader is put into our hands . . . search for more books. There in the amazon store under free reads, was a book that stood out to me more than the others. The Story of Awkward's cover snatched my attention, and that intriguing synopsis is what pulled me in to one-click the book to my device.

This story is ugly.
This story is complicated.
This story is emotional.
This story is tragic.

Those very four lines had me truly excited to dive in. I remember jumping into bed, snuggled up with my son under my Spiderman covers, seriously anxious to start chapter one. Then I began reading. At first enjoying the flow of the story and how weird and awkward the main character seemed to be, and then . . . it seemed as if I hit a break wall of some sort. The impact from this collision felt more like a slap in the face. A slap which opened my eyes to realize that the very four lines that compelled me to make this purchase, were quite misleading. Quite isn't even the proper word choice here. Maybe I should rephrase it and say,

" Very F#$@ing Misleading. "


You see, there was nothing ugly about this story.

Nothing complicated.
Nothing emotional.
Nothing tragic about this story either.

I feel as though my version of the synopsis would be a better representation than the original.


I've read some pretty dark and ugly stories, and compared to those, reading this book was like eating orange sherbet on a hot summer day. Or maybe like running through a field of wild flowers, blowing those cute white flower thingies after making a wish. (Okay so I don't know the name of it, don't judge me lol) It was more " pretty " than anything. Reminding me of some sort of cute, princess-eyy, fairytale story like Cinderella or something. I've read some complicated stories, and in comparison, the main character wasn't complicated, she just wasn't ready to grow up. I couldn't connect emotionally to this story, so parts where someone would have shed a tear , (especially after what was supposed to be the " tragic " scene) caused me to do nothing but roll my eyes.


The reason why I'm so irritated that I had to DNF this book, is because it had the bones to be great. I absolutely loved the concept of an incredibly awkward artist who found an escape from reality through her drawings. This same awkward artist that was innocently living vicariously through these characters, in a world made up of nothing but pencil and paper. A world she formulated in her mind, that eventually became her new reality. It was as if the author created this amazing foundation, then as the story went on, she built a beautifully ambitious, but poorly executed house, that after a few chapters gave way and tumbled to the ground.


" Maybe I'm just not in the mood for it. I'll try again tomorrow. " Is what I kept telling myself as I tried to push through. But every time I powered on my Kindle to pick up where I left off, I could never get too far ahead. I was trudging through mud as thick as cement, and no matter how many times I put it down and picked it back up, this weird resistance kept me from making it to the end.


So yes I am disappointed that this book with so much freaking promise, didn't meet my expectations. I'm even more disappointed that such a captivating blurb, is slapped on a book that has zero connection to the words used to describe it. I don't know about you guys, but I hate having to classify a book as " Did Not Finish ", especially this early in the year . . .


Usually I wait a couple of months before I attempt to try again, buttt I think this one has already settled in it's new home on my DNF shelf. Blah.




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