Release Date: May 26, 2015 | PUSH
Genre(s): Young Adult, Contemporary, LGBT
Pages: 281
Edition: ARC (Paperback)
Source: Publisher
Rating:
When you’re in love with the wrong person for the right reasons, anything could happen.
Tretch lives in a very small town where everybody's in everybody else's business. Which makes it hard for him to be in love with his straight best friend. For his part, Matt is completely oblivious to the way Tretch feels – and Tretch can’t tell whether that makes it better or worse.
The problem with living a lie is that the lie can slowly become your life. For Tretch, the problem isn’t just with Matt. His family has no idea who he really is and what he’s really thinking. The girl at the local bookstore has no clue how off-base her crush on him is. And the guy at school who’s a thorn in Tretch’s side doesn’t realize how close to the truth he’s hitting.
Tretch has spent a lot of time dancing alone in his room, but now he’s got to step outside his comfort zone and into the wider world. Because like love, a true self can rarely be contained.
I received a review copy courtesy of the author/publisher. This does not affect my opinion or views regarding the book whatsoever.
I'm soooo disappointed in this book.
* Deep Sigh *
I am a HUGE fan of LGBT. I love how the characters and stories are always so lively, creative, over-the-top, diverse, etc. So I truly was excited when I received Anything Could Happen for review. What I thought was going to be an amazing coming of age story about a young guy in love with his bestfriend, turned out to be a lackluster experience full of eye-rolls and heavy yawns.
If anything could happen, why didn't it?
50 pages in my first reaction was, " okay this is weird. " and it was. The main character Tretch was just so . . . strange? I can't really find the right word to describe our MC, and it's not that I didn't like him, I just didn't care for him too much. What I can describe is that he was wayyyyy too needy for my tastes. I know he had a crush on his bestfriend Matt, but my gosh they were so freaking DEPENDENT on each other to the point it was WEIRD. While it's not cool to bully people or make assumptions, if the author never specified that Matt was the, " straight bestfriend " I would have completely thought that he and Tretch had a crush on each other. Whoops.
To make matters weirder, Tretch was a total crybaby! I mean don't get me wrong, boys can be emotional, and I appreciate when they're in tune with their feelings, however, getting " misty-eyed " because you're going on a third wheel date, or crying because you accidentally broke an ornament made as a kid is . . . strange, a bit weird, and a whole lot of annoying. I found myself itching to DNF, but I was determined to see how the story panned out.
The secondary characters aren't any better. I mean I liked them, but no connection was made whatsoever. They fell flat. They were forgettable. Shit they're already forgotten if we're being honest here.
"Okay," I say. I unbutton, unzip, and pull at the waist of my jeans. " Okay," I say again. I shut my eyes. Remember. I start going to town on myself behind the closed door of Matt's laundry room. At first it feels all weird and kind of exciting, but then it becomes just like every other time I've done this, and I lose track of everything. It's like I go elsewhere. There's a pounding in my chest. A pounding throughout my body. A pounding on the door . . .
Because your crush's laundry room, is the best place to " choke your chicken ". Poor Tretch.
Situationship -- " Awkward Crush Formation "
See Diagram A:
Tretch likes Matt.
Matt likes Amy.
Amy likes Matt as well.
Triangle Formed.
Lana likes Tretch
Rectangle Formed.
Rectangle Formed.
Tretch doesn't like Lana because HELLOOOO HE'S GAYYY!
So now we're left with one big ball of fucking AWKWARD.
* Rolls Eyes *
This whole entire " THING " got old and annoying, VERY fast for me.
Matt takes an audible step forward, a slight creak in the floorboard-- it's like a soundtrack to the hard-on I'm getting. "Amy's friends with Lana Kramer, and she say's Lana's totally into you! And Amy says she wants to bring you to the party, as like, a date!" I turn my head (reflex, I swear,) and there he is, standing (totally naked, oh my God, oh my God), his hands resting confidently on his waist, as if he's saying, Hello, world! Here is my penis!
I mean, who can blame him for not thinking twice about Lana when there's a big penis in his face . .
Plot -- Messy, Messy.
Other than the characters, the plot was the biggest issue I had with Anything Could Happen. It was allllll overrrr the place, bouncing around, with little to no explanation, and after awhile I was just so freaking BORED, that I was praying for the ending to smack me back awake. What did pique my interest and had me excited for all but 2.5 seconds of the story, was that Matt's parents were gay! He was raised by two men, and with him being straight it raised alot of eyebrows, which truly had me excited. I just wish their lifestyle played into the story more, but we can't all get what we want apparently.
Big Reveal -- That's it?
The moment we were all waiting for . . . the big reveal . . . the cat being pulled out of the bag . . . and for it to go down like it did was sooo freaking disappointing! I was looking forward to the moment where Tretch would finally come out to the world, and by the time that he did, (not to the world might I add) I was over him, the story, the everything! I remember saying " Wait, that's it? " because it was a pretty cliche, and horribly underwhelming experience.
All in all, Anything Could Happen just didn't work for me. I had such high hopes for this book, and was let down by undeveloped characters, a scattered plot, and mediocre writing. There weren't many things I enjoyed about this novel, and what little I did take favor to, were completely drowned in everything else.
I was given a boring present, and now I wish to return it. That or either kick it under my bed to be forgotten.
If that doesn't tell you how unimpressed I am with this story, I don't know what will . . .
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