Review: Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach

Title: Stupid Fast

Author: Geoff Herbach

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Pages: 320

Release date: June 1st 2011

Genre: Contemporary YA

Source: Bought

Find out more: Amazon ; Goodreads

Goodreads description:

My name is Felton Reinstein, which is not a fast name. But last November, my voice finally dropped and I grew all this hair and then I got stupid fast. Fast like a donkey. Zing!
Now they want me, the guy they used to call Squirrel Nut, to try out for the football team. With the jocks. But will that fix my mom? Make my brother stop dressing like a pirate? Most important, will it get me girls - especially Aleah?
So I train. And I run. And I sneak off to Aleah's house in the night. But deep down I know I can't run forever. And I wonder what will happen when I finally have to stop.

First sentence:

This could be a dark tale!

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The cover of this book is really misleading. At first I wasn't interested in Stupid Fast because it looks like a book about sports, which isn't my thing. But Stupid Fast is so much more than that - it's an emotional book about a dysfunctional family. Felton's dad committed suicide when Felton was five, and his mom is struggling with depression. Stupid Fast is mainly about how Felton deals with these family problems, and football is not the most important aspect.

Stupid Fast was hard for me to get into because of the unusual writing style. I can't even explain what's strange about it, it's just...different. After a while, I got used to the writing and enjoyed it, but I still think it's too choppy at times.

Once I got into it, I loved Stupid Fast. Felton is a great character - he's just so likeable! He's awkward in a fun way, and his comments and way of seeing things are hilarious. He's complex and dynamic, and there's just so much to him, lots of which I probably didn't even get reading Stupid Fast for the first time. His voice is honest, original and realistic, and it felt like he was talking to me throughout the entire book. The secondary characters are fully-developed; I could imagine everyone easily - Aleah, Jerri, Andrew, the jocks, all of the characters! I also loved the dynamic and realistic relationships between Felton and all the other characters. Aleah and Felton are adorable together!

Stupid Fast reminded me of a John Green book. I don't mean the story, because that's really different from John Green's books - I just mean the style and the feel of the book. Stupid Fast conveys so many emotions - it's sad and funny and heartwarming and hopeful and honest and raw, all at the same time, just like John Green's books. You're crying one minute, and the next minute you're laughing. That's probably what I enjoyed most about this book - I love when a book can really make you feel something, both good and bad.

***The next paragraph contains spoilers!***
The ending is a little too happy, in my opinion. Of course I want everything to work out for Felton, but I just think it all ties up a bit too nicely to be realistic, with the clichéd moment on the football field and all. Especially the storyline with Jerri seems unrealistic to me - she appears to be totally fine when she gets on the plane, which seems impossible, considering how bad she was doing just a few days before.

This is a great read! Don't be discouraged by the football-topic - I'm not big on sports, but I really enjoyed Stupid Fast. Felton is such a likeable main character, and Stupid Fast is emotional and hilarious at the same time, reminding me of a John Green book. I definitely recommend it!