Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (5000)

Content

Go Tell it on the Mountain

James Baldwin and Edwidge Danticat

10.0 (1 Ratings) Rate It

Book

'Go back to where you started, or as far back as you can, examine all of it, travel your road again...

FilmIntuition (33 KP) rated 806 in Books

May 23, 2018

806

Cynthia Weil | 2018 | Young Adult (YA)

7.0

(3 Ratings)

Book Rating

Reads Like a Pop Song

Fast, funny, and frequently surprising (even in spite of its contrivances), Cynthia Weil's rollicking YA road trip novella 806 centers on a trio of very different high school students who discover that they share the same unknown sperm donor father.

A contemporary teen fairy tale penned in a light, dialogue heavy style with clever hooks and twists to circumvent the narrative's overall predictability, 806 reads like a summer pop-song, which is only fitting considering Weil's background as a Grammy award winning, Oscar nominated songwriter.

Although it relies a little too heavily on cliches – never delving beneath the surface of its relatively one-dimensional characters long enough to give us a greater sense of who they are beyond some Breakfast Club-like introductions – 806 is inventive everywhere else.

Entertaining if ultimately forgettable, Weil's sophomore work is a wildly infectious read you can flip through at mix-tape speed in order to join the band and road trip along.

Note: I rounded up but (if able) would give this one 3.5 stars.