How You Ruined My Life

Rod Conklin is the protagonist/narrator of the story. His happy life is disrupted by the arrival of his rich cousin, Blake, that he hasn’t seen since childhood, who proceeds to destroy everything good in Rod’s life. Rod is a good guy. He gets good grades and willing helps out in his single-parent home. So, it’s easy to sympathize with Rod as his evil cousin systematically destroys everything in his life. Like sometimes in movies and (mostly) plays, Strand’s character, Rod, “breaks the fourth wall” by talking to readers of this book as a sort of narrator. Initially, he comes off as solely a story character and narrator and takes no credit as writer of the story, as in this dialog: Rod (to us readers): “I’m not the one writing this book, so you can’t expect me to tell the story for you!” But later there are contradictory comments from Rod that indicate he actually IS writing the story (somehow in present tense) even though we know it was written by Jeff Strand and not by a fictitious character in the story. Yeah, it’s confusing, but since I appreciate Strand’s humor I’ll forgive him this inconsistency. Overall, a well written and well told story with nary a typo.

For those looking for more Jeff Strand scariness, this is not the one for you. Mister Strand is trying his hand at the popular YA market, and he probably succeeds with this. However, much as I want to enjoy it, every so of ten there\’s a sentence that grates on my taste genes. I\’m sure that if I were thirteen (does that count as \’Young Adult\’ now?) I would be really into it. Unfortunately I am long past that age and my tastes in literature have changed. They\’re not necessarily better, they\’re just different. I shall, however, continue to read Jeff Strand\’s adult-orientated work, which is more to my liking.

Very readable with lots of laugh out loud humor. Perfect for young adults or really immature older people like myself. BLAKE! BLAKE! BLAKE! Thanks for the grins and Chucks, Jeff.

Believable writing of a sixteen year old mind is shown throughout the book. His cousin\’s visit threatens his comfortable existence causing many laughable moments.

I enjoyed this book very much. Loved the style and pace. I am actually hoping for a sequel. Will fanged grapefruit play the garden one day?

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