Review + Giveaway | Anything You Want by Geoff Herbach

Synopsis:
Expect a bundle of joy—er, trouble—in this hilarious, heartwarming story from the award-winning author of Stupid Fast Geoff Herbach

Taco's mom always said, "Today is the best day of your life, and tomorrow will be even better." That was hard to believe the day she died of cancer and when Taco's dad had to move up north for work, but he sure did believe it when Maggie Corrigan agreed to go with him to junior prom. Taco loves Maggie- even more than the tacos that earned him his nickname. And she loves him right back.

Except all that love? It gets Maggie pregnant. Everyone else may be freaking out, but Taco can't wait to have a real family again. He just has to figure out what it means to be a dad and how to pass calculus. And then there's getting Maggie's parents to like him. Because it would be so much easier for them to be together if he didn't have to climb the side of the Corrigans' house to see her...

Teaser

Taco’s mom always said, “Today is the best day of your life, and tomorrow will be even better.” That was hard to believe the day she died of cancer and when Taco’s dad had to move up north for work, but he sure did believe it when Maggie Corrigan agreed to go with him to junior prom. Taco loves Maggie – even more than the tacos that earned him his nickname. And she loves him right back.

Except all that love? It gets Maggie pregnant. Everyone else may be freaking out, but Taco can’t wait to have a real family again. He just has to figure out what it means to be a dad and how to pass calculus. And then there’s getting Maggie’s parents to like him. Because it would be so much easier for them to be together if he didn’t have to climb the side of the Corrigans’ house to see her…

End of teaser

The writing style, pacing, characters, and the story line itself was some kind of a surprise for me. I won't lie, I first thought that this would be a "sweet, fun" read, like other contemporaries; this is because of the cover, no judgments! But, oh boy, was I wrong. This is definitely not your usual contemporary romance, oh no, it's far more unique and humorous.

From the first chapter, down to the last one, I was hooked. I liked that I don't really know what would happen next, like stuff happened that I did not saw coming. I know a lot of people DNF'ed this (I saw Geoff's post about it) and I couldn't see why? I, personally, think that the writing was good. It was different, yes but that doesn't mean it's bad. I like that it's humorous and positive.

The characters were, I admit, a bit hard to digest. Especially Maggie! Gosh, I don't like her. The main character, William or should I call him"Taco?", was a very amusing and naive young man. He has this positive way of thinking that, at one point, made me wonder if he's insane. Taco's genuinely a great character albeit his insistence in things he doesn't really know. Also, a kid should never have to experience what Taco had. It really made me sad, what Taco went through.

Overall, this was a very remarkable book! I would recommend this to people who's looking for a contemporary that's not very "light and fun."

About the author:

I am the author of the YA title, Stupid Fast (June 2011 from Sourcebooks Fire). I also wrote The Miracle Letters of T. Rimberg, a Novel from Three Rivers Press. When I'm not writing books, I'm writing for Radio Happy Hour or developing ridiculous musical bits.

When I'm not writing, I'm teaching writing at Minnesota State, Mankato, which means I write a lot of comments about writing on student writing.

Writing a lot of writing and reading about writing and writing on reading.

Author links:

One (1) print copy of Anything You Want (INTL) 05/15

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