Review: Flick

Flick//Abigail Tarttelin

Official Website

Description: Set in one town in the north east of England, this is the story of a brilliant, unforgettable moment in the life of two teenagers: a sweet taste of young life, a love letter to hope. Marooned by a lack of education and a lack of generally anything else better to do, Will, a.k.a. "Flick," muses on the artistry behind being a stoner, whether Pepsi is better than Coke, and why the new girl in town is just so much hotter than all the familiar slutty girls—or "slappers and professional-abortionists"—he counts among his friends. As his relationship with Rainbow, the new girl in town, develops, Flick finds himself torn between the constraints and loyalty he feels to his old life and the pull of freedom that Rainbow represents.

Review: I guess you can say I got out of my slump, thanks to Flick. No, that's a lie. I read Imaginary Girls, but to be completely honest, I couldn't get my thoughts together regarding that book. It was good, but I just didn't like it. Shit. Okay, it had a good story, but there was no backstory, no questions asked about it. It was weird. That's it. But it has a slamming cover, so it gets points for that.

BUT BACK ON TRACK: I AM BACK AND I AM READING AND REVIEWING AND I AM GOOD.
This is my first review back after hiatus so bear with meh.

 I have passed Flick in my library at least 200 times. I'm not even joking, I saw this book every time I visited my branch. Based on the cover, I thought it was a book about Flickr, that photo-hosting website thing. I don't know. I thought Abigail Tarttelin was talking about social-networking sites and technology and how it affects youngsters. I was wrong. I was the wrongest girl in america. Maybe even the world.

Flick tells the tale of Will Flicker, an attractive, cocky, smart, FIFTEEN YEAR OLD BOY who lives in England. He drinks with his pals, he hooks up with lasses, and he smokes like a chimney. When I think of a stereotypical British youth, I think of Will Flicker. I couldn't wrap my mind around his age, though. He's 15 and he's having sex, drinking it up, snorting coke, doing the fun things I guess? I don't know, but it was just weird. Like I knew he was 15, but I imagined in my head he was 17-18.

I'm just gonna throw it out there, but this book is pretty much the written adaption of Skins. The UK one, not the US one. Because the US one sucked. But yes, it was just like Skins. And I think that was why I loved it, because Skins was just so different from my lifestyle and it was interesting. It was like watching a documentary on African Spider Monkeys or something. At 15 I was playing with my dog figurines and making families out of them. Not making out with chicks in the pubs of North England. (Though that would be nice)

Anyway, Flick is just hanging around with his friends, and he meets this girl, Rainbow. He falls head over heels for her, and everything is easy breezy. But Rainbow doesn't like his drug use, and he lies to her, and it just crumbles. But he loved her so much, and it was pretty sad. However, Goodreads described it as a 'modern day Romeo and Juliet' and I just do not see that at all. Rainbow had no story to her. She was there just for the main character's grabbing, if that makes sense. I didn't feel bad for her because of her parents, I didn't feel anything towards her. I was more emotional towards Flick.

Their relationship was pretty stereotypical, to be blunt. It was like the smart, career driven girl falls for the rough-around-the-edges, tough boy. And she's pissed at his ways, and tries to change him. And he does try, but his past catches up with him, and he is in too deep. I mean, I'd be pretty angry if my boyfriend was selling coke too.

I really enjoyed the ending. It sounds weird, but I like how they broke up, how it was in the hospital after Flick's big overdose, and how there was no dialogue. Just descriptions from Flick's hazy awakening. I just really liked how the ending wrapped up loose ties, and it felt very realistic, very wiping-my-hands-and-moving-on. Even though this is a piece of fiction, I do hope that Flick got away from his town. But I know in my heart that he did not.

I loved the format of the book. It was written in that typewriter font, which was very fancy. The cover is basic and lovely. It also does not hurt to read this book in a thick accent, like Kelly from Misfits. I highly recommend it.

The author advises the story to be read while playing 'We'll Live and Die In These Towns' by the Enemy.

Here is a video of that song.

Overall, Flick is the best book to read after being dumped by your summer fling. And I'm not even being a sarcastic asshole like I usually am.

Ugh there were so many great quotes from this book, but I think this one really sums up the book.

"...and I guess that's who I am. Just a little shit who made the wrong choices."

-Flick//Abigail Tarttelin