Grasshopper Jungle

3 1/2. Was surprised by the audio narrator's voice, but his timing and comedic tone bumped my rating up a half star. He made the constant full name repetition and use of catchphrases like dynamo circle back to re-funny. I liked Austin's exploration of friend and romantic relationships within the end of the world/monsters trope. The ending wasn't my favorite, but much of the book felt fresh.

“Events that night were going to set in motion a disaster that would probably wipe out human life on the planet. That night, I was going to say something to Shann I had never said to anyone. I was going to do something I'd never done, and see things I could not understand and never believed existed.”

It is no secret that Winger is one of my absolute favorite books. So I really want to get my hands on and read all of Andrew Smith's books. Grasshopper Jungle was just one of those books. This book grabbed my attention just based on the synopsis and the gorgeous cover!

As for the actual book, we follow kid historian, Austin, his best friend Robby, and his girlfriend, Shann in their little town of Ealing. But things in Ealing are not as boring as you would think when Austin and Robby basically start the apocalypse by release an unstoppable virus. This virus basically turns people into praying mantises who only want to mate and eat. The book follows Austin, Robby, Shann, and the rest of Ealing's residents as they deal with these unstoppable creatures.

Andrew Smith did not disappoint with his witty writing and amusing characters. The chapter titles for this book were also fantastic. When you first read them, you would be confused but at the end of the chapter it would make sense. After I would finish a chapter, I would always look back at the title and see the connection. There were times when Austin bothered me. He was characterized as constantly horny and at times his constant acknowledgement of it went over board. However, I did love the theme of Austin's confused sexuality. It was a large aspect of the book since Austin is in love with both Shann and thinks he may be the same with Robby.

Another aspect of this book that I enjoyed was the absolute ridiculousness of it. There were times when I had no idea what I was reading, but I still loved it. The timeline of this book was also fantastic. Since Austin was a historian, the book would explain what everyone was doing at a specific time in detail. I loved the all encompassing nature of the narrative. We always knew what every character was doing a certain times. I have to believe this is solely due to Andrew Smith's ability as a writer. I have no idea what inspired this tale of Austin and Ealing, Iowa but it was highly enjoyable. I also loved the commentary about how the unstoppable creatures were a result of greedy scientists wanting to create the impossible.

As for ending of the book, I'm still undecided. It was one of those open ends but at the same time it wasn't. I wanted more about the creatures and the aftermath. But at the same time, I liked how you never truly know.

DNF at ~50%

i don't know why people keep talking about how weird this book is. For a book supposedly about the end of the world it is exceptionally boring. and it reads more like a self discovery novel of the bi main character. which in itself is not a bad thing but a) not why i picked this up and b) he does so by cheating on her girlfriend so way to reinforce stereotypes about bi people i guess. Also i know the narrator is a horny teenage boy but all this talk about balls and sperm and masturbation and how horny he is got kind of old, I get it. He is a horny teenager. But I don't need a reminder every paragraph geez

This was a weird book. Stylistically, I enjoyed its weirdness. I do definitely agree with criticism that none of the female characters in this book are developed like, at all, beyond super sexy sex objects? Which I think is sooort of the point of having a ~realistic horny teenage boy narrator~? But as a woman reading it, it's a little hard not to be alienated by it.

The queer representation is cool, although kind of buys into the “bisexuals are confused” trope? Not that Austin explicitly identifies as bi, or that he necessarily needs to? He's just definitely confused.

I liked the B-movie vibe and the Vonnegut-esque style, for sure. Would recommend to horny teenage boys.