The Universe Versus Alex Woods

My Kindle, as much as I think it's the greatest device ever created, has done me a huge disservice. See, thanks to it I now know the structure of a book and end up reading most of them with little mental checkboxes ticking off as progress goes by. 25% complete - introduce all the main characters and set up “the situation”. 25-50% - expand on the situation and get the reader to like or identify with the characters. 50% - the real story starts. 75% - prepare for climax. 80-95% - the climax. 95-100% - aftermath.The thing I like most about this book is that it grabbed me from the first page and never had me checking those boxes.

Alex is a weird kid. He's legitimately a nerd, but that's ok because nerds are cool these days. His friendship with Mr. Peterson is unlikely, but it fits right in to the story. They're such an unlikely pair,and not in the way you might normally expect. Alex is the uptight one that is focused on rules and keeping clean; Mr. Peterson is a pot smoking, amnesty international fan with a killer library. The library is what brings the two of them together.

The climax was unexpected, and somewhat subdued. That's not necessarily a bad thing. It completely fit in with the story. Ultimately, it was sad but provided Alex with another growth opportunity.

I would be comfortable recommending this to someone that read and liked The Fault In Our Stars, and vice versa.