Monday, January 24, 2011

Review: Castration Celebration by Jake Wizner

Tags: YA, summer camp, musicals, humor, sex

Summary

After catching her father cheating on her mother, Olivia has sworn off the male population. She intends to write a musical at Yale’s summer arts camp titled Castration Celebration. Too bad Max comes along, and he’s a ladies’ man who knows exactly what to say, which buttons to press…and he wants Olivia. Can this unlikely twosome, with the help of their mutual friends, make it?

Review

I am still giggling and shaking my head weeks after reading this book. CASTRATION CELEBRATION is bawdy and offensive if it’s not your kind of book. Luckily, I enjoyed every minute of it.

In CASTRATION CELEBRATION, witty sexual innuendo is the name of the game. The characters’ repartee is so fast that if you don’t watch out, it might give you whiplash. Flirtatious teasing and suggestive comments fly back and forth, almost without stop. Even when Olivia and Max weren’t flirting, the characters’ dialogue was just so entertaining. They speak the way I always wanted to but was never brave or clever enough to do back in high school.

Some of the supporting characters are admittedly stereotypical “supportive friend” types, and sometimes I can even see that Olivia and Max are not all that well-rounded. However, they were just so successful at being entertaining that I didn’t even mind. I think that their role isn’t necessarily to be understood, but rather to entertain without resorting to tasteless, over-the-top antics, and they succeed.

CASTRATION CELEBRATION is not for everyone, but if you enjoy the occasional dollop of teenage boy humor, then this will make for an uproarious read.

Writing: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Plot: 4/5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5


Cover discussion: 4 out of 5 - This cover is ridiculous. It very obviously plays on the over-the-top peppy nature of successes such as High School Musical... and then there's CASTRATION written in huge letters. lol.

Random House / May 25, 2010 / Paperback (reprint) / 304pp. / $8.99

Personal copy.

9 comments:

  1. I loved this book. I couldn't stop laughing the entire time. XD

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  2. hehe this book rocked, you're right, totally entertaining in the twisted fashion xD nice review! and i LOVE the cover!

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  3. the cover is ridiculous, the title is ridiculous, and it sort of sounds like everything about it might be ridiculous. I can't decide if I want to read it or if I'm just horrified. . .

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  4. Wow, I gotta read this! It looks like a lot of fun. *adds it to TBR*

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  5. I LOVE this book. I read it a few summers ago and I almost died laughing. The cover is great and I wish I was as witty as Olivia. 95% of my friends are like Max with the sexual innuendos and I never know how to respond!

    My sister bought Spanking Shakespeare so I look forward to stealing it from to read xD

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  6. Tehehe. This title made me laugh when I saw it on my Google Reader. I'll tuck this in my brain for when I really want to read something to laugh!

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  7. This is the first I've heard of this book, and I do like the cover. I should take a peek in my local library, see if this turns up. You make it sound so hilarious I'm willing to give it a shot!

    Thanks for sharing!

    Asher K.

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  8. I've seen this book around, but wasn't sure if I should pick it up. But now I really want to! How can I pass up high school humor? Thanks for the review!

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  9. Just seeing the cover had me giggling! I mean, castration? Whoa now. Definitely sounds entertaining!

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