100 Sideways Miles by Andrew Smith Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on September 2nd 2014
Genres: Contemporary, YA, Young Adult
Goodreads
Finn Easton sees the world through miles instead of minutes. It’s how he makes sense of the world, and how he tries to convince himself that he’s a real boy and not just a character in his father’s bestselling cult-classic book. Finn has two things going for him: his best friend, the possibly-insane-but-definitely-excellent Cade Hernandez, and Julia Bishop, the first girl he’s ever loved.
Then Julia moves away, and Finn is heartbroken. Feeling restless and trapped in the book, Finn embarks on a road trip with Cade to visit their college of choice in Oklahoma. When an unexpected accident happens and the boys become unlikely heroes, they take an eye-opening detour away from everything they thought they had planned—and learn how to write their own destiny.
I am constantly searching for the perfect unique contemporary and I’m happy to report that 100 Sideways Miles has made the list. 100 Sideways Miles is about a teen named Finn Easton and his particular knack for measuring time in distance. I sort of understand how he does it but I am no fan of math so the calculations went right over my head. Finn and his best friend Cade “win-win” Hermandez are heading on a road trip to check out a prospective college but on the way, something unexpected occurs that leads them to figure the truth about their destinies and themselves.
Finn is probably one of the most unique characters I’ve ever read. Even without bringing the distance thing into the equation, Finn is still a very original and unique character. Finn’s father, Mike, is a best-selling author of a series in which aliens take over Earth and eat everyone. These aliens happen to resemble Finn. Throughout the book, Finn strives to figure out how he can extend his father’s expectations and image of him that is in the book. Finn’s personal growth and journey in this novel is phenomenal and very easy to relate to. Sure, we don’t all have famous authors for parents that write us into their books but deep down, we can all relate to the feeling of being trapped by a parent’s or siblings expectations.
All the characters in 100 Sideways Miles are developped expertly and amazingly. Finn’s best friend, Cade Hermandez, is my favourite character in the novel. He was just an absolute delight to read about and if I’m being totally honest, I kinda shipped him and Finn-I think it would’ve been SUPERB. The love interest Julia was also well developed and her romance with Finn was cute but I sometimes thought it was instalovey. Julia and Finn did have great chemistry though and their dialogue and banter was cute and fun to read.
Overall, 100 Sideways Miles is a unique and expertly written novel about growing up, love, friendship and dogs who always love dead things. I’ve never read anything that compares to it and I will be recommending it to many of my close friends. I highly recommend 100 Sideways Miles to any reader looking for a unique book. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in a corner wishing that this book didn’t have to end.
