a book review

[baronessekat]

Spontaneous by Aaron Starmer

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Mara's life changed her senior year of high school when a classmate suddenly spontaneously exploded during class. Then another one went kaboom, then another. Needless to say, people start freaking out. Other than all the victims being from the same high school class, there does not seem to be anything connecting them. Experts and feds come in trying to find a cause. But no one can figure out why or what is causing a bunch of kids, from one school in one town in New Jersey to just randomly explode.

But Mara's determined to make the most of her Senior Year and maybe, just maybe survive to graduation.

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OK, this book was just weird. But then again, how could a book about teenage spontaneous explosions not be.

The part that got me was that I was able to suspend by belief in reality about the exploding teens. But I had trouble with how the adults were portrayed. Mara's parents are just too laid back. The rest of the adults in the town just seem to give up and become "well that crop of kids are a loss, let's just move on and focus on the younger classes." Even the feds and experts come across as apathetic and "oh well."

In the end, I am not the audience for this book. I picked it up because it was mentioned on Pop Culture Happy Hour as the basis for a movie that came out this year. Based on the book, can't say I'm going to be rushing to watch it .



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