Thursday, November 22, 2012

Rockoholic by C.J. Skuse

Jackson is the love of Jody's life. The only problem? Jackson is the lead singer for a very popular band and hasn't the foggiest idea of who Jody is.

But she is going to change all of that when she goes to his concert and they will have a "moment" where he will look into her eyes and know that she is the one for him.

Yeah... except that she ACTUALLY gets a concussion, wakes up behind stage waiting to go to the hospital, and misses all but 3 of the songs Jackson performed. It wasn't the moment she was looking forward to.

However, Jackson comes back stage! Jody thinks it's for her, but really he just wanted to get away from the crowds. He also wasn't looking so well, so Jody offered him a chocolate bar.

Jackson, however, thinks it's a knife and says he will do whatever she wants. So she kidnaps him and takes him back to her house, with the reluctant assistance of her best friend, Mac.

Now Jody has a famous rockstar in her garage, and it's not the picnic and roses she thought it would be. Honestly, she just wanted to get to know Jackson, because she feels like she knows him already with her previous obsession.

Turns out that Jackson is the opposite of what he tells the public. Jody has no idea what to do with him, especially because he is addicted to pills that he no longer has and is now going cold turkey to get the drugs out of his system.

Taking care of a spoiled rockstar is not an ideal job, and Jody has to get to know the REAL Jackson. Thankfully, Mac is helping her when he can, even though Jody can tell he'd rather turn Jackson to the police and get him off his hands.

When the media gets very close to finding out where Jackson might be, Jody has to figure out what to do. Let Jackson leave the country? Take him back to his band so he can go on his American tour? And when he does leave, will Jody go with him, or stay in her small town with her family and Mac? Read Rockoholic by C.J. Skuse to find out!

My Thoughts/Reflections
This was an interesting read on many levels.

First, I didn't realize it was in a different country! And I really enjoyed that difference because the language was spot on (at least I think so) and it was unique for me since I haven't read many YA books that were out of the U.S. culture.

Also, Knockturn Alley was mentioned which made me think of Harry Potter. Every. Time!

Secondly, the author wasn't afraid to write about drugs and suicide stories - which is realistic since it had a band member and many are known for dabbling in pills for performance anxiety.

And third, Jody. She was different. She was a groupie, loved Jackson, and wanted to marry him. A true groupie - people who I don't really connect with since I don't listen to a lot of music or gush too hard core over celebrities.

So it's safe to say that I was intrigued by this book because I didn't relate to a big majority of it.

There were some parts that annoyed me, especially in the beginning when ALL Jody could talk about was Jackson this and Jackson that. I don't know how Mac could hang around her that often when that's all that would come out of her mouth.

The best part about this novel for me was Cree. Cree is Mac's 2 year old sister and she is an adorable mess. She made me laugh and cry. Actually, I loved Mac too. Eighteen and working for his parents, he's basically another parent to Cree and he's also the lead in the play The Rocky Horror Show, where he gets to dress in drag and do what he loves best: act and sing.

So overall, this was a cute story that introduced me to many new topics. I wouldn't say it was the best book out there and that I'll read it again next week, but I did enjoy it. For anyone who wants to read about music/concerts and has a setting in another country, I would strongly recommend this novel to you.

Also, this is the author's second novel, and I'm interested in her first one as well, Pretty Bad Things. I may have to look into it and see how she wrote that one compared to this novel!

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