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Echo of the Boom
Efram gets kicked out of every school in the known universe.
Molly is raised in total isolation by survivalists.
Steven grows up globetrotting with his ex-spy father.
Chloe rules three thousand students with an iron fist.
A frenetic journey through contemporary youth culture, Echo of the Boom follows the lives of these four characters as their narratives orbit and intertwine.
They wage personal wars, grapple for power, and attempt to understand their roles in the future of society—or their destiny in hastening its destruction.
The result is a mesmerizing collection of triumphs and calamities, a chronicle brimming with the language of music, social networking, and video games.
Equal parts Gossip Girl and Gravity’s Rainbow, Echo of the Boom is a generation defining novel, a new kind of literature explicitly suited to twenty-first century.
Molly is raised in total isolation by survivalists.
Steven grows up globetrotting with his ex-spy father.
Chloe rules three thousand students with an iron fist.
A frenetic journey through contemporary youth culture, Echo of the Boom follows the lives of these four characters as their narratives orbit and intertwine.
They wage personal wars, grapple for power, and attempt to understand their roles in the future of society—or their destiny in hastening its destruction.
The result is a mesmerizing collection of triumphs and calamities, a chronicle brimming with the language of music, social networking, and video games.
Equal parts Gossip Girl and Gravity’s Rainbow, Echo of the Boom is a generation defining novel, a new kind of literature explicitly suited to twenty-first century.
478 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2014
12 people are currently reading
633 people want to read
About the author
Maxwell Neely-Cohen
3 books12 followersMaxwell Neely-Cohen was born and raised in Washington D.C., where he spent his teenage years skateboarding and DJing. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, he lives in New York City. Echo of the Boom is his first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
August 9, 2014
I'm not particularly sure what I think about this book. The book is about four different teenagers growing up before the apocalypse. I really enjoyed some of the ideas of the book However, while some of the ideas were really strong I felt that two of the characters weren't as fully realized as they could have been. Some of the narratives were choppy, and in the end the pictures of "how teenagers live" seemed so off base to me that it almost seemed like a caricature of what an adult thinks that teenagers do. Even then the gradual growth in all four characters until they fully realize what they are meant to do was intensely enjoyable though I feel like that once they realized their potential there should have been a greater exploration of what that meant as the book ends rather abruptly.
March 29, 2014
So different, and wondrous, and eclectic. Hard to make complete sense of it until towards the end, at which point it's more confusing then the rest of the book put together - but I mean that in the best of ways. A fantastic voyage and living dream come true. And a "generational" story that captures us in a unique light.
June 25, 2014
This was pitched to me (somewhere...) as Gossip Girl meets Thomas Pynchon, but it's more Veronica Mars meets Don DeLillo. It has the former's obsession with teen class archetypes and their subversions, and the latter's obsession with nuclear bombs. It's all very American. There are four narrative here, each of which adheres to one of those two themes and crosses between them at various points, noting (and exposing?) the similarities. It's quick and pop-culturey and at times very fun, but the stories don't hit their stride at the right spaces and there is really only one satisfactory part where the disparate narrative smash into one another. I wanted more interaction, and I wanted the observations to feel more lived in and less like a supersmart kid showing off. The good patches were good enough for me to claim enjoyment over the whole, but there's a greater blend or observation missing that would push this book to the next level.
January 6, 2016
An interesting read, but in the end it didn't quite deliver for me.
What I liked: reading about youth. All these kids are high school age. It's not a YA novel. I like that combination. I liked the format, and thought the symbols representing each character were interesting. I liked that sections were small, making it easier to read in the little chunks of time I carve out of a too-busy life. I was intrigued by the book; it kept my attention up until the last 70 pages or so.
My beef: the ending is flat. It gets increasingly chaotic, fractured, and weird (but not weird in a good way). The concept of the four horsemen is pretty fantastic (not a spoiler if you look at the art in the endflaps....), but it just... lacked power. The bulk of the book was good enough to set up a spectacular ending. Instead it just.... fizzled.
So. Meh. Better than my last read, thank the heavens, but still... barely a three. Maybe 2 and a half.
What I liked: reading about youth. All these kids are high school age. It's not a YA novel. I like that combination. I liked the format, and thought the symbols representing each character were interesting. I liked that sections were small, making it easier to read in the little chunks of time I carve out of a too-busy life. I was intrigued by the book; it kept my attention up until the last 70 pages or so.
My beef: the ending is flat. It gets increasingly chaotic, fractured, and weird (but not weird in a good way). The concept of the four horsemen is pretty fantastic (not a spoiler if you look at the art in the endflaps....), but it just... lacked power. The bulk of the book was good enough to set up a spectacular ending. Instead it just.... fizzled.
So. Meh. Better than my last read, thank the heavens, but still... barely a three. Maybe 2 and a half.
October 21, 2014
There's a lot to say about this book, almost all of it good. Echo of The Boom is a really fun read, and I think that if I'd read it in junior high or high school, I would have loved it. I believe that it lays out a comprehensive if fairly pessimistic view of the world, and to a person who hasn't fully developed a sense of what they'd like to do or who they'd like to be, one of Neely-Cohen's characters will almost certainly appeal to them. If I'd read this when I was fourteen, I suppose I'd have re-read it several times over the course of my life.
Positive first: Neely-Cohen has created four primary (and several secondary) realities, with distinct, believable characters - all the more impressive because they're connected thematically, but are very different personalities. Each of the four move from being one-dimensional to, for the most part, fully realized, in the sense that they grow and change in believable ways that seem consistent with what one would hope or expect. The plot skillfully places some of them in places where they can meet and interact, changing each other or being changed - but this is not heavy-handed, Neely-Cohen knows to keep narrative coincidence light.
He writes with the most comfort and authority when he's describing one of his characters, the heir to a fortune, who bankrolls parties and DJs. This character seems to be his favorite, and it's hard not to make him your favorite as well, in part because the other characters have substantial flaws (without revealing any spoilers, suffice it to say that the other characters are all varying degrees of cold-hearted, which leads them to make choices with which a decent human being cannot agree, though one might understand their motivations). The heir's storyline is fun, and hopeful, and - until the end of the book, at least - ultimately optimistic.
While I prefer optimistic books, some of my favorites are the opposite. There's a place in Silver Linings Playbook where the main character, having finished "A Farewell to Arms" intrudes on his parents' bedroom to complain about the ending, and talk about what a jerk Hemingway was. I felt this when I read "A Farewell to Arms" the summer after my senior year in high school. A great book is great in part not because it embraces clean or happy endings, but because it is well-written, or greatly-written. Neely-Cohen's ending - the last seventy pages or so - becomes vague and hazy in a way that I'm not sure was intentional, but given that it's presaging an apocalyptic event, which is by its nature unpredictable, perhaps not surprising. Strangely, as Neely-Cohen's writing becomes cleaner as the book progresses - fewer adverbs, fewer unnecessary descriptors - the plot becomes more confusing. There are reveals given about the characters near the end that haven't been prepped beforehand, as well as pages-long essay-like asides that don't add much to the plot. My feeling was that the book could have been made smaller and leaner, and would have profited by it.
Having said that, I'm a big fan of Neely-Cohen's accomplishment, hope that the book is brought to the big screen where I think it'd do quite well, and look forward to more efforts on his part. This is a terrific first book, a really fun read, and has a real chance of becoming a cult classic for jr. high and high school kids, especially dorky teens like me. It's very worth investing time and money into reading this, and - in the event an agent or publisher is reading this - Neely Cohen looks like a great bet for a long-term contract. This is a talent that should be nurtured and supported.
Positive first: Neely-Cohen has created four primary (and several secondary) realities, with distinct, believable characters - all the more impressive because they're connected thematically, but are very different personalities. Each of the four move from being one-dimensional to, for the most part, fully realized, in the sense that they grow and change in believable ways that seem consistent with what one would hope or expect. The plot skillfully places some of them in places where they can meet and interact, changing each other or being changed - but this is not heavy-handed, Neely-Cohen knows to keep narrative coincidence light.
He writes with the most comfort and authority when he's describing one of his characters, the heir to a fortune, who bankrolls parties and DJs. This character seems to be his favorite, and it's hard not to make him your favorite as well, in part because the other characters have substantial flaws (without revealing any spoilers, suffice it to say that the other characters are all varying degrees of cold-hearted, which leads them to make choices with which a decent human being cannot agree, though one might understand their motivations). The heir's storyline is fun, and hopeful, and - until the end of the book, at least - ultimately optimistic.
While I prefer optimistic books, some of my favorites are the opposite. There's a place in Silver Linings Playbook where the main character, having finished "A Farewell to Arms" intrudes on his parents' bedroom to complain about the ending, and talk about what a jerk Hemingway was. I felt this when I read "A Farewell to Arms" the summer after my senior year in high school. A great book is great in part not because it embraces clean or happy endings, but because it is well-written, or greatly-written. Neely-Cohen's ending - the last seventy pages or so - becomes vague and hazy in a way that I'm not sure was intentional, but given that it's presaging an apocalyptic event, which is by its nature unpredictable, perhaps not surprising. Strangely, as Neely-Cohen's writing becomes cleaner as the book progresses - fewer adverbs, fewer unnecessary descriptors - the plot becomes more confusing. There are reveals given about the characters near the end that haven't been prepped beforehand, as well as pages-long essay-like asides that don't add much to the plot. My feeling was that the book could have been made smaller and leaner, and would have profited by it.
Having said that, I'm a big fan of Neely-Cohen's accomplishment, hope that the book is brought to the big screen where I think it'd do quite well, and look forward to more efforts on his part. This is a terrific first book, a really fun read, and has a real chance of becoming a cult classic for jr. high and high school kids, especially dorky teens like me. It's very worth investing time and money into reading this, and - in the event an agent or publisher is reading this - Neely Cohen looks like a great bet for a long-term contract. This is a talent that should be nurtured and supported.
June 6, 2016
Best thing about this book is I won it in a goodreads giveaway. I think I've entered about thirty of those and never won before. There is hope people. You can win.
Sadly in this case, I wish I hadn't won and I never bothered reading the book. The entire thing is a chaotic mess trying really hard to be hip and clever. It's neither. I think the author was trying to be edgy and stand out since it's his first book, but in doing so he created a vapid convoluted mess with little to say despite coming in at nearly 500 pages.
There are four story lines and the author bounces among them after a brief snapshot or vignette for each. These glimpses into the lives of the characters are brief, repetitive and failed to develop any real plot lines or show much character development. The concept had some potential if the author would have been able to tie it together in some way but it completely got away from him and ended in a confused fade out.
Another gripe is readers could maybe get the idea that some characters sort of fulfilled roles as the four horsemen of apocalypse in their story lines, but there is no chance of anyone guessing that purpose without the sections broken out with headings quoting Revelations. Nothing in the writing would have given any such impression. And even with the headings, the theme is tenuous at best.
Spacing on the pages along with use of basic words and sentence structure at least made it a very fast read for the number of pages.
Save your time and money for better written stories.
Sadly in this case, I wish I hadn't won and I never bothered reading the book. The entire thing is a chaotic mess trying really hard to be hip and clever. It's neither. I think the author was trying to be edgy and stand out since it's his first book, but in doing so he created a vapid convoluted mess with little to say despite coming in at nearly 500 pages.
There are four story lines and the author bounces among them after a brief snapshot or vignette for each. These glimpses into the lives of the characters are brief, repetitive and failed to develop any real plot lines or show much character development. The concept had some potential if the author would have been able to tie it together in some way but it completely got away from him and ended in a confused fade out.
Another gripe is readers could maybe get the idea that some characters sort of fulfilled roles as the four horsemen of apocalypse in their story lines, but there is no chance of anyone guessing that purpose without the sections broken out with headings quoting Revelations. Nothing in the writing would have given any such impression. And even with the headings, the theme is tenuous at best.
Spacing on the pages along with use of basic words and sentence structure at least made it a very fast read for the number of pages.
Save your time and money for better written stories.
April 23, 2014
A highly entertaining treatment of the state of entertainment in the end of days.
The most beautiful moments are subdued rhapsodies on loneliness that glimmer within social schemes, world travels, and shows of strength. Narrative touches that flirt with the surreal gracefully capture the dissonance between psychic panic and lame bureaucracy. This is why the story is so perfectly centered in the lives of teenagers (and these ones are well-developed and also archetypal) who text, regale, connive, and destroy. Like "Lord of the Flies," the characters are kids, but really it's about human nature.
Because the story is oriented around the end, readers become spectators, as curious about certain apocalypse and as complicit in our hunger for disaster as the characters in the story.
The most beautiful moments are subdued rhapsodies on loneliness that glimmer within social schemes, world travels, and shows of strength. Narrative touches that flirt with the surreal gracefully capture the dissonance between psychic panic and lame bureaucracy. This is why the story is so perfectly centered in the lives of teenagers (and these ones are well-developed and also archetypal) who text, regale, connive, and destroy. Like "Lord of the Flies," the characters are kids, but really it's about human nature.
Because the story is oriented around the end, readers become spectators, as curious about certain apocalypse and as complicit in our hunger for disaster as the characters in the story.
unread-but-acquired
February 4, 2014Let me get this straight: The book is about "the current generation of American teenagers coming of age in a networked world". And Netgalley only has .acsm files available. So you can't view the file from a Kindle or other e-reader. Only your computer. And only if you've downloaded the most recent version of Adobe Editions. That doesn't sound massively "networked" to me..
July 15, 2014
Tedious, juvenile, shallow, overwrought, sloppy, pointless, implausible, bloated, malformed, unintelligible, and utterly unnecessary.
I was trying to think of more ways to describe this completely amateurish piece of crap, but the idea of wasting even 30 more seconds of my life pondering the work of this stupendously untalented author makes me rage, so I will stop.
I was trying to think of more ways to describe this completely amateurish piece of crap, but the idea of wasting even 30 more seconds of my life pondering the work of this stupendously untalented author makes me rage, so I will stop.
August 6, 2014
It's hard to know where to begin with this book! I was glued to it. Couldn't put it down, the characters and story-telling, just addictive. I was hoping for a little more connection between the characters, but it was pretty unique.
August 9, 2014
Vapid. I found the Gossip Girl to have more social commentary than this did. And for a book about pop culture, it committed the cardinal sin of being boring and repetitive.
August 14, 2014
Holy shit. IAIL.
August 9, 2020
This novel had so much potential, but the author failed to deliver. The complexity and themes the author tried to weave just didn't land, and in some cases simply didn't work at all. The "chaos" others describe in no way reads as an intentional consequence of the narrative, but rather a manifestation of the author's in ability to deliver cohesion amidst it. I echo the reviews calling this vapid and shallow, and unfortunately have to add banal and pedestrian. If this was an intentional attempt to communicate a sweeping state of apathy in a crumbling world, that didn't land either. I walked away from this with nothing but wasted time. Do not recommend.
April 24, 2017
***THIS BOOK WAS RECEIVED FROM A GOODREADS GIVEAWAY***
From the title of this book, I would have expected it to be about the aftermath of an apocalypse-inducing event. If anything Echo of the Boom is a misnomer and the book should be titled Prelude of the Boom. The cover also doesn’t give much into what it’s about, other than the four different points of view which are followed throughout the narrative.
While I did eventually like the book, it took too long to get there (some of the occasional typos didn’t help me get into it either). With the characters’ motivations unclear from the start, it becomes obvious about 150 pages in that nothing is really going to happen in this book. Instead of having any driving force propelling the characters forward, it’s more accurate to describe this book as a nearly 500 page rap battle. Each character has their own track, living their lives the way many teenagers today might (which in itself is a scary thought), but occasionally the tracks mix together albeit briefly and with little perturbation to the individual characters. At least the words the author uses are artistic and articulate, making it fun to read.
Honestly, the very last sentences of this book made me want to read what happens next much more than what had already been written, since it sounded like it was going to be much more interesting than the origin stories of these characters. If the author’s opinions and worldviews weren’t so blatantly obvious through this book, it might have been interesting as a “slice of life” novel, but at least he has something to say (even if it’s regularly redundant). If anything, this book should give parents the motivation to be more actively involved in their teenagers’ lives, lest they end up with the motivation to destroy all systems of authority if for no other reason than pure anarchy.
A rewarding read that takes some getting used to; I give Echo of the Boom 4.0 stars out of 5.
For more reviews of books and movies like this, please visit www.benjamin-m-weilert.com
From the title of this book, I would have expected it to be about the aftermath of an apocalypse-inducing event. If anything Echo of the Boom is a misnomer and the book should be titled Prelude of the Boom. The cover also doesn’t give much into what it’s about, other than the four different points of view which are followed throughout the narrative.
While I did eventually like the book, it took too long to get there (some of the occasional typos didn’t help me get into it either). With the characters’ motivations unclear from the start, it becomes obvious about 150 pages in that nothing is really going to happen in this book. Instead of having any driving force propelling the characters forward, it’s more accurate to describe this book as a nearly 500 page rap battle. Each character has their own track, living their lives the way many teenagers today might (which in itself is a scary thought), but occasionally the tracks mix together albeit briefly and with little perturbation to the individual characters. At least the words the author uses are artistic and articulate, making it fun to read.
Honestly, the very last sentences of this book made me want to read what happens next much more than what had already been written, since it sounded like it was going to be much more interesting than the origin stories of these characters. If the author’s opinions and worldviews weren’t so blatantly obvious through this book, it might have been interesting as a “slice of life” novel, but at least he has something to say (even if it’s regularly redundant). If anything, this book should give parents the motivation to be more actively involved in their teenagers’ lives, lest they end up with the motivation to destroy all systems of authority if for no other reason than pure anarchy.
A rewarding read that takes some getting used to; I give Echo of the Boom 4.0 stars out of 5.
For more reviews of books and movies like this, please visit www.benjamin-m-weilert.com
November 1, 2015
Echo of the Boom by Maxwell Neely-Cohen
God, this is the worst worst worst book I have ever read. I consider this is a young adult book. But please, if you are a parent, please do not let your kids read this book.
I have read quite some books up to date. I thought I have read the worst one, The Tangled by Emma Chase. But after reading this, I have finally found the match. In The Tangled, at least the story in that book makes sense, even it contains the worse humors, and worst story line. But I need to admit, I stopped myself reading after 1 chapter. I couldn’t stand it.
Echo of the Boom, I actually went through the whole book, because I thought I have paid blood money to buy this book, and I need to stay till the end and finished it. But let me tell you, it was very tough, and it was my worst experience. I felt like I was in a dessert, no water, and badly wounded, and I also need to drag my dying partner along this place where bullet still flying around, and bombs dropping from up above us. To survive, I need to keep going, and get to the finished line. That’s how I feel by finishing this book.
The reason I said don’t let your kid read this book is because it had ruined my appetizer of reading, I literally consider given up my interest of reading already because of this very bad experience. (That’s why I picked up another book immediately to wish away my sins).
This book follows 5 different young adults going through life. The concept was great, but those parts in the book at not really connected. Even just within the same chapter, how the book is written is very confusing and not making sense. It is the worse editing ever. I don’t know if I should blame the writer or the editor, but even at the end, I was like, what the hell is going on here. What is the book trying to tell me?
God, this is the worst worst worst book I have ever read. I consider this is a young adult book. But please, if you are a parent, please do not let your kids read this book.
I have read quite some books up to date. I thought I have read the worst one, The Tangled by Emma Chase. But after reading this, I have finally found the match. In The Tangled, at least the story in that book makes sense, even it contains the worse humors, and worst story line. But I need to admit, I stopped myself reading after 1 chapter. I couldn’t stand it.
Echo of the Boom, I actually went through the whole book, because I thought I have paid blood money to buy this book, and I need to stay till the end and finished it. But let me tell you, it was very tough, and it was my worst experience. I felt like I was in a dessert, no water, and badly wounded, and I also need to drag my dying partner along this place where bullet still flying around, and bombs dropping from up above us. To survive, I need to keep going, and get to the finished line. That’s how I feel by finishing this book.
The reason I said don’t let your kid read this book is because it had ruined my appetizer of reading, I literally consider given up my interest of reading already because of this very bad experience. (That’s why I picked up another book immediately to wish away my sins).
This book follows 5 different young adults going through life. The concept was great, but those parts in the book at not really connected. Even just within the same chapter, how the book is written is very confusing and not making sense. It is the worse editing ever. I don’t know if I should blame the writer or the editor, but even at the end, I was like, what the hell is going on here. What is the book trying to tell me?
Want to read
December 14, 2016I thought Molly, the survivalist girl was my favorite character until David hugged her after she beat his creepy, girlfriend-hitting friend. *heart* David the sharpshooter.
I also really enjoy the Steven sections, although I'm not sure where they're going with the precocious wunderkind thing. (I liked Raj from the Efram sections for the same reasons with the same limitations.) Starting part 5, my least favorite are the 'Mean Girls' sections.
I also really enjoy the Steven sections, although I'm not sure where they're going with the precocious wunderkind thing. (I liked Raj from the Efram sections for the same reasons with the same limitations.) Starting part 5, my least favorite are the 'Mean Girls' sections.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
July 16, 2014Says Flavorwire: If you bill your first novel as a mix of Gossip Girl and Gravity’s Rainbow, you have our attention based on your bravery alone. But Neely-Cohen’s first novel isn’t all talk; this book, which kicks off with epigraphs quoting both the Book of Revelation and Spoon, is definitely the real thing.
And say they again, several months hence: Remember Adam Levin’s massive book The Instructions? Think of that, but less George Saunders meets Infinite Jest, and more Thomas Pynchon writing a teen drama to be aired at 8 pm every Thursday. This might not appeal to your most literary sensibilities, but Echo of the Boom is strange, fresh, and most of all, it’s a really awesome debut novel.
And say they again, several months hence: Remember Adam Levin’s massive book The Instructions? Think of that, but less George Saunders meets Infinite Jest, and more Thomas Pynchon writing a teen drama to be aired at 8 pm every Thursday. This might not appeal to your most literary sensibilities, but Echo of the Boom is strange, fresh, and most of all, it’s a really awesome debut novel.
July 27, 2015
Interesting book--not really like anything I've read before. The biggest problem for me was the lack of editing. A lot of missing commas, wrong forms of words used, misplaced hypens. ugh. Seriously needs a good copyeditor.
Editing aside, this is sort of a confusing book. Reminds me of Inherent Vice (a book I wasn't able to finish). But at the end, enough of it comes together to make sense. I feel like the idea was there, but it just wasn't quite executed properly.
Editing aside, this is sort of a confusing book. Reminds me of Inherent Vice (a book I wasn't able to finish). But at the end, enough of it comes together to make sense. I feel like the idea was there, but it just wasn't quite executed properly.
March 11, 2014
A densely woven book following four young adults of disparate backgrounds; includes everything from international hot spots to social drama in high school, and ends up bring everything together very well towards the end.
October 2, 2014
Thoughtful and engaging read; keeps you on your toes with shifting viewpoints, and as the stories merge, the drama rises, leading to a clim...
...not quite. The ideas were interesting though.
May 2, 2014
liked this book a lot. very fast pace. reminded me of a darker GOOD OMENS.
January 2, 2022
I liked the multiple perspectives and fitting in which character was war, famine, plague, conquest—realistic 90s kid apocalypse tale. I could see myself and people I knew in the narrative.
February 18, 2015
I didn't get it. Maybe I'm old?
April 12, 2017
I'm going to have to stew on a review for a bit. Just know that this comes highly recommended by yours truly.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews