Anywhere but Here

by Tanya Lloyd Kyi

Cole’s small town is a trap he’s determined to escape in this fresh and moving debut novel that balances loss with humor.

Ever since his mom died, Cole just feels stuck. His dad acts like a stranger, and Lauren, his picture-perfect girlfriend of two years, doesn’t understand him anymore. He can’t ditch his dad, so Cole breaks up with Lauren. She doesn’t take the news very well, and Cole’s best friend won’t get off his case about it.

Now more than ever, Cole wants to graduate and leave his small, suffocating town. And everything is going according to plan—until Cole discovers the one secret that could keep him there…forever.

Genres: Young Adult, New Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Teen

309 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2013

About the author

Tanya writes both fiction and non-fiction, often choosing topics related to science, pop culture, or social history—or a combination of the three. She enjoys combining factual research with intriguing narratives, or the life stories of interesting folks.

In her spare time, Tanya likes to run, bake, and read. Her favourite meal is breakfast, her favourite color is blue, and her favourite children’s book is A Wrinkle in Time.

Tanya grew up in Creston, B.C., and now lives in Vancouver with her husband, who claims to be the world's only Burmese occupational therapist. She balances writing time with parenthood, caring for her daughter Julia and her son Matthew.

Reviews

[Tanya Kyi · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a little self-centred to rate one's own book, isn't it? But it's my baby. Can't help myself! Maybe I'll call my Mom and see if she can rate it, too. Would that be wrong?

[Joy (joyous reads) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've had my fair share of books that feature a grieving character. I can admit to being extra generous when they rebel - become uncaring versions of themselves just because they're dealing with some pretty explosive emotions without an outlet. Cole had the same epiphany. He knew he can get away with a lot simply because he was grieving. People gave him a pass. And you know what? I extended the same courtesy because there was no way to know what he was going through unless you've been there yourself.

To be honest, I did a lot of teeth-gnashing while I was reading this book. It wasn't only Cole that gave me migraine. It seems like everybody in this book couldn't figure out what the hell to do with their own situations. From a supposedly grieving father who turned to alcohol and a stripper for comfort, right down to a Cole's new girlfriend who lets him treat her like a doorstep, I really didn't know I had it in me to finish the book. But here we are - here I am, perhaps on the verge of ranting over a book that I couldn't fairly judge. I couldn't because Cole and I didn't have a forgiving moment. I couldn't give him time to sort his shit and he couldn't give me the maturity that I needed him to show so I can give him the empathy he so needed.

I will not be the first person to admit to being an emotional reader. I have a hard time separating how the characters made me feel and how the writer made me feel. For that, I ran the risk of being blind to how well a book was written. The characters made me so mad that I simply couldn't judge the book based on technical merits. I just can't.

Should I apologize? I think not. I've never believe in ever apologizing for disliking a book nor should the authors apologize for writing what they write. Free form art and all that.

But thank you, Simon & Schuster for sending me this book. I'm sorry I couldn't give it a fair chance. I did finish the book but I can't say it was an enjoyable experience. And yes, I realize it's not supposed to be, given the severity of what was tackled here. Of course, readers are only supposed to immerse themselves in a book and not take the characters' actions personally. For this book, I just couldn't help it.

I tried to find ways to like Cole. He tried so hard to redeem himself. But he just kept dancing around issues and his emotional bullshit without really addressing them. And it pissed me off. He kept using a girl who comes off as smart but ends up being just another dumb bimbo who lets a hot guy reduce her self-worth to nothing.

The dad was just ridiculously stereotypically tacky. He cheapened his dead wife's memories. I think it's what pissed me off the most about this book: women played roles that didn't really amount to anything. They were nothing but sexpots and baby makers and perhaps that's not the author's intention but that's pretty much what they were in this novel.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Summary: Cole has lived in a suffocatingly small town his entire life. The only light at the end of the tunnel is the opportunity to graduate and leave everything he knew behind - including the memories of his mother's death. He wants to escape -- to get out as soon as he can. And he has a plan. He's ready to leave behind the life he has, starting with his girlfriend of two years.

But while filming a documentary about his town, Cole soon learns something that could shatter all his plans and keep him trapped there for the rest of his life. Could it be that he owes something to the town he's resented for years?

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this novel. First off, I thought the cover art was brilliant -- it's so rare that the cover of a book reflects the story perfectly, but in this case it definitely does. You can almost see the discontent.

Cole's feelings of solitude and entrapment in a town he's never left are easy to relate to. This novel touched on a lot of difficult subjects, and I felt that they were handled very well by the author. The writing was very smooth and although it was a little slow to start, the novel held my interest. In my opinion, the atmosphere of the novel matched the story perfectly.

Cole's friends were great characters in and of themselves, and I often wished he would treat them a little better. They were all very complex and well-written, which is rare of secondary characters in YA. I really liked the character growth in Cole throughout the course of the novel (and his filming of the documentary), and I'm glad he learned the things that he did.

Final Thoughts: I recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys edgier contemporary lit as well as YA novels. I'll definitely be seeking out more from this author in the future!

[Cathrina Constantine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tanya Lloyd Kyi writes the perfect voice of a teenage boy filled with mental anguish, though, hides his feelings through his chaotic thoughts. After the debilitating death of his mom, Cole is floundering, full of depression and doesn't know how to manage his life now that she's gone. He believes that by moving out of the hick town of Webster his life will somehow get better. While reading Anywhere but Here, I chuckled, I groaned, and I shook my head and wanted to knock sense into Cole. I cringed and felt his pain, especially as he hides his innermost feelings. With only a father who's on a year bender, there's no family for him to turn to. Cole keeps screwing up---until the end.

[Jamey Turner · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has less to do with the author's ability to craft characters and a cohesive story, and more to do with the general animosity I feel for the main character. He's entirely unlikable even with his background, to the point where I began to actively root for him to fail due to his deluded self-absorption.

[Jolene Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a FAB contemp read, and it takes place in my FAV part of YA lit - that LAST year of high school.
Great book.
Cool twists.
Loved how the documentary thing was scattered throughout.

[kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Don't ask me what led me to this book. I picked it up on a whim while browsing the YA section at the library and read it in a few days, though I skimmed through the last parts because it was such as disappointment. It's really a shame because I felt it started off ok but it quickly descended into cliches and melodrama.

Anywhere but Here centers around Cole, a high school student in a very small town in Washington state who has lost his mother about a year prior to the beginning of the story. He wants to study documentary film and escape his small town, where he feels that people become trapped in unproductive lives. He is trying to shoot a documentary about small town life to earn his way into a film program. On the romance front, he has recently broken up with Lauren, his girlfriend, because "it's just better that way." After the breakup he begins hanging out with Hannah, a beautiful girl from school with a reputation for being a slut. This goes well until he gets some unwelcome news from Lauren, which threatens to derail his plans for film school. Meanwhile, Cole's boozy dad begins dating a local stripper, whom Cole hates. He and his best friend have an argument over Lauren and a subsequent falling out.

I didn't enjoy this book. While Hannah (i.e., the "school slut") could have been a great way to explore stereotypes, she just turned out to be a highly sexualized character who doesn't really convey anything meaningful, other than a physical release for Cole. The drama between Cole and Lauren is kinda bland too, we don't know much of any background on why they broke up, just that Cole feels "it's better that way." Uhhh...ok. Finally, Cole's dad drinks and pines away over a woman he barely knows. Not that that's a bad thing, but I dunno...there's not that much background on that either.

In the end, Cole decides through the making of his documentary that his small town isn't so bad after all. LOL. Doesn't this go against the premise of the book? Or maybe it doesn't. Either way, it was very anti-climatic. And boring.

I just felt like the characters here fit perfectly into a Lifetime movie with drama for the sake of drama and nothing else.

[Anna Bowling · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover grabbed me on this one, instantly, and as soon as I read the description, I couldn't put it down. A teen boy, desperate to escape the prison of his small, working class Canadian town, has goals that don't include the dead end staying would almost surely guarantee. If he can produce a short film worthy of admittance to a prestigious film school, he'll have his shot at escape. Two problems there. One, the townspeople he interviews to reinforce his view of his hometown have different views on the place, and, two, his ex-girlfriend has news that could change everything.

While I found it a stretch to catch the main character's passion for documentary filmmaking, his dissatisfaction with the status quo came through loud and clear, and his reactions to life-changing events and edicts came across as remarkably believable and authentic. Sometimes, sitting in a ditch is the only logical response when life seems to have lost all logic. The secondary cast, including an overly enthusiastic guidance counselor, and a goth nurse, add extra heart to a story that is, at its core, wonderfully and abundantly human.

[Jacquie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give it about a 3.5. This book was just not something I was really into. Small town guy gets a girl pregnant, he wants to get out of his little town and his life is a mess. Basically sounds like where I live. Nothing really stood out as great to me in this book. I was also disappointed with the ending because it just seemed to open ended to me.

[Words and Lines · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too much going on here. Regular adolescent problems, common conflicts, decent and okay dialogues.

The only outstanding feature was the premise which was actually good, really, only to executed poorly with average storyline. Not to mention a theme too subtle alongside thought too shallow. Should've been great, too bad it didn't.

[Olivia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars.

So… having been that grieving person that lost their Mom, seemingly stuck in a small town, Dad starting to date “too soon” (though THANK GOD not getting her pregnant), I connected a lot with Cole. I thought the characters were well written, even if the plot was predictable. I enjoyed Cole’s journey of making his short and figuring out his friendships again.

[Christine J · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good YA book. It has a Canadian (BC) setting, which I like, and the story is compelling enough to keep a teen’s interest. I found it repetitive and a bit cliche at the end, but I’m not 15, so it doesn’t really matter what I think. Young people would like this book.

[Jennessa Embair · Rating 3 out of 5]

You're typical YA teen angst story, I feel like reading something so classic is needed once in a while and I did enjoy this a bit. Well it wasn't anything life changing not every book has to be and I appreciated this for what it was.

[Vanessa Casias · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this one, it's so spot on how most small time relationships go through life. the ending had me crying it's a must read

[Amanda Bynum · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love YA novels, but really just not good at all.

[Brittany Cummins · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story started out a bit slow for my liking, but this is a beautiful book of the protagonist’s path to finding himself while working through the grief of losing his mother.

[Sandra Witt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read

[Amy Vincent · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just wanted more with this book. I thought the storyline could be great but it wasn’t developed enough and got boring.

[Alaiza Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good book. I recommend it for anyone who just wants to escape their past. Like someone once told me, "Grow through what you go through".

[Shakarral · Rating 3 out of 5]

fast-paced. a story of loss, love, and confusion. you are the director of your own story.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

In which a boy makes terrible choices re: girls and alcohol and has such a depressing home life even I actually want him to quit his lovely small hometown and never look back, but somehow I sort of enjoy the story anyway. I fully agree with Lex's choice to hate him in the now, but I also feel like he's good stock at the core and could grow into a respectable young man in a few years, informed by the wreckage of his high school experiences.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just really couldn’t get into this one. Despite what seemed like a promising story, the characterizations were just so horrible. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters, and I found myself horribly unsympathetic to them despite their grief. I think the situations that they put themselves in and the way they acted were just horrible. Grief if no justification for being a horrible douchebag and being in a bad place emotionally doesn’t give you a free pass to do whatever you want or treat others horribly.

Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t hate any of the characters, except maybe Cole’s girlfriend or his father, I just couldn’t connect with them. When I’m dealing with a book that is supposed to be emotional, I don’t want to feel what the characters feel, but I at least want to be able to connect with them and empathize with them. I want to cheer for them when they are successful, encourage them when they are low and just generally share in their triumphs and joys. I was unable to do that with this one and it was largely due to the characters themselves.

I don’t know, maybe others will like this one more than I did and be able to see the characters in a way that I was unable to.

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited for this book. It sounds straight up my alley, and the cover is great. Sadly, though, I was very disappointed. I actually really liked the beginning because many of the storylines had great potential. Over the course of the novel, though, everything turned out to be kind of melodramatic, cliched, and underdeveloped, which is why I didn't really enjoy Anywhere But Here.

The romance was probably the storyline that I liked the most at first: I was really excited to see this unique take on the love triangle story play out. After breaking up with his long-time girlfriend, Lauren, Cole starts talking to Hannah, the girl known as the school slut. This storyline had a lot of potential to explore Hannah's very interesting character, and especially the first scene in which Hannah opens up impressed me. Sadly, though, the romance went downhill fast, mainly because Cole is somewhat of a sexist asshole. His relationship with Hannah turns out to be pretty much exclusively physical and, instead of letting the "school slut" tell her story in any meaningful way, just encourages slut shaming because sex seems to be all that Hannah is good for in her relationship with Cole. The drama in Cole's relationships with both Hannah and Lauren is kind of crazy and unrealistic, making me very disappointed in the romance aspect of the novel.

The same goes for the family storyline. It seemed interesting at first, but things turned out to be too crazy and all over the place after a while. The whole thing with Cole's dad seemed very cliched to me. That would have been fine if the writing had added some depth to the overused storyline, but but it didn't. We got no insight into Cole's dad's thinking and motivations, leaving me very confused and unsure how to feel about the whole thing.

I was also confused about Cole's view of his small town life and his future. At the beginning of the novel, Cole desperately wants to leave his small town behind, and decides that the way to do it is to go to film school far away. (Which in itself seems kind of random, since Cole has never tried to make a film before.) In order to get into film school, he makes a short film portraying how people are stuck in his small town, which he calls the Web. Along the way, though, he discovers that his town isn't so bad after all. The implications of that confused me, since his further plans for the future aren't really elaborated on after that. That revelation seemed very anticlimactic to me, considering the synopsis says that Cole discovers some big secret about his town.

Really, my complaints with all the storylines are more or less the same. They each have great potential but turn out to be melodramatic and cliched. The plot is too crazy and unrealistic, in almost every storyline. Especially the sexism in the romance made it hard for me to like reading from Cole's POV. Anywhere But Here was just disappointing all around.

Reviewed at http://www.paperbacktreasures.blogspo...

[Nia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I give this book a two because I don't want to give somebody's hard work a 1 star on GoodReads, it's just a slap in the face :D. I didn't even finish this book because it was getting so boring and soo irrelevant to the point that i couldn't even resist putting it down. That is not to say I didn't try to pick it up again. I AM SOOOOOO happy I didn't BUY this book because i would have had to return it :D.
*SPOILERS*
Where do I start with this book. Let's start with Cole. Cole. Cole is our protagonist ( who is the antagonist then?) He is our main character :[.

I haven't read from a lot of male POV lately, but the ones I have read form are GREAT! Cole isn't one of them. He is the most bland and aimless character I have ever met. Like I literally have nothing to say about him because he is such a nothing!!!! And I know i said i didn't finish the book, but i gave a good fighting chance i mean i got to page 229/309. I COULD NOT RELATE TO COLE AT ALL!!!! Like what is his purpose, and my question is what school would accept the movie he is making. Like wtf is it even going to be about. i mean i'd be like " So Mr. Owens....your portfolio consists of you filming some rando people in your town( which is bland and uneventful) talking about rando things..." the author tried to make The Web a thing hahahaha.Cole had no flavor to him! Nothing he did made me want to root for him he was more like a side character in his own story. The parts about his mom were just awkward to me. Cole HAS NO EMOTION AT ALL! Like anytime I am almost seeing him react to something...oh wait he doesn't :D

WHERE ARE THE PARENTS IN THIS TOWN BESIDES HIS WINEO DAD???!!! The rest of the characters...I don't even remember enough about them to say anything more. Also Hannah ...was she supposed to Sheri....Was Cole supposed to parallel his dad. If we are following a character who is narrating it is usually because their life is eventful or something is special about them. What was the big whoop about him...I mean come ON!


Was this book supposed to be sad or relateable or fun. It was neither of them.


Okay now the story....CAN ANYONE TELL ME WHAT THIS BOOK IS ACTUALLY ABOUT? To me the description and cover of the book do not match the books contents. For example," until Cole discovers the one secret that could keep him there...forever" What was the one secret???? There wasn't one! was it that he got Lauren pregnant? Was it that his dad was dating a "Dancer"? Was it that the dancer got pregnant.Was it that he figured out he has no personality? Was it that he really needs to go stay with someone who can ACTUALLY take care of him? The plot of this story was going nowhere,and that is the MAIN problem that i have with this book.Moreover, the pacing was stupid. Like months and months went by. Cole was like " and I have to start school tomorrow",and I am thinking it was the middle of summer half a chapter ago!


So many people gave a good review on this book, and I just don't see it.It was excessively boring. But that is just my opinion.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Families don’t always turn out like you plan. Sometimes they fall apart when you’re not the least bit ready.

Cole is having a rough time. If losing your mother to cancer and being left with a dad that no longer even resembles the man Cole used to know can be called a "rough time", that is. But that's Cole's situation, and being stuck in a small town where everyone seems to get stuck one way or another is less than he dreams of. Filled with his own grief and anger he is determined to go to film school once high school is over. Then again, dealing with old friends, an ex-girlfriend, his dad new stripper friend is not the simplest thing to do.

I must say that I had no idea what this book was about. Why I read it? Well. Did you see the cover? Anyway, not know what this was about I had low expectations. Cole's journey as he works through his grief is, well not a nice story, but nicely done. With everyone aware of his situation they offer him a free-pass many times and Cole is not the one to refuse the pass, making him a somewhat unlikeable character at time. His mother might have died and his life might be turned upside down, but that does not legitimate all kind of behavior. At the same time though, Cole has his moments of insight and, given everything, he's a strong character the reader can connect to.

Impending death doesn’t open the Hoover Dam of communication skills. My thoughts didn’t come gushing out like cold, fresh drinking water. They still stuck at the back of my throat like old sludge.

The best part is that the story stays realistic, taking the reader through the difficult journey through grief and the struggles that comes with it. But there are also several events that are clichés, and one particular plot twist is almost apparent from the first chapter whit a run in with Cole's ex-girlfriend. They might be clichéd, but they are authentic. However, a cliché is a cliché, there's no way around that. The writing doesn't always help either, with it's simplistic style. It suits the overall mood, which is depressing, but it gets old and, at some points, boring. It also sometimes makes scenes short and a limited insight to Cole's thoughts and process. I'll say though that overall it was decent writing considering the story. Cole's difficulties are rough to read about, almost like a trainwreck, and I kept on reading, but the story lacked that special thing that would make it, well, special. Overall, though, a good read!

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[Amber at Fall Into Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

Anywhere But Here had the capacity to be something great, but instead ended up bordering on misogynism. The main character is an emotionally abusive male who is self-absorbed and immature. His father is even worse. Women are nothing more than sex toys in this book, and that disgusted me. Cole could have grown, left home, and really become something, but instead he decides his hometown isn't so bad (please). I thought I'd be able to relate to this book because I absolutely loathe where I grew up. I got out of there as soon as I was old enough and haven't looked back once, and you know what? I'm a better person because of it. It's okay to hate where you live and to better your situation. Authors need to learn that. Instead of making some big social statement, this book simply states that women are only good for sex and it's okay that men are self-absorbed wrecks because they can't help it. This is not a book that I'd recommend to anyone.

Cole is obnoxious, self-absorbed, and useless. I really did not like him at all. All he does is run around feeling sorry for himself. When he's not doing that, he's treating the people around him like crap. It's pretty terrible. His new girlfriend reduces herself to a doormat to please him, and still all he can do is feel sorry for himself. It's pathetic. He's pathetic, and he demeans those around him until they are pathetic. His father is even worse. Instead of mourning his wife like an adult would, he starts drinking and screwing a stripper. Great influence for his piece of crap son, huh? None of the characters in this book is likable, which make the novel a chore to get through.

This novel brings up some important social issues such as teen pregnancy, depression, and alcoholism, but none of the characters become strong through these situations. Nope. They all continue down their pathetic path to misery and don't really seem to grow at all. Of course Cole changes some, but not enough to make him a decent human. His father's alcoholism could have really meant something, too, but Kyi didn't let it. The writing is decent and the pacing is fine, but the characters ruin this story.

Overall, I'd say avoid this book unless you want to get really, really angry at the characters and spend hours yelling at your novel/e-reader. It's just not worth it. The representation of women alone is enough to turn anyone off.

[Katie_la_geek · Rating 3 out of 5]

For this review and more visit my blog


Anywhere But Here could have been brilliant. It could have been important and influential because of the story it told but I just found certain aspects of it lacking, and although it was enjoyable it didn’t wow me as much as it could have.

This book touches on some tough subjects, the death of a parent, alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy to name a few. I think one of my issues with this book was that it used too many of those hard to deal with subjects. I felt like it tries too hard to be series and cool. It meant that I just couldn’t get emotionally involved and the whole thing felt a little cold to me.

Another issue was that I felt the characters didn’t learn anything from all they experienced. The characters were all complex and troubled but they gained nothing. I think if you are going to tackle subjects such as these there has to be a learning curve and the characters have to come out better for it at the end. I am not quite sure this book achieves that. Having the main character realise that his home town is not that bad was not enough considering the seriousness of a lot of the situations.

I thought the writing was strong and that Tanya Lloyd Kyi created a nice atmosphere. I got through this book really quickly and it kept my attention from beginning to end. It was a nice smooth read and there was little about the actual writing that bothered me.

The characters were alright. I found Cole to be extremely self-centred, he rarely thought of anyone but himself. He never really saw things from other people’s point of view and that was something that didn’t really change throughout the book. His best friend seemed a little dull and the girls were sex driven and not very well rounded. The only fully developed character was Cole and I didn’t like him all that much.

Anywhere but here had some good parts and some bad parts. It is a quick read that fans of fairly non-romantic contemporary YA might enjoy. I didn’t love all of it but it was enough to make me want to pick up more from this author in the future.



The publisher provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

[Farah Jay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always been a sucker for realistic fictions, and this one started pretty good. Oh oh, you're probably thinking "why did she just say started?", because it went pretty downhill after that. Yes, I was disappointed. I really liked the idea, and the plot was interesting, it just didn't go into the direction I wanted it to be. I'm not saying it was a bad book or anything, I enjoyed it, but it just wasn't as good as I had hoped it would have been. The main protagonist, Cole, lives in a small town called Webster. After his mother passed away last year, he's been wanting to get out of the "Web", as they call it. His guidance then gives him a pamphlet of film school in vancouver, and he decides to start the short film for the application, and then study there.
The characters were great. To me, Cole seemed like a very confused kid. He has a great girlfriend, who he suddenly decides to break up with. He doesn't even bother speaking with his dad, or try to communicate with him as family members should do. Cole's best friend, Greg, doesn't even like the fact that Cole broke up with Lauren, and everything is just messed up. Towards the middle, somethings were just confusing in this book. The plot was all over the place, and I didn't really get much of anything. I still read on though, and I was glad that things weren't confusing anymore. Another important factor is the romance, and let me tell you, the romance was literally all over the place! I was not happy with how it ended in the romance part, and I just did NOT understand Cole. It really frustrated me.
Overall, this book was good. You might think I hated it from my review, but it was an ok book. There were somethings I hoped would have been different, but I really liked the ending (aside from the romance). If I had to give this book a mood, it would be quiet. It felt very quiet to me. I would definitely look into Tanya's future books, and I would recommend this to any of those who like realistic fiction/contemporary books.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really thought this was a good book, even if the plot was kind of used. The writing was good, the feelings were real..
Cole is lost after his mom dies of cancer, and you can obviously see that his dad is struggling too. I wish the author would've gave us more insight on Cole and Lauren's break up. I really didn't get the full reason that Cole did what he did. And it was very confusing whether he wanted Lauren back or wanted Hannah. At first, I thought Hannah was a girl that just gave it up, but you can tell she's a substantial character after a few conversations that Cole has with her. This did confuse me a lot.
A lot of time throughout the book, Cole had varying opinions about characters, so I'm really not sure what to think about them. Like the guidance counselor and Sheri. Who I absolutely hated but Cole ends up kind of liking, even though he also hated her two thirds of the book.
Lauren's pregnancy was a little bit random I think, but I sort of understand why the author put it in there. I think he wanted Cole to get perspective, like would it really so bad if Lauren had the baby and he had to stay in the Web and raise a family with her, like he planned to do all along? Two unwanted pregnancies within one family seemed... unrealistic. But, who am I to judge? :)
I really liked the author's writing though, it was very interesting, and I found myself laughing a lot while reading this, especially on the part where Cole commented about the fact that there are eyelids, wouldn't it be nice to have earlids? LOL.... So overall, I liked the book, but it could've been better, especially the characters.

[BAYA Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seventeen year old Cole wants nothing more to escape his small Canadian town of Webster. What is keeping him there? Not the memory of his mother, who died of cancer and has left Cole to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol to deal with his grief. Not his widowed father, who is drowning his own grief in alcohol while dating a stripper. Not his friends, who do not share his dissatisfaction with living in Webster. Not his smart, pretty, and caring girlfriend Lauren - make that his ex-girlfriend - who Cole dumps at the beginning of the book as part of his master plan to sever all ties to his town. And not any of his teachers at school, who assume Cole will want to be a mechanic or a mill worker, instead of being the documentary filmmaker he aspires to be.

Most of the book is dedicated to Cole moping about, drinking and smoking weed, avoiding his dad and Lauren, and hooking up with his classmate Hannah, who promises him an undemanding relationship. Interspersed with these scenes, Cole tries to work on a short film about how Webster is like a spider web-like trap to those trying to escape the town; he plans to submit the short to get into film school in Vancouver. Cole remains self-pitying and self-centered until a crisis happens towards the end of the book which makes Cole realize the strength of the community he has all around him. While Cole is not the most appealing narrator, the cast of characters in Webster is well-realized and entertaining. Teens may well identify with the desire to push away from high school and the opposite pull of family and friends.