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Apr 21, 2011

~Tina~ rated it:

Piper has one month to get her high school band, Dumb, a paying gig and if she succeeds she gets to become the band's much needed manger. The only problem is, how do you manage a crumbling band into rising stardom when you don't even know if they're any good?
See...Piper's deaf.

Going into this book, I had zero expectations and pretty much thought it was just another fluffy piece about high school, music and teenage angsts.
Yeah..how wrong was I?

Five Flavors of More...

21 comments like (23 people liked it)

Jan 23, 2012

Cara rated it:

You know how people say that something is made of awesome? Well this book is really made of awesome. The concept is golden. A girl who is deaf managing a band? Does that even work? Oh yes it can.

Piper Vaughan is eighteen, a good student that gets stellar grades, president of the chess club, and deaf. Oddly enough she gets recruited to be the manager of the local high school band Dumb. She has her reservations at first of course, but the recent emptying of her college fund drives her More...

5 comments like (8 people liked it)

Apr 22, 2011

Jillian -always aspiring- rated it:

Disclaimer: For anyone reading this review, I just want to let you know that this is not a book in the vein of Where She Went or The Piper's Son, two books which also earned five star ratings from me and that contained music within their plots. Although this book has its moments of treading harsher issues much like the books I mentioned, it is also a story where you must suspend belief for a while, much like how you have to do so while watching movies dealing with teen bands that suddenly hit More...

11 comments like (34 people liked it)

Jun 02, 2011

Nic rated it:

Rating: 4.5 stars

Favourite Quote: "Music. It's not about those things. It's about a feeling. It's about expressing yourself. It's about letting go."

I have being trying to write this review for days and I am having a hard time trying to sum up what makes Five Flavors of Dumb so special from most other coming of age stories. It could be Piper's believable and heart felt voice or the loveable bunch of supporting characters or the constantly entertaining plot More...

13 comments like (15 people liked it)

Sep 03, 2011

Mike rated it:

I wish I hadn't read this book. Well, not really, but there's a chance I might meet the author in November, and now I'm going to have to put on a wig and pretend like I'm not really Mike Mullin because I'll be too nervous to meet him.

Anyway, the book: insane humor and gentle humanity wrapped in a cloak of grunge rock attitude. Five Flavors of Dumb is six flavors of brilliant!

3 comments like (8 people liked it)

Aug 07, 2011

Paige rated it:

Also appears on The Screaming Nitpicker.

After mouthing off to her high school's "it" band Dumb, Piper is stuck being their manager and has one month to get them a paying gig. She doesn't want to do it, but her parents raided her college fund to pay for an operation for her sister and Piper needs money. However, it's going to take a lot of work to turn Dumb into a commercial band. Between recruiting new members (one of whom lacks any talent), keeping the five flavors of Dumb More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2011

Lawral rated it:

John could have made the band of high schoolers trying to make it big the set-up a whole book in and of itself, albeit a much less satisfying one. Instead of being a book all about the band, this is a book all about how Piper, their manager, deals with them. But it's also a book about Piper and her life at school and at home. Woven through her parents reactions to Dumb are Piper's reactions to her family. Her maternal grandparents (now deceased) were both deaf and very into deaf culture. They in More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 22, 2011

Isamlq rated it:

If the cover doesn't get you to read it, then the blurb will:

The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.
The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.

The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?

Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but More...

3 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 08, 2011

Steph Su rated it:

Antony John’s novel would more appropriately be called Five Flavors of AWESOME. This rocking good book will make you want to jump up and cheer, for wonderful characters, great narration, and an absorbing and uplifting tale.

I’m really quite bowled over at how well John captures the voice of a teenage girl. Piper may be deaf, but she struggles with many of the same issues as other teenagers: her dreams of independence and acceptance battle her sense of familial obligation, she wishes s More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 15, 2012

Tara rated it:

Quote, p187: I would have cried too, but then I pictured Jimi bringing his guitar to life, his whole body transported by the pure power of music. And he didn't look sad or regretful - he brimmed with energy, savoring every stolen moment of untainted joy. Live in the moment, he seemed to be saying. And for once, I heard the words perfectly. Live in the moment. I could do that. We could all do that.
So, this book wasn't about Jimi Hendrix. It was based in Seattle and so Jimi and Nirvana More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 17, 2011

mfay2 rated it:

This book is about Piper Vaughan, an eighteen year-old senior who takes the challenge to manage a high school rock band. The only problem? She’s deaf.

Okay, a deaf main character? I’m in! That’s definitely unique and I was curious about how the author was going to write the dialogue. And I wasn’t let down in any way.

Piper is a strong character. You would think that by having a disability she would play the victim role but she doesn’t. She fights for what she wants and wh More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 24, 2010

Inspired Kathy rated it:

Giveaway for this great book on my blog until 12/19/10!!

http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com...

ARC Tour - 4.5 Stars - Great book!

Anthony John created a well written story with quirky, likable characters. A good mix of humor, romance, family drama, music and friendship make this an enjoyable read.

http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com...

Content: Some language including 1 F bomb. More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 12, 2012

Dawn rated it:

Piper is deaf. Yet somehow, she's managed to become the manager of a rock band named Dumb. They gave her one month to get them a paying gig. She knows she can do it, but they need help. The band needs to figure out how to become a whole instead of a group of people each doing their own thing.

Dumb consists of: the lead singer, Josh who's cocky, rude and apparently hot. The bass guitarist, Will who's Josh's twin but not identical and moves and speaks slowly. The lead guitarist is More...

0 comments like

Feb 06, 2012

Courtney rated it:

So, I have some mixed feeling about this book. I really, really wanted to like it, especially since I've met the author and he's really nice fellow. But there were a few things that just didn't work for me, but I'll get to those in a bit. The basic plot: Piper has been severely deaf since the age of 6. She's used to being on her own and being studious. Enter the band "Dumb", a hot mess of a trio that somehow or another managed to win a Battle of the Bands. Piper sees the band pl More...

0 comments like

Feb 01, 2012

Ningerbil rated it:

This was one of those books I wound up finishing in an afternoon without quite meaning to because I didn't want to put it down. It's a fun story, and the main character Piper is an endearing, honest character. The story is a wee bit predictable at times: Girl Who Thinks No One Understands Her Comes to Find Out She's Respected and Liked More Than She Knows, and The People She Wrote Off As Jerks in the Beginning Turn Out To Be A-OK After All pretty much sums it up. But there are enough twists and More...

0 comments like

Jan 05, 2012

Shweta's Book Journal rated it:

Of all the books I read recently one book has stayed with me for the sheer originality of the plot . Five Flavors Of Dumb by Antony John ! A quirky rock music themed book told in a witty voice. When the upcoming high school rock band DUMB hires Piper as their manager it definitely doesn't look weird. She is learning the tricks of managing just as they are learning the hardships of functioning as a real band .Her hearing disability isn't as big a hurdle for Piper as it is getting these 5 totally More...

0 comments like

Dec 19, 2011

WillowBe rated it:

I rarely read books written by men, but this book was fantastic. I gave it 5 stars- my usual rating is 3 stars. The only caveats is it's better for the older teen set, say 15+. Of course the book's legnth might self-select for more mature 15 year olds. The length is good- it gives him room to bring this story to full-life. Really, it could be a movie! There is no sex, but there is crude language, sexual harrassment, verabal sexual harrssment in all it's cruelty, reference to suicide, cursing at More...

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Dec 09, 2011

Karen rated it:

When I first started this book I knew I would like it, but I wasn't sure how much, but then when I had reached about pg 150 I started doubting that because nothing much was going on for me to really stay interested. I almost stopped reading it, but decided to keep going since it wasn't bad, just boring. And, I am glad that I did.

The story is about a girl named Piper, who is deaf and a rock band called 'Dumb'.

The first part of the story is about how Piper ends up becoming the More...

0 comments like

Nov 04, 2011

Fictitious Delicious rated it:

Original review posted on www.fictitiousdelicious.com on 11/01/11:

I am so very thankful for second chances.

See, I gave up on this book two weeks ago and was feeling so very sad about it. I had really high expectations of the story and it just fell flat for me. So at 150 pages into the story…I quit. BUT! The procrastinator in me never got around to returning it to the library before we left for vacation. Last night I picked it up while trying to decide what to More...

0 comments like

Oct 26, 2011

Emily rated it:

This might not be the most coherent of reviews because I totally loved this book. It’s the whole cliché – I laughed, I cried, and I was completely disappointed when it was over.

Piper was a fantastic heroine with a great character arc. Sometimes you read a book, and even when it’s good, the character journey is pretty predictable, but I never felt that way with Piper. She begins as a fantastically intelligent girl who struggles to express her personality both at school and with her f More...

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Oct 11, 2011

Cristy rated it:

FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB is one of those books so well written and completely original you are willing to stay up all night to finish it; because the alternative of putting the book aside for a few hours of sleep doesn’t feel like an option at all. If you can’t tell, I adored this unique and heartful confession of love to rock n roll, dosed down and in glorious raw (and rare) form.

Let’s start this review with what author Antony John did right…
First off, narrating the book in P More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 28, 2011

Nina rated it:

Sometimes you pick up a book, start reading it and find out that it’s impossible to put it back. That happened to me, I read the first chapter and was sold. Five Flavors of Dumb is a fabulous read and like many other readers have said it’s made out of awesomeness.

Piper is a young girl, who’s deaf. I have not read any books with a deaf protagonist, so to read how she deals with this is interesting. I liked Piper a lot. She stands up for herself and is very determined. She also learns More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 26, 2011

Beth rated it:

Realistic Fiction

Setting: Seattle, Washington: great history of Rock n Roll: Kurt Cobain & Jimi Hendrix

Piper is given one month as their manager to get the band "Dumb" a paying gig. The irony? She's deaf. This doesn't slow down Piper. Instead she goes all out recruiting help and building their stage presence. Dumb starts out as a three person band with no drummer and the ability to play three chords. Piper gets them a drummer and a guitar teacher. She More...

0 comments like

Sep 20, 2011

Madeline rated it:

This book is about a 17 year old girl named Piper managing a new band called Dumb. This band has many conflicting personalities; one egomaniacal pretty boy, one silent rocker, one talentless piece of eye candy, one angry girl, and one nerd-boy drummer. Piper has to somehow get this band into shape as they reach stardom, adding to that the fact that she can't hear their music because, well, she's deaf.
I really enjoyed this, it was the perfect book to read while at the Oli More...

0 comments like

Sep 01, 2011

Sarah-Greenbeanteenqueen rated it:

About the Book: Piper has just taken on a challenge-get the band Dumb a paying gig in the next month and she can be their manager. Piper doesn't know much about rock music, let alone how get the five members of Dumb to actually play together as a band. The band is slowly falling apart, but Piper needs the job to pay so she can add to her college fund. It doesn't help that Piper herself has no idea if Dumb is any good. Everyone keeps wondering how a deaf girl can manage a rock band, but Piper is More...

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Aug 22, 2011

Patty rated it:

Surprisingly unexpected.

Loving this book was surprisingly unexpected. Reading the blurb, I found myself having low expectations, nevertheless, fueled with undeniable curiosity as to how the author could successfully pull off with this storyline. It was verging on the edges of being originally creative and being dismally over-reaching. I mean, the title itself makes itself somewhat questionable, right? Fortunately, Antony John‘s brilliant writing achieved a wonderful balanced piece – re More...

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Aug 09, 2011

Caroline rated it:

Piper becomes the manager of her Seattle high school's up and coming punk band, Dumb, through a strange set of circumstances and has one month to get them a paying gig or she is fired. The tricky part is that Piper is deaf. Adding to the inevitable complications of being a deaf band manager for a misfit band of dysfunctional teens are Piper's family problems. Her dad sees her deafness as an embarrassing disability and barely speaks to her, and her mom is preoccupied with her baby sister, Grace, More...

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Jul 27, 2011

lisa rated it:

this was a really good coming-of-age story, although some parts were a bit on-the-nose/paint-by-numbers. the characters were all really interesting, although some of them (marissa, finn, will) could have been fleshed out a bit more. i flew through it though, and was pretty shocked when i got to the end and realized it was written by a dude. (i don't pay attention to author names unless they're authors i'm already familiar with.) it's not that men can't write awesome female characters, it's that More...

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Jul 20, 2011

Kendra rated it:

This book is refreshingly unique.The main character, a high school senior named Piper, finds herself taking on the role of manager for a teenage rock band from her high school called Dumb. She doesn't have any experience with band promotion, and making her new job stranger still is the fact that she is deaf and thus unable to really hear their music.

This books goes in many directions, and it mostly succeeds. I enjoyed Piper's character. She is strong and smart and finds some creative w More...

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Jun 29, 2011

Karen rated it:

This book was really fun to read. It's all there; an interesting and unique premise (a DEAF girl managing a ROCK band? Le gasp!), diverse and interesting characters, witty banter, a little romance, and some overcoming of adversity and personal limitations. This story was heart-felt enough for me to really absorb its message, but not mushy enough for me to snort and think 'How unrealistic.'
Piper was a great protagonist. Sure, she's been wronged and snubbed numerous times by friends and fami More...

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