Thanks for the Trouble

by Tommy Wallach

“I’ve got some questions for you. Was this story written about me?”

I shrugged.

“Yes or no?”

I shrugged again, finally earning a little scowl, which somehow made the girl even more pretty. It brought a bloom to her pale cheeks and made sharp shelves of her cheekbones.

“It’s very rude not to answer simple questions,” she said.

I gestured for my journal, but she still wouldn’t give it to me. So I took out my pen and wrote I can’t on my palm.

Then, in tiny letters below it, I finished the thought: Now don’t you feel like a jerk?

Parker Santé hasn’t spoken a word in five years. While his classmates plan for bright futures, he skips school to hang out in hotels, killing time by watching the guests. But when he meets a silver-haired girl named Zelda Toth, a girl who claims to be quite a bit older than she looks, he’ll discover there just might be a few things left worth living for.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy, Young Adult Contemporary

276 pages, Hardcover

First published February 23, 2016

About the author

I'm a Brooklyn-based novelist, screenwriter, and musician. I wrote "We All Looked Up" (a New York Times Bestseller) and "Thanks for the Trouble." My newest book is "The Anchor & Sophia," first in a trilogy set in a future North America which, for asteroid-collision-related reasons, has regressed to 19th century technology levels (oil lanterns, covered wagons, whiskey used as anesthetic, etc.).

As a musician I've released an EP with Decca/Universal Records, as well as a companion album for my first novel. I also makes music videos, including one that was exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum. I currently reside in LA, where I am developing my books as TV shows and movies, so I can make enough money to afford kombucha, spin class, and my Scientology membership fees.

Consider buying me dinner.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stopped talking after my dad died, I wrote, then prepared myself for the usual things people said after I told them that.
“What a remarkably asinine thing to do.”
That was not one of the usual things.

I can predict right here and now what will be the one leading criticism for this book. It will most likely be the defining factor in whether you will enjoy it or be annoyed. And it all depends on whether you think Zelda falls into the manic pixie dream girl box.

Kirkus says no. A few early reviewers have already said yes. It's all about interpretation, and my interpretation is that it doesn't really matter when you get to the end. Because what Zelda may or may not be isn't what this clever little story is about.

I really enjoyed it. I also liked Wallach's We All Looked Up because of the way he develops all his characters, creating complex and flawed individuals that often test your ability to like them. Parker's narrative "voice" is funny and cynical, and there's a slight self-deprecating tone to the whole novel that keeps it from becoming too serious and message-driven.

Wallach writes about real teens - something which is actually really rare. These kids drink and swear, watch porn and have sex (nothing graphic, though). They're fucked up and yet this isn't part of a bigger life message. There's something exceptionally honest about his writing.

But, most of all, Thanks for the Trouble is so good because it is about the power of stories, not truth. The novel itself is Parker's answer to a college application question, in which he tells the tale of how he met Zelda (a girl claiming to have been alive and the same age for hundreds of years) and the impact she had on his life.

Then, within this story, he shares a few short stories he wrote for Zelda. I'm not always a fan of fiction within fiction (because I cannot suspend disbelief within my suspension of disbelief) but these little fairy tales were so whimsical and sad that I found myself wishing Wallach would just release a short story collection filled with fairy tales.

And in the end, I suppose the whole book is something of a fairy tale in itself.

I would like to make a final comment, not about the contents of the book, but about the cover. The oldest rule is to not judge a book by its cover, but we do, don't we? And I think this one will struggle to catch anyone's eye. It pains me to see such a good book hidden behind a cover that will blend in with the shelves. Here's hoping people will find it anyway.

Quotes are taken from an advance review copy and are subject to change.

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[Emily (Books with Emily Fox on Youtube) · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been a while since I read a book in a day!

I actually ended up enjoy this way more than I expected! It was a quick fun read with some serious topics mixed in there. The female character can definitely be seen as a manic pixie girl but it still worked for me. Also I enjoyed the short stories that were included throughout the book.
Worth the read!

[Lala BooksandLala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ack. This was just my cup of tea.

[Gabby · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
“Love is the exception to the law of diminishing returns.”
This book is like a breath of fresh air. It's so different from anything I've ever read. This book follows 17 year old Parker who is a mute thief, and he also happens to be Latino. In order to communicate he carries around a journal with him at all times, and he also enjoys writing stories in his journal. One day, while thieving at a hotel, he comes across Zelda, a silver haired girl who is immortal and doesn't age. She has a huge stack of hundred dollar bills and he steals them from her, but then he realizes he left his journal at the hotel so he has to go back. Parker and Zelda instantly form a bond and Zelda tells him she plans on jumping off the Golden Gate bridge.

I love the way the first chapter is written in third person, as if Parker was trying to write a story about his life from third person, and then he changes his mind and it changes to first person. This story is written so beautifully, and I love the way Parker views things and writes about the world. Like the way he talks about his parents loving each other: “They loved each other like the ocean loves the shoreline—eating away at it, little by little, day after day. They loved each other like the sunlight that makes the plants grow, then scorches the leaves and bakes the moisture from the earth.” It's so beautiful. Also, I love how this book also talks about how there is a fine line between rightness and wrongness, which is something I think about a lot. I love the way Parker writes about it: "Rightness and wrongness are slippery concepts. I mean, some things are obviously shitty and some things are obviously nice or noble or whatever, but between the two goalposts of black and white, between punching a baby in the kidney and donating a kidney to save a baby, there's a freaking football field worth of gray area. It's just so honest and beautifully written. I couldn't have said it better myself.

I also really enjoyed how this book explored the idea that we lose the ability to be happy as we age. It reminded me a lot of Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock in that way. Parker's voice and ideas were very similar to Leonard Peacock and they have a similar view of society. How doing something for the first time is always going to be happier and more magical than doing it again any time after that. And as we get older and we experience fewer things for the first time, it automatically makes us less happy. It also mentions this again when he says: "When change loses its magic, then there in't really anything left to live for." The most exciting part of living is looking forward to the future and changing in one way or another, but in Zelda's case she has an everlasting future that's never ending and she gets to watch all her loved ones die over and over again and watch history repeat itself.

I love Parker's humor and his charm, he is just so sweet and I want to give him a hug. I also really enjoyed his short stories that he wrote throughout the course of the novel. They are so creative ad whimsical and fairy-tale-like. I especially loved the second one, about the boy who can "smell death" and fell in love with a silver-haired girl. I also loved the presence and atmosphere of San Francisco in this story. I think Zelda is also a very thoughtful and interesting character, and I enjoyed her interactions with Parker. I especially liked when she said:“Why does anyone fall in love with anyone? I don’t believe we each have some single special person waiting for us out there, if that’s what you’re getting at. I’ve been in love too many times over the years to buy into that old canard. It’s more a question of timing you know? As if we all have these elaborate locks inside our hearts that are constantly changing shape, and every once in a while, someone happens along with the perfect key. Love is nothing more than a fortuitous collision of circumstances.” I strongly believe in this idea too and I just loved the way this was written, and the way she thinks. I also loved her metaphor about what it's like to age when she talked about the art gallery painting. How when you are born, and you are standing closest tot he canvas and everything looks so big and overwhelming, then as you grow older and gain perspective you step back and see the bigger picture, but then as you keep aging hundreds of years you get further and further away form the canvas and it loses its magic (the canvas representing life in this metaphor.) I just love this metaphor and I think it's so beautiful.

This is just a very raw, real book about thoughtful, interesting characters that got me thinking. It got me thinking a lot about life and why we do what we do. I loved Parker and Zelda as characters, but I love the way this book makes me think even more. That's the reason why I enjoyed it so much, because it's very thought provoking and makes me think about things like what's right and what's wrong and what is love anyway, and what makes a life meaningful? I loved it. I was sad to see Zelda jump off the bridge and kill herself at the end, but I also appreciate the fact that it was very realistic and just because she has a few happy days with a young boy doesn't mean she's magically going to be cured. I'm happy Zelda encouraged him to go to college and help him get over his Father's death and put his Mom in her place when it came to her alcohol problems and her ability to take care of Parker. I also love how the entire book ended up being a response to an essay question and it totally reminded me of We Are The Ants in that way.

I previously read We All Looked Up last year and I wasn't a huge fan of it, but I remember really enjoying Tommy Wallach's writing style. He writes very beautifully so I knew I wanted to give this book a chance and I am so glad I did. This is the first book I finished for this years booktubeahon, and I am so happy I chose to read this book. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys coming of age stories that really make you think.

[PattyMacDotComma · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5★
I don’t know why I decided to read this book, but I was thoroughly engaged by this 17-year-old, reclusive high school boy who stopped speaking after his Colombian father died in a car crash. But Parker writes. So he’s a mute Latino who plays chess and writes stories. Not exactly Mr Popularity.

He skips a lot of school, and his mother is a bereaved flight attendant who drinks heavily. To stay dry for the required 12 hours before flying, she stokes up on Bloody Marys for breakfast if she’s got a night flight.

Parker is raising himself and has resorted to petty crime – pickpocket stuff—hanging around hotels. Attractive, silver-haired Zelda is ripe for the picking, having left a wad of cash momentarily on her breakfast table, and Parker is quick to make off with it but has to go back sheepishly for his journal, which he’s left behind.

He carries it with him, not only to communicate, but also for his writing. He has an imaginative view of the world, and Zelda is a bit intrigued.

She isn’t quite the teen he (and we) first thought, and he’s not able to fool her the way he fools his mother and therapist. This is a coming-of-age story with a twist for which you will be asked to suspend disbelief. I did so gladly,

Zelda’s effect, first on Parker and then on Parker’s mother, is interesting, but likewise is Parker’s effect on her. He may be an innocent, but he’s insightful. His parents loved each other, but his father was a disappointed author with a temper. As Parker put it:

“They loved each other like the ocean loves the shoreline—eating away at it, little by little, day after day. They loved each other like the sunlight that makes the plants grow, then scorches the leaves and bakes the moisture from the earth.”

As he and Zelda explore San Francisco, he lets us into his head a bit and she opens up the world for him. Before Zelda, there were things he never thought of. He likens it to when he was little and his dad took him fishing in Alaska. Parker got a bite, played the line to hook the fish with people cheering, and then, they went quiet.

“I’d lost the fish. And you’d think I wouldn’t have given a shit. I mean, so I didn’t have a fish, right? Who cared? One minute earlier, I hadn’t a fish either. But somehow, that one minute of struggle had transformed the very concept of not having a fish, from something that didn’t matter at all to something that mattered a whole lot. If I’d never met Zelda, well, that would have been one thing.”

I’m glad I met both Parker and Zelda. Wallach tells a great story. Many thanks to him, to NetGalley and to Simon and Schuster (Australia) for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted.

(Quotes may have changed in the final version.)

[♛ may · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is definitely one of those books that are a fun and enjoyable and adventurous read but somehow where most people finish it in a sitting it kinda….lost my interest….more than once.

NOT TO SAY IT ISN’T A GOOD BOOK, BC IT DEFINITELY IS I just….idk

- So this book is about a boy who has developed mutism since he was a child after a traumatic accident
- But the boy is a fluffy marshmallow cupcake who is also a writer and the cutest thing since stuffed animals
- Basically I love Parker A LOT
- So the book is set in a very easy going, slightly sarcastic tone and that definitely clicked with me right from the start

He was just your average teenager. Or a little above average, actually…A solid seven out of ten. Maybe a B/B+ on a good day, in the right light, taking the most forgiving possible position on his too-thick eyebrows and his weirdly prominent dimples when he smiled and his slight butt chin . . .
Fuck me. This is turning into a disaster, isn’t it?

- ^^I laughed really loudly at that
- Anywho, so the writing is easy and humourous, the characters are interesting enough
- so where’s it lacking???? you ask
- I will answer with…everything else ???
- Idk if this is just me, but I felt like the majority of the book was the characters going on a wild goose chase per Zelda’s desires only for the book to end in a very predictable manner :|
- Or maybe it was just predictable to me but idk I saw it coming from the start
- And then it just made the whole book seem frivolous, like we were just reading through filler to get to the real conclusion
- And it really felt like filler to me after a while, I was growing bored really quickly yikes
- And Zelda was a GOOD female lead but she was also tiring…like really tiring
- Like I barely read for 10 minutes straight without getting exhausted by everything she was
- She’s basically the perfect example of a “manic pixie dream girl” ikr who would have thought I’d ever use such language and I just couldn’t take her seriously…there I said it
- But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy it bc it definitely was a fun read with deeper-than-expected undertones
- Its just…not a memorable book in my honest, humble opinion
- So for sure pick it up if you’re looking for something fun and fast and easy
- It just didn’t make me rethink my life or squeal like a toddler who is high on sugar (that’s what classifies 5 star reads for me if anyone was wondering)

3 stars!!

[Ezgi T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hayatınızın bir anında bile durup merak ettiyseniz diye söylüyorum, Her Şey İçin Teşekkürler'in ardından artık tescilli bir odunum. Yani bu durumun gerçekten başka bir açıklaması yok. Herkesin yere göğe sığdıramadığı, okurken duygusallığın dibine vurduğu, içinden alıntı üstüne alıntı çıkarttığı bu kitabın bende yarattığı tek bir şey vardı: can sıkıntısı.

Şu aralar niye böyle oluyor gerçekten bilmiyorum. Kara koyun olup çıktım. (Saçlardan mı acep?) Elimdeki kitapları okuyayım, okunacaklar listem biraz azalsın dedikçe kitapları sevemez oldum sanki. E-kitap okuduğum günlerde daha güzel kitaplar okuyordum sanki?

Durum şu ki, Her Şey İçin Teşekkürler'e başlarken gerçekten kitabı beğenmeyi umuyordum. Yorumuna ve zevkine güvendiğim birçok insandan bu kitap hakkında güzel şeyler duymuştum, (bunlardan biri Ayşin'dir) ve kitaptan kim nereyi alıntılasa çok hoş görünüyordu. Ama kitabın kendisi... meh olmanın ötesine geçemedi.

Yazarın bu kitapla ne yapmaya çalıştığını gördüm ve hissettim fakat içselleştirmeyi başaramadım. Kitap baştan sona bana pek bir şey ifade edemedi. Korkarım bunun nedeni de, Zelda karakterini bir "manic pixie dream girl" olmanın ötesinde bir birey olarak görememiş olmam. Zaten bu MPDG durumunun ötesine geçemediğinizde geriye pek bir şey kalmıyordu. Kitabın magical realism kısımları da bana pek etkileyici gelmedi.

Zelda'nın tüm varlığının, Parker'a yaşamayı öğretmek olması benim için sınıfta kaldı.

Herkes bu kitap için, "Çok seveceksin," "2017'nin favori kitabı bile olabilir," "Çok iyi kurgulanmış, üstünde çok düşünülmüş," gibi övgüler dizip durdu bugün boyunca (Instagram üzerinden) ama korkarım hepinizi hayal kırıklığına uğrattım. Sevmedim, kesinlikle yılın favorilerine giremedi, kurgusuna ve arkasındaki düşünceye bir şey diyemeyeceğim ama uygulamasını pek beğenmedim açıkçası.

Sağda solda gördüğüm alıntılar cidden alıntı olmaktan ibaretmiş. Kitabın bazı yerlerinde söylenen ama öylece havada kalan cümlelerden öteye geçemediler benim için. Alıntılansın diye yazılmış gibi hissettiren yerler vardı bazı noktalarda. Hani bir cümleyi "düzgünce kırpılmışsa" alıntılamak daha kolay ve daha düzgündür ya, bazı cümleler kırpılmış gibiydi. Daha şairane olsun diye tek başına bırakılmış ya da kısa tutulmuş. Çünkü bir cümlenin yarısını alıntılamak asla istenilen etkiyi yaratmaz.

Ya şu an durdum düşünüyorum daha ne diyebilirim bu kitap hakkında diye, hiçbir şey diyemem sanırım. Üzerimde hiçbir etki bırakmadı. Hani "Şu şu kısımlarını HİÇ SEVMEDİM," bile diyemiyorum çünkü öyle sevmediğim bir yer de yoktu. Her şey fazlasıyla sıradan, fazlasıyla ortalama kaldı - ne sevdim ne de nefret ettim.

Kitabın sonu da beni hiç şaşırtmadı, neden bilmiyorum. Galiba bariz ortada olduğunu düşündüm öyle biteceğinin.

Sonuç olarak, ben değilseniz tahminen bu kitabı seversiniz. Şu ana kadar ben olmayan ve bu kitabı sevmeyen bir başka insanla karşılaşmadım. Eğer benseniz, dikkat, tahminen kitap sizi ölesiye sıkacak ve bir Reading Slump'a girmenin eşiğinden döneceksiniz.

Ha ama şimdi hakkını yemeyeyim, kitabın sonlarına doğru biraz açıldı anlatım. Son birkaç bölümü keyifle ve hızla okudum. Keşke bunu, son birkaç bölüm yerine tüm kitap için söyleyebilseydim.. Niye hep böyle oluyor ya? #AyşinBeniAffet

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[Tommy Wallach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Parker Santé hasn’t spoken a word in five years. While his classmates plan for bright futures, he hangs out in hotels, watching the guests. But when he meets a silver-haired girl named Zelda Toth, a girl who claims to be quite a bit older than she looks, he’ll discover there just might be a few things left worth living for. From the celebrated author of We All Looked Up comes a unique story of first and last loves.

[Aditi · Rating 5 out of 5]

At hotels, you are an actress. Absolutely. You can do what you want. Go where you want. I love my home too. But I love to arrive in a hotel. They have books, chocolate, food. I put things in the little refrigerator.


----Sonia Rykiel


Tommy Wallach, a Brooklyn-based writer and musician, pens his next entertaining and captivating young adult novel, Thanks for the Trouble that explores the friendship shared between two young souls, although one of the souls claim to be older than the looks, in a hotel on a Halloween night, over a journal filled with funny and thought-provoking stories written by one of the souls.


Synopsis:

“I’ve got some questions for you. Was this story written about me?”

I shrugged.

“Yes or no?”

I shrugged again, finally earning a little scowl, which somehow made the girl even more pretty. It brought a bloom to her pale cheeks and made sharp shelves of her cheekbones.

“It’s very rude not to answer simple questions,” she said.

I gestured for my journal, but she still wouldn’t give it to me. So I took out my pen and wrote I can’t on my palm.

Then, in tiny letters below it, I finished the thought: Now don’t you feel like a jerk?

Parker Santé hasn’t spoken a word in five years. While his classmates plan for bright futures, he skips school to hang out in hotels, killing time by watching the guests. But when he meets a silver-haired girl named Zelda Toth, a girl who claims to be quite a bit older than she looks, he’ll discover there just might be a few things left worth living for.


Parker Santé, the high school senior, has opt to be mute and silent after his father's tragic death five years ago. Parker's favorite place to hangout while bunking school is a fancy hotel, so just like a normal day on a Halloween, while hanging out at San Francisco's Palace Hotel, he gets the rarest opportunity to lay his eyes upon a beautiful silver haired girl. Unfortunately, taking advantage of the girl's carelessness, Parker steals her purse, on the other hand, this girl finds Parker's only precious possession- his journal, where he writes short stories. Well, after this, they become acquaintances and start hanging out in the hotel, while sharing their dreams, Parker through writing stories and the girl, who introduces herself as Zelda Toth, and as per her, she is nearly 250 years old. Little did they knew, that they would be entering the world filled with the raging teenage hormones while exploring one other's dreams and also one another's bodies.

This story is basically Parker's answer to his college application form, where he narrates about Zelda and her frozen-age for the last hundred years and about the changes she brought upon his life. So the readers are in for a treat as they will experience a story within a fictional world of the author. Yet once again, the author ardently pens this story that provokes the thoughts of the readers about life and opportunities, be he/she a teenager or an adult.

The writing is very articulate and the author have layered his plot with a myriad of intricate descriptions. Moreover, the visual imagery of all those honest moments shared between the two characters is strikingly portrayed in the book. The pace is really quite moderate, as there are stories withing the main story line, that are eventually unwrapped by the author. The narrative style is more like skeptical, proverbial yet catchy and entertaining and has the power to behold the attention of the readers until the very end.

The author has yet again broken from the stereotype high school characters, instead reflects his characters with realism, rawness and honesty. The main protagonist as well the second central character, both, are laced with enough flaws and it feels like screwing things up is like their middle name. Peter is funny and traumatized from his father's death, but the way he evolves and opens up to this girl and the possibility of exploring a new dimension of life is simply amazing and thoroughly believable, thus making the readers rooting our for him till the very end. Zelda's character has so many layer, and while unraveling each layer, the readers are bound to feel intrigued towards her realistic demeanor. The rest of the supporting cast are also quite well drawn and will keep the readers interested all through out this book.

The love story between Zelda and Parker is hot and sexy as the readers will feel the heat through the pages of this book. The author has depicted their relationship with passion yet keeping it cute, and the readers can easily feel it with depth. Mind it, this love story is not at all PG-13, instead its intense and true.

In a nutshell, this book will arrest the minds and hearts of the readers all through the 276 pages, as the author laces his story with honest characters, real-life issues and in-depth layering.

Verdict: For the fans of realistic YA this is simply a must read!

Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Tommy Wallach's, publicist, for providing me with a copy of the book, in return for an honest review.

[Kelly (Diva Booknerd) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks For The Trouble is absolutely lovely, cynical and sarcastic, but so wonderfully written and emotional. Written in the same vein as John Green, it tells the story of Parker who hasn't spoken for over five years since his father passed away. He'll do just about anything to avoid school, where he feels misunderstood and his silence is taken as a sign of antisocialism. From the moment they'd first met, Parker and Zelda form an instant attraction. He has segregated himself from his peers, while Zelda has lost her zest for life. Together they'll rediscover that life is truly worth living through one remarkable weekend.

"Young people feel things so deeply, don't they?" she said quietly, almost to herself. "Everything's happening for the first time."

Zelda was an incredible character. Wise beyond her seemingly teen years, she's cultured, intelligent and speaks with an old Hollywood grace that charms those in her presence. Loaded with a bundle of cash and awaiting a phone call that will change her life before she takes her own, she is determined to share in a typical teen experience of shopping, partying and discovering the world again through Parker. Magical and whimsical, Zelda is one of the most selfless characters you'll ever have the pleasure of reading. Although she and Parker are worlds apart, I loved the bizarre yet tentative friendship they shared, which sadly felt a little more like a dependency than a romantic connection. The romance wasn't particularly needed, but nor did it take away from the magic that was Thanks For The Trouble.

There is something incredible realistic about the characters Tommy Wallach creates, they're flawed, often insecure but most importantly, readers can relate to them on some level. Parker chooses not to speak and deals with his own grief internally. He's not looking to be rescued and certainly isn't looking for a whirlwind romance but is enamored by Zelda and her tall tales. It was lovely and woven with a touch of whimsy, completely unexpected but incredible nonetheless.

Beautifully written, honest and enchanting, Thanks For The Trouble was an engaging and immersive read. Buy it, read it and love it.
http://www.divabooknerd.com/2016/03/t...

[Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Booktubeathon challenge #2 - read a book you discovered through booktube: COMPLETE!

3.75/5 stars. I couldn't quite bring myself to give this 4 stars, but I still really enjoyed it. Although I will say it was eerily similar to the Haters, which is the book I finished yesterday. Not in plot obviously but the two main characters were almost exactly the same as Wes and Ash. Except I definitely liked Parker and Zelda more. I liked this entire book more. I'll definitely be giving more thoughts in my booktubeathon wrap up.

[Füsun · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 demiştim ama vazgeçtim. 2, bu kitabın benden alabileceği tek puan.

"Belki de çocukların mutsuzluğu tespit edebilme gibi bir yeteneği vardır ama büyüdükçe bu özelliklerini kaybediyorlar. Zaten kaybetmeleri de gerekir. Yoksa insanların nasıl mutsuz olduğunu ve asla kendilerini mutlu etmeyi başaramayacaklarını da fark ederler."

Her Şey İçin Teşekkürler'i ilk aldığımda, kitabı okumak için sabırsızlanıyordum. Eğlenceli ve güzel olacağını düşünmüştüm ama bir süre sonra bu okuma isteğimi kaybettim. Bir şekilde elim gittiğinde bile 'okumak istediğim için' değil de, 'okumam gerektiğini hissettiğim için' okuyacakmışım gibi geliyordu ve ben de geri bırakıyordum.

Bu ayki okuma listeme eklediğimde ise, o ilk heyecanımı beklemekten çoktan vazgeçmiştim çünkü gelmeyeceğini anlamıştım. Neden hevesim kaçtığını bilmiyorum, belki her yerde çok fazla alıntı gördüğümden ve herkes çok fazla beğendiğindendir. Çünkü o zaman 'beğenmeliyim' baskısı ister istemez oluşmuştu ve ben de kitaba uzattığım eli hep geri çekmiştim.

Ayrıca goodreadste incelediğim kadarıyla da, arkadaş listemde olup da okuyan kişilerin çoğu beğenmiş ama üzülerek söylüyorum ki ben beğenemedim.

Parker ve Zelda okumaya alışık olduğum karakterlerdi ve ikisi de beni şaşırtamadı. Kitap boyunca şaşırmaya en yakın olduğum yer, Parker'ın otelden çıkarken defterini unutmasıydı ama düşününce zaten bir şekilde Zelda'yla tanışması gerekiyordu. Parker'da ve Zelda'da ise beni şaşırtan hiçbir şey yoktu. Kısa süre önce fiziksel ya da psikolojik bir hasar almış olan ana karakterimiz, aynı zamanda anlatıcımız, normal düzeninde seyreden bir günde tuhaf ve hayata dair uzun uzun cümleler kurabilen esas kızımızla tanışır ve birden her şey değişir.

Eeeeeh.

Tamam, klişeleri iyi işlendiği sürece sevdiğimi hep söylerim. Klişelerle sorunum yok ama bir kitapta insan hiç mi şaşırmaz, arkadaşlar? Konusu çok alışılmış diye bu kitaptan beni şaşırtmasını bekleyemez miyim? Kitap bittikten sonra aklımda kalacak ve kitaba her baktığımda hatırlamayı seveceğim bir şey beklemek saçmalık mı?

Bence değil ve bu kitap bana bunlardan hiçbirisini vermedi.

Zelda ve Parker'ın yaşadığı bütün sahneler, Parker'ın üniversiteye gitmeye karar vermesi amacıyla yazılmıştı ama bana kalırsa bu kararı vermek için Zelda'ya ihtiyacı yoktu. Babasının kaybını atlatmak için bir şeyler yapmaya başlaması, Zelda'yla konuşmadan da gerçekleşebilirdi çünkü tek yapması gereken etrafındaki birkaç insanla gerçekten konuşmaktı. Tamam, şimdi diyeceksiniz ki, etrafındaki insanlarla konuşmasını Zelda'yla olması sağladı. Ama ben böyle düşünmüyorum. Zelda ona 'insanlarla konuş, bir şeyler yap' falan demedi ki. Parker, Zelda'yla iletişim kurarken diğer insanlarla da kendi kendine iletişim kurmaya başladı, o kadar. Zelda olmasa da bir şekilde satranç oynarken Alana'yla sohbet edebilirdi.

"Genç insanlar duyguları daha derinden yaşıyorlar, öyle değil mi?" dedi sessizce, neredeyse kendi kendine konuşuyormuş gibi. "Çünkü yaşadıkları şeylerle ilk kez karşılaşıyorlar."

Zelda ise sürekli 'ben gizemli, tuhaf ve kafası daha derin düşüncelerle dolu olanım' modundaymış gibi hissettim. Bilmiyorum ama çok fazla Her Şeyin Başlangıcı' na benzettim ve bazı detaylar dışında arada fark olduğunu sanmıyorum. Ya da Kağıttan Kentler. Ki defalarca kez demiştim, ben John Green tarzını sevmem ve bu kitabı okurken de kendimi bir John Green romanı okuyormuş gibi hissetmekten alamadım.

Kitabın dilini de çok fazla sevemedim. İğneleyeci ve alaycı bir dil kullanan karakterlerde eğleniyor olsam bile, bu kitabı okurken kendimi kaptırdığım anlar olmadı. Sanırım karakterlerin zorlamalığını düşündüğüm için böyle hissettim ve anlatım tarzı da beni saramadı. Bilmiyorum ama kitapla ilgili en sevdiğim şeyin (hatta belki de tek) Parker'ın yazdığı hikayeler olduğuna eminim. Sıradan ve sadece sonunu değil, ilerleyiş biçimini de bildiğim bu kitabı okurken, arada bir nefes alma molası gibi yazılmış o hikayeleri okumak gerçekten zevkliydi.

Beni hayal kırıklığına uğratan bir diğer noktaysa, herkesin tonlarca alıntı paylaştığı kitapta sadece iki yeri post-itle işaretlemiş olmam. Okurken eğleneceğim ve orta düzeyde seveceğim bir kitap okuyacağımı düşünmüş, ama buna rağmen daha fazla alıntı yazacağımı sanmıştım. Yanılmışım.

Bu hafta bitirdiğim üçüncü kitaptı ve diğer iki kitap gibi, bunda da umduğumu bulamadım. Eğer siz okumaya karar verirseniz de, diyebileceğim tek şey 'umarım beğenirsiniz' olur çünkü zaten başka bir sözüm kalmadı.

He bir de yukarda bahsetmeyi unutmuşum, bana kalırsa insan birisine üç günde aşık olup 'onsuz yaşayamam' durumlarına bağlamaz. İlk görüşte aşk başka bir şey bu başka bir şey. Hadi şans eseri aşık oldu diyelim (gerçi şans olup olmadığı da tartışılır) bunu öyle hemen fark edip, kabullenemez.

Hadi len! derler adama.

[♡ Martina ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 ⭐

Parker Santé è un ragazzo di diciassette anni che non parla, per sua libera scelta sia chiaro.
Zelda è una ragazza misteriosa che entra nella vita di Parker e la sconvolge interamente.
Due persone diverse, sotto ogni punto di vista.
In un magico weekend che cambierà per sempre le loro vite.

Quando ho deciso di leggere questo libro mi sono basata esclusivamente sulla copertina e sul titolo, poteva essere il libro più bello del mondo o il peggiore, ebbene devo dire che mi è piaciuto tutto, dall'inizio alla fine.
Una storia non convenzionale con personaggi non convenzionali.
Ho riso, ho pianto, ho vissuto molteplici emozioni grazie a questo libro.
L'autore ha deciso di raccontare la storia attraverso il punto di vista di Parker ma è come se stesse parlando in primis con noi e poi in secondo piano con gli altri personaggi del libro.
La narrazione si sviluppa nell'arco di un weekend ma è così ricco di episodi e colpi di scena che sembrano dilatare il tempo in cui le cose accadono.
Mentre leggevo il libro, ho contemporaneamente immaginato come sarebbe stato se ne avessero fatto una trasposizione cinematografica.
Consiglio questo libro se siete alla ricerca di una storia divertente ma al tempo stesso profonda e significativa, è stato uno splendido libro che porterò con me nel cuore.

[Figgy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tommy Wallach and I discussed favourite birds, debated zombies, and perhaps discussed some of that book and music stuff over at 100% Rock Magazine!

Actual Rating 3.5

Meet Parker Santé. He’s medium cute, bad at writing in third person, and good at stealing shit from rich people. He’s not the best person you’ll ever meet, he’s also not the worst.

I mean, some things are obviously shitty, and some things are obviously nice or noble or whatever, but between the two goalposts of black and white, between punching a baby in the kidney and donating a kidney to save a baby, there’s a freaking football field’s worth of gray area.

He’s hanging out in a hotel lobby, waiting for something to steal, when he sees her. She’s about his age, pretty, has a large wad of cash, silver hair, and wears a look of perfect sadness on her face.

People usually use that word – “perfect” – to talk about good things; a perfect score on a test, or a perfect attendance record, or landing a perfect 1080. But I think it’s a way better word when it’s used to describe something – even a totally shitty something – that’s exactly the thing it’s supposed to be. Perfect morning breath. A perfect hangover. Perfect sadness.

He doesn’t speak. Can’t speak. He sees a psychologist regularly and had one session with a speech therapist, but he just can’t make the words come out. He can’t even moan or make noise when he laughs. So he writes everything in a journal. He has 104 completed journals at home, like a record of where he’s been and thoughts he’s had.

I stopped talking after my dad died, I wrote, then prepared myself for the usual things people said after I told them that.
“What a remarkably asinine thing to do.”
This was not the usual things.

Zelda tells him that she’s waiting for a call, and once it comes she’s going to give all her money to the next needy person she sees and jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. She doesn’t say this on a whim; she’s given it a lot of thought. She means to go through with it.

There’s a word in Portuguese that my dad wrote about in one of his books: saudade. It’s the sadness you feel for something that isn’t gone yet, but will be. The sadness of lost causes. The sadness of being alive.

Thus begins his mission to teach her that there are so many things to live for, his mission to change her mind. But how can you convince someone who thinks they’ve lived for hundreds of years that they haven’t seen everything.

In trying to show her it’s worth going on living, he might just get caught up in it all and realise that he hasn’t really been living, either. And that maybe it’s time to start.


The rest of this review can be found HERE!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

What a weird book. What a weird, emotional book. This is a case where I genuinely didn't know how to feel or what I was going to rate it until I got to the end and started tearing up a bit. There were a few passages that stopped me in my tracks and really made me think. And it's a very quick, short read. I couldn't put the book down even if I tried. Recommended if you want a contemporary that doesn't feel the need to follow any rules or you really just want something different!

[*TANYA* · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow!! What a great book!! I need a follow up, I want to know what becomes of Parker Santé. The writing was fantastic. Not your typical “young adult” book it felt very grown up.

[Ayman Gomaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Arabic & English Review : 2.5 - 3 Stars
A Story with many questions to give us something worth living for , to have the strength to move on after a horrific tragedy or pain.

قصة عن الحياة , اسئلة و اجوبة عن معنى الحياة و الايمان و القوة عندما تواجه احداث مأسوية و خسارة شخص تهتم به كثيرا ف تجد نفسك استسلمت و لا ترى اى معنى للحياة من بعده .

Parker Sante a selective mutism teenage who skip school , rob people at hotels and just living for no reason meets up with Zelda a girl with silver hair who decides to kill herself at the end of the day , it starts with a deal between them leads to friendship , love , sadness , adventure and Faith .

باركر سانتى 17 عام توقف عن الكلام بعد وفاة والده يقوم بسرقة الافراد فى الفنادق و بدون هدف فى الحياة يلتقى ب زيلدا الفتاة ذو الشعر الفضى التى قررت الانتحار فى اخر اليوم عندما يحاول سرقتها ف تبدا بينهم محادثة و اتفاق بينهم يقود الى صداقة , حب , حزن , مغامرة , قوة الايمان .

“There's a word in Portuguese that my dad wrote about in one of his books: saudade.
It's the sadness you feel for something that isn't gone yet, but will be. The sadness of lost causes. The sadness of being alive.”

good story with a lot of meanings but so teenage and i didn't like the react after what happened , it makes me feel like okay that's good 2 days life move on , and the part when u let go everything to move on even pictures and everything related , just so hard and it mean i want to erase it , not move it :(

قصة خفيفة و مسلية و بها كثير من المعانى و لكن الكاتب لم يجعلنى اتغلب على انها رواية ل قارئ سن المراهقة فقط

Finally no one can do Zelda better than " Olivia Cooke "

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Why is it that the bad shit in our lives always seems to take up so much more mental space than the good stuff? I wrote. Is that part of being a person, or just part of being me?

I think about that question all the time.

Do you have an answer?

I don't think that questions like that have answers. An optimistic person would probably say that the bad things stick out because they're not as common as the good things.

Are you an optimistic person?

No.”
***
“In my opinion, the best time to be alive is always right now. People are aways whining about how they were born in the wrong century, but they really haven't thought things through. They picture the old castle they wish they could live in, but they don't think about the drafts in the winter or the pitch darkness at night, or all the spiders and the lice. They can't imagine the everyday pain of a life without antibiotics or anesthetics. The tedium of a world without movies or recorded music or... or... Internet videos about cats. And don't even get me started on women who idealize the past. Do you have any idea what it was like to be a woman even a hundred years ago? Horrible! And a hundred years before that, the situation practically defies description. We might as well have been slaves. Trussed up in hoop skirts and corsets, married off like racehorses. Good riddance to history, I say!”

------
God, tell us the reason youth is wasted on the young
It's hunting season and the lambs are on the run
Searching for meaning
But are we all lost stars, trying to light up the dark?

Who are we? Just a speck of dust within the galaxy?

Woe is me, if we're not careful turns into reality
Don't you dare let our best memories bring you sorrow
Yesterday I saw a lion kiss a deer
Turn the page maybe we'll find a brand new ending
Where we're dancing in our tears
("Lost Stars" from 'Begin Again' soundtrack)

That one played through my head a few times while reading this...


This had a magical quality sprinkled throughout the story... is Zelda who she says she is? Is she making it up? Is Parker embellishing the story as he tells it to us?

After awhile it doesn't matter, it is easy to be absorbed into this story and these people.. to see where the days and nights tale them.



There is an elegance of spirit to Zelda and at times she doesn't seem quite real and times where it feels like she's water you are trying to keep cupped in your hands.

Her and Parker's friendship-romance is bizarre but yet honest and magical in some ways. I loved how they grew closer during the time they spent together and he was beginning to think more about his future and life outside of what he had been doing.

Parker wasn't looking to be "be fixed" or rescued.. . and he's by no means completely cured or anything but Zelda inspired him to make progress and come out of his shell. I was glad he didn't let himself fall apart after Zelda jumped and was even considering travelling instead of going to college right away.

I loved the format of the story, Parker writing it as a confessional/story of sorts. It feels like he's written you this long letter and now we're catching up on his life after a long while.

The "short stories" that were included were fun as well:).

Not sure what else to say but that I really enjoyed this and would highly recommend it. Just sit back and enjoy the ride:).

[Cesar (Inactive) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars

(Disclaimer: The book is over 288 pages, not more than 300. Get it together goodreads!)

I'm sure I would've enjoyed this story a lot if it hadn't been filled with lots of tropes. For one thing, the story is a bit of a cliche with the whole "The depressed boy meets this charismatic girl and they both go on an adventure and he understands what it means to live."

Sounds familiar doesn't it? Well, get ready ladies and gentlemen. This book has a character trope I don't like: The Manic Pixie Dream Girl. *Gasp*

When I read the first few chapters, I knew from the start I wouldn't like the character of Zelda. I mean, her name is fucking Zelda!

Here's the premise of the story basically: Parker's father died five years ago and he hasn't spoken since. He's just there, wandering around San Francisco doing absolutely nothing; contemplating everything, hating everything and being a sad depressed loner. Then comes Zelda, this quirky strange girl who for some reason (seriously, why) decides she wants to help Parker and the two go off an an adventure that is just filled with cliche after cliche after tropes after tropes that will make Parker understand what it means to live and not be some sad person.

I stand by what I said earlier, I probably would've enjoyed this book had it not been for the characters. For the most part, Parker was just this moody depressed teenager who always criticized everything and everyone. He reminded me a bit of Holden Caulfield. (Note: I have not read The Catcher in the Rye, but I did hear how much of an ass Holden is.) I swear, this kid is just so emo that I got irritated by how he thinks people are either stupid or how some things are stupid. Um. excuse me? What makes you think you can act like that?
I know I may come off as insensitive about what Parker has been through for the last five years. People react differently when someone they love dies, I get that. I really do. But Parker was broody that he wasn't even sad about his father's death. He just wallowed in his own self pity who whines and complains.

Then we have Zelda. "HI! I'm Zelda, I have silver hair, lots of money, a secret past, and I decided to help this emo boy who I have no relation with because why the fuck not! Teehee! Let's have fun!"

Oh my fucking Christ. She is the pure definition of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Here's the thing: You can have a character who is quirky, cute, silly, etc. But at least give her a life. Give her goals. Give her something that makes her more human, not just some imagination most male directors come up with.

With all the flaws this book had, I did like how quotable it was. The writing style was great, and it did show what Parker is going through and how profound and interesting his thoughts are. If only he wasn't such a broody emo depressed person. The writing is probably the only thing I liked. Aside from that, nothing else.

I can understand the idea of having people mend and support others because they don't like to see that person sad or damaged. In a way, Zelda did help Parker, and Parker somewhat helped Zelda. So that was a nice. It would've been more better if Zelda hadn't decided to help Parker when she barely knew him for more than ten minutes at the beginning of the story.

I wanted to like this book. But when it's a teenage version of all Manic Pixie Dream Girl movies/TV shows, it does not make a good story to me. Not in the slightest.

Thanks for reading my review!

-Cesar

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird books are kind of a hit-or-miss for me. If done well, they can be a wonderful mix of extraordinarily unique and deliciously bizarre. Or they can go the opposite way - where they're just too weird for you to get and everything resembles a jumble of nonsense.

This was a weird book - and it kind of worked, but it kind of didn't. While I loved Wallach's lyrical writing, this book also irked me because there wasn't much closure to the plot.

Parker meets Zelda, a mysterious silver-haired girl, in a hotel, who claims to be over two hundred years old. Parker thinks she's simply making up a story - something he does all the time, since he stopped speaking after his dad died.

While I enjoyed Zelda's tale about being immortal that kept the reader guessing - we're never given proof whether or not she is immortal and it's left up to us to decide - this book basically followed Parker and Zelda as they wandered around.

Zelda asks Parker to "show her what it's like to be a teenager" and the result isn't nearly as exciting as you'd expect. I mean, how interesting can it be to read about two people going to museums, parties, and the movies?

By the end I was left struggling to find the point of this book. What message was the author trying to send? Was it that a pretty girl can whisk a guy out of his depression? Because that sounds harmful and unrealistic to me - that having a crush on a girl you barely know can "save" you from such a serious mental illness. I think whatever point Wallach was trying to make was lost amidst the oddity of the two main characters.

There was some admittedly beautiful writing that's probably the reason I gave it three stars:

“It was like some kind of crazy dream, the sight of all those people emerging from their disguises, shedding the fake muscles and the plastic armor, the fairy wings and angel wings and devil horns, all of it piled up like a mass grave for make-believe, and I wondered if maybe this was a way for Zelda to show me something true.”

I should clarify that I loved Wallach's We All Looked Up. I thought it was so creative how he combined a realistic science fiction/apocalypse novel with a smart contemporary about shattering stereotypes surrounding teenagers. I loved it. Unfortunately, I found his latest book much weaker in terms of the plot and characters.

Would I recommend this random, strange little book? I'm not sure. Maybe if you're looking for a story that examines a boy dealing with his grief in a different way, or if you don't mind books that don't make a whole lot of sense.

[Shannon Miz · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
I had heard a lot about this book before I ever picked it up. The Twitterverse was criticizing it left and right, to the point where I was on the fence about reading it. But, then I remembered that Twitter doesn't get to dictate my reading material, and I hopped in, because I had been eagerly anticipating this one, before all of this started. And I am going to address one of the big gripes people had, because I feel like that's only fair.

The biggest thing everyone and their dog was mad about was that they felt that Zelda was a "manic pixie dream girl" trope. And frankly, I completely disagree. Zelda is quirky, and unique, and wise... but there are reasons. She doesn't exist as some magical answer to Parker's prayers. I simply find that the term doesn't fit. Also, Zelda is awesome. There was a point in the book where I thought to myself "this could go a couple ways, and one of them would kind of make Zelda fit the trope", but that never happened. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

I have a  lot of love for this book and its characters. Parker is a fabulous- witty, sweet, and amazingly talented. Parker wrote little stories within the book, and they were gorgeous. I was so captivated by them- and how they fit with the story. Parker (and Tommy Wallach, of course) has a real gift for words. During his narration, Parker made me laugh, I adored his sense of humor. The thoughts that Parker had... these are thoughts I know for certain I have had. He's incredibly easy to connect with, because he's so damn human, so damn real. He muses about little things in life, and also the bigger, meatier stuff, but in a way that makes sense.

"But I think life is a little like one of those special memory foam mattresses that they advertise on TV, where you can drop a bowling ball on one side and the person sleeping a few inches away doesn't feel a thing. Our biggest tragedies are still just ours."

And then there's Zelda. It'd be hard not to love her, and I definitely loved her. She's a bit of a mystery at first, but really, Parker is just as much a mystery to her- we just have the benefit of knowing Parker's thoughts. Zelda is just a good person, she's compassionate, and so, so wise. She was a girl who was legitimately nice and friendly to other girls (which is so refreshing to read about), and she's just a lovely person with a lot of insight about life. I was floored by this, because of how accurate it was, and how much it resonated with me:

"'We may get a job and a husband and a house, but the whole adulthood thing is just a charade. We're all pretending to have grown up. You know what the cruelest object ever invented is?' I shook my head. 'The mirror. It breaks the illusion.'"

And even though they are amazing characters, they're still incredibly normal too. The plot is incredibly character driven, but they're doing regular things, wanting the same out of life as anyone else.

There are a lot of really amazing messages in the book, but I am going to let you find them out on your own. I feel like as much as I want to gush about them, I'd be doing you, the reader, a disservice- this is the kind of book you need to really read with the context of your own life in the back of your mind. I don't think there's a person out there who can't relate to at least some of the topics that are touched on in this book.

Bottom Line: With exquisite writing and fabulous characters, Thanks for the Trouble is absolutely a book you need in your life.

*Copy provided by publisher for review
**Quotes taken from uncorrected proof, subject to change.

[Amerie]

"...you'd have so much perspective. You'd see the terrible sweep of history, repeating its tragedies over and over again." You might even become a misanthrope. The passage between pages 230-231 is one of my favorite passages in recent memory.

[Emily Mead · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can't actually tell whether I like this book or hate it with a fiery passion, so I'm going to ignore the rating for now.

And maybe think about it for a few days.

This will probably turn into a discussion on manic pixie dream girls. You have been warned.

___________

REVIEW

You should know before I start this review that Tommy Wallach’s book We All Looked Up was one of my favourite books of 2015.

It’s beautiful and it has all these intersecting POVs and it’s about an apocalypse and it has such INCREDIBLE WRITING.

However, I was a bit more dubious about his follow-up, Thanks for the Trouble. This is one of those very rare instances where I’m not actually going to rate it. Basically because I have very conflicting views and I have no idea what I WOULD rate it.

Anyway, so our main character Zelda is a bit like Margo Roth Spiegelman/Alaska in that she’s arguably a manic pixie dream girl.

f you don’t know what a manic pixie dream girl is, basically: a girl comes into a guy’s life. She’s usually quirky, always beautiful (but not in a “conventional” sense), has strange hobbies, a penchant for petty crime, and has an air of mystery.

The problem with the label of manic pixie dream girl is that it’s often used for ANY quirky female character, which is just as sexist/dehumanising as the trope itself.

I mean, I’d argue that the whole point of John Green’s books is that the girls (Alaska and Margo) are MORE than just manic pixie dream girls – it’s all about imagining people more complexly.

But in Thanks for the Trouble, it IS as though Zelda just comes along to make our narrator’s life more exciting.

Here are a few things about Zelda to help you decide.

She’s different in that she has silver hair – but everything else about her screams conventional beauty
She has all this money she wants to spend before she jumps off the Brooklyn Bridge
She comes along and makes Parker want to live instead of hating life/having no future etc
Here’s the thing, though: Zelda is pretty much a literal pixie. Like she’s got this intriguing back story about being hundreds of years old, so she’s magical, and she basically doesn’t exist outside of helping Parker reclaim his happiness or whatever.

I am not opposed to quirky female characters. I am not opposed to female characters who are mysterious or charismatic or different.

What I’m opposed to, though, are female characters who exist to create stories for MALE characters, and end up having no happiness of their own.

I could easily have loved this book.

It has Tommy Wallach’s incredible writing. It has an interesting and slightly genre-bending plotline. It has Parker, a narrator I really grew to love. But I could not get past my dislike of Zelda. And I could not get past the ending, which basically brought up all the things I disliked about Me Before You.

[Fafa's Book Corner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review posted on Fafa's Book Corner !

Beware spoilers ahead!

DNF

I had heard about this author through his debut and his posts during the Paris attacks. After hearing about some of his views during the Paris attacks I refused to read any of his books. Then out of curiosity I decided to read the sample of this book from iBooks. I was honestly surprised! It was so good! Then I realized that it wasn't fair to judge him based on his opinions. I wouldn't like it if someone judged me for stating my opinions. As a reviewer and reader we shouldn't be judging people based on whether or not you like a book. So I decided to let it go and buy this book. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this.

The book begins in third person talking about a Hispanic boy entering a hotel. Then in between it switches to first point of view with Parker narrating the book. You then find out that Parker is applying to a University. The question said University asked about his most important experience of his life.

We are then taken to Halloween. Parker decides to ditch school because he doesn't understand why school's still open during Halloween. He enters the Palace Hotel and decides to just take in his surroundings. He orders a coffee at the restaurant. He hears a girl speaking and looks to see where the voice is coming from. He sees a girl with silver hair conversing with the waiter. Intrigued he continues to watch her.

During the girl's conversation she hands the waiter a huge wad of cash. Parker is surprised and realizing that this girl is very rich. Parker then decides to write in his journal. By the time he looks up again to where the girl is sitting she isn't there. And she left her purse behind. Parker he steals her money and makes a run for it.

But when he looks back he sees that the girl has returned and is reading his journal. He doesn't record daily activities in there, instead he writes short stories. And the silver haired girl is reading the story he wrote about her.

As I said earlier I fell in love with the writing style! It was like hearing Parker talking to you. And he had a compelling voice. Even if I didn't agree with what he said I couldn't help but sit there being engaged and glue to the book. Parker speaks with such confidence that you just have to listen to him and understand where he's coming from. I have a feeling that the author must be a very good presenter. When I got to reading about Zelda I loved the way she spoke and the things she said!

I was so excited that I started skimming the book. It was then that I realized that while I loved the writing style and Zelda this book is not for me. This isn't the type of contemporary that I enjoy. Although yes it is very realistic I just couldn't bring myself to finish the book.

Overall this book wasn't for me. But I still recommend it. I don't regret reading this.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve always liked that phrase, “kill time.” As if time were some kind of evil dragon that needed to be slain. Unfortunately, like everything else in the world, time dies of natural causes, year by year, hour by hour, second by second. It’s a veritable time massacre going on out here.

Parker Santé has been mute since his father died in a car accident they were both involved in. It’s been five years. He’s still a bit angry with his lot in life so he spends the majority of his time alone, killing time, frequenting hotels because he’s found its easy to steal from rich people there. After skipping school, he spends his day at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel where he meets a most intriguing girl by the name of Zelda Toth… after he tries to steal her money. Despite their rocky introduction, the two quickly form a solid yet palpable connection that develops through the power of storytelling. Parker’s talent for writing fictional stories and Zelda’s own personal story: that she’s far, far older than she actually looks.

This is my second Tommy Wallach story and most certainly won’t be my last. His stories have never fallen into the category I find myself typically reading, yet he manages to tactfully write the most authentic and captivating characters. Parker possesses a depth that goes beyond the typical story we’ve all read about where the kid loses a parent and subsequently removes himself from the normal world. He was unexpectedly hilarious in that sarcastic way I do love so much. What stands out from this already charming story are Parker’s short stories. At first, I found the idea of them to be somewhat of an ill-fitting piece of the puzzle and that they would essentially detract from the main story; at least I did until it returns to the main story and I suddenly wished to go back to his magical storytelling. They are captivating to say the least and Wallach’s ability to write multiple amazing stories within a single story is most notable. Zelda seemed to be the biggest issue for most readers, yet I found her to be well-written too. Instead of the manic pixie dream girl that at first glance seems like we’d be getting, there’s a depth to her as well, and a compelling background that makes her far from conventional.

Thanks for the Trouble is a contemporary story about experiencing life and learning to recognize the things we take for granted. It’s not completely contemporary though, with a magical realism flair that never gives you exact answers but instead leaves you contemplating. For the most part, contemplating what it would be like to live forever, and if it would be as fantastic as one would initially think. You never quite know what is real and what is make believe with this one but that is exactly what makes this such an enchanting read.

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[Kristal Kitap]

Kitabı, Uğultulu Tepeler'i okurken zorlandığımdan arada kitaba es vermiş olmak için başlamıştım ama elimden bırakamadım. Çok tatlı ve sıradışı bir hikayesi var Her Şey için Teşekkürler'in.

Her şeyi boş vermiş bir çocuğun sadece bir hafta sonuna sığan ilk aşkını ve bu aşkın hayatını nasıl değiştirdiğini anlatıyor bize Parker Santé. Tamam, yani kendi hikayesini anlatıyor işte.

5 yıldır konuşmuyor. Gelecek planları yapmıyor. Sosyalleşmiyor. Tedavi olmuyor. Tüm bunları isteyerek yapmıyor çünkü hiçbir şey umurunda değil. Konuşamıyor olmak umurunda değil tedavi olsa konuşabileceği halde. Üniversite planları yapmıyor çünkü... ne gerek var? Geleceğe, hayata dair bir beklentisi yok. Sadece yaşıyor, öylece. Çünkü her sabah gözlerini diğerlerinden çok da farklı geçmeyecek bir güne açıyor. Boş bir kabuk gibi Parker. İçini doldurmayı umursamıyor.

Ve bir gün okuldan kaçarak bir otele gidiyor. Otelleri seviyor, nedenini bırakalım da Parker anlatsın size, ve orada gümüş saçlı bir kız ile tanışıyor. Sonrasında adım adım Parker'ın Zelda'nın hayata bakış açısını değiştirmeye çalışırken aslında nasıl kendi bakış açısının değiştiğini okuyoruz.

Hikayenin işlenişi, anlatım tarzı, kurgusu, her şeyi çok sevimliydi. Hele ara ara Parker'ın yazmış olduğu kısa hikayeleri okumak ise farklı bir keyifti. Kitabı ayrı sevdim hikayeleri ayrı bi sevdim. Eğer kitabı merak ediyorsanız, diyorum ki: Merak etmekle kalmayın gidin alın bence.

[Ömer · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.6/5

"İnsanlar o kadar aptal ki, nefes alıp vermeyi becerebilmeleri bile mucize."

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[Sibel Gandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eğlencelik YA diye düşünerek başlamıştım kitaba ama tümüyle farklı bir kurguyla karşılaştım. Biraz Çünkü Biz Karıncayız havası vardı ki o kitabı çok beğenmiştim. Oldukça depresif bir havası olmasına rağmen güzeldi.

[Öznur (kendimizeaitbiroda) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Bizler, hepimiz hayatlarımızı halat çekme oyunundaki halat gibi yaşıyoruz. Bir yandan asla değiştiremeyeceğimiz geçmişimizin ağırlığı çekiyor, diğer yandan da bilinmeyenlerle dolu geleceğimiz. Şanslıysak dengeyi bulabiliyoruz. Ama şanssızsak (ve bence hepimiz, bir süreliğine de olsa bu sınıfta yer alıyoruz) iki uçtan birine doğru çekilerek yere seriliyoruz. "
•
Parker Sante, sürekli okuldan kaçıp soluğu otellerde alıyor, vaktinin çoğunu otelde geçiriyor. 5 yıldır konuşmuyor, gelecek planları yapmıyor, hiçbir şey için çaba göstermiyor, hayata dahil olmuyor. Yine soluğu otelde aldığı bir gün karşısına gümüş saçlı bir kız çıkıyor: Zelda Toth.
Zelda ve Parker bir anlaşma yapıyor ve kitabımız buradan itibaren tam olarak başlıyor.
Parker, Zelda ile vakit geçirdikçe Zelda'nın hayatının ne denli sıradışı olduğunu öğreniyor. Birlikte geçirdikleri bir haftasonunda, o kısacık sürede, Zelda'yı fikrinden vazgeçirmeye çalışırken Parker'ın hayatının nasıl değiştiğini okuyoruz kitapta.
Zelda, kısacık zamanlara çok şey sığdırabilen, insana çok farklı bir pencereden bakma ihtiyacı hissettiren bir karakter.Ben Zelda'yı gerçekten çok sevdim. Düşüncelerine çoğu zaman hak verdim.Gerçekten tanışmayı isteyebileceğim bir karakterdi.
Hikayenin kurgusu, anlatımı çok samimi, çok tatlıydı. Ayrıca Parker'ın kısacık hikayeleri de çok güzeldi. Kesinlikle tavsiye edebileceğim bir kitap. ❤

[Jenny Jo Weir · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED THIS BOOK! ALL-TIME FAVORITE!

OK, now that that's out there, I will try to calm down enough to express the beauty of this book. Let's just say I've never before enjoyed the stories within a story as much as I did here. This author is unbelievably talented and has spectacular writing ability.

I'm enamored with the skill and creativity of this story and can't wait to read more of Tommy's work. Crazy beautiful story.