Sometimes while I’m doing monotonous tasks I need something to keep my mind occupied but I can’t crack open a book because my hands are busy doing other things. During these times I like to listen to audiobooks on Scribd to keep me from going insane. This week I listened to The Haters, and it was okay, but I’m still on the hunt for the perfect audiobook to keep me entertained.
Synopsis: Three hyper-pretentious music nerds break out of jazz band camp to start a band and go on tour across America. With the constant fear that someone is going to turn them in to the authorities, or even worse, their parents, the trio do everything in their power to allude capture. With hormones on high, and their sound still developing, these three teens aren’t exactly sure how this is going to work, but they are willing to try.
Random thoughts about this book:
- Dear god, I hate every single one of these characters! They are awful!
- How is this audio book still going on? I’m reading it at 2.5 speed! This is the longest teen book EVER! And yet I know it isn’t that long because I’ve seen the book in the store!
- I think I’m laughing at all the wrong places in this book…
“Inevitably, however, a dude approached us. He was white. Jazz camp was mostly white dudes. This dude was clutching a gold-embossed tenor sax case, and on his head was a fedora with two different eagle feathers in it.”
I think my biggest problem with this book was how easily these teens avoided getting caught. They were supposed to be in the care of the camp directors, and I’m pretty sure the camp wouldn’t have just called their parents when they disappeared. There would have been media coverage, police involvement… especially when all of them left their phones behind and were completely unreachable. This is Amber Alert level of crazy, and yet they manage to travel all over the freaking place without anyone recognizing them once.
And yet, even though I often wanted to rip my hair out as Ash pitted these hormone-fuelled teen boys against each other with her angst and boobs, I continued to listen to the entire book. I wanted to see where this story was going. Would they finally figure out a name for their band? Would Ash’s sarcasm and bullying drive one of them to murder her? Would someone finally realize that these three teens probably shouldn’t be driving around on their own? Why hasn’t someone just cut off their credit cards? Where the heck are all the police in this world?
I honestly don’t know how I feel about this book. It was fast-paced, infuriating, funny, but overly-pretentious. I hated all the characters, but was interested enough in their story to keep reading. This book just wasn’t for me, but I’m sure someone out there will love it.
LC rating: 
(okay but I don’t
think I’ll be reading more from this author)
The Literary Counsellor 
I understand being frustrated with some of the things that happen that just don’t make sense. There’s supposed to be some level of suspension of belief, but at some point, authors take it too far — from what you’re describing, this book would drive me crazy too. Sounds like the author really just wanted to write the story without dealing with the real consequences that would have happened from such a thing. Great review, thanks for sharing!
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