Customer Reviews

Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The premise of the plot for "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" is well developed and well thought out. The real flaw comes in the presentation. At times, I found it hard to believe the book was written by a woman. Yet at other times, the author seemed too anxious to present the main character in proper context. For example, the constant name-dropping of rock bands seemed forced. In the overall picture, the debut novel is solid.

Luke Hunter's problems begin when he predicts his friend Stan's death. With the conflicts between his parents, problems with friends and girls, and pot smoking are factored in to the equation, Hunter is a pretty average teenager. The predictions of other deaths torment him throughout the book as he tries to forge a relationship with his dead friend's girlfriend. Faith becomes a focus to Luke as his other friends drop out of the picture. And when Astelle, a girl Luke thinks is dead, enters Luke's life, it becomes hard to empathize with the main character.

The angle of the story that draws Christianity into the story is a little uncomfortable. Particularly with other themes presented in the story, any statement making risks drawing away from the story.

There is a lot to like about "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" as it is a quick read; though being written in contemporary teenager dialect makes the wording cumbersome at times. Yet most of the teenage dilemas explored in the book are not really are not that far from the average teenager.

Honestly, I wasn't at all certain about this book when I picked it up. It had an intriguing title and cover art that reminded of recent Green Day albums, but I feared it would feel as hollow as some parts of recent Green Day albums. I am very pleased to say that my fears were unfounded.

Like so many fantastical stories about teenagers, it uses the unbelievable premise only to frame the very real problems that teenagers are presented with on a daily basis. The quiet desperation that grows inside you as you find yourself leaving childhood behind, the fear that nothing you do matters, the sadness that comes when friends drift apart - these are universal problems that every teenager has to deal with.

Proulx manages a consistent narrator that truly feels like a teenage boy, with all the insecurities that come along with it. As another review stated, the constant name dropping of bands feels a little forced at times, but music is often the most important thing to to teenagers that I find this excusable.

It does go all over the place at times, and there are some odd pacing choices - there is a plot point after a dance that I felt didn't need to be delayed as long as it was. However, another plot point was delayed in much the same way very late in the book, and the payoff was much better.

Excellent book - well written - not a single boring page - would make a great gift for anyone especially a teen-ager. Looking forward to more books by Joanne Proulx! Highly recommend.

I admit it. I thought this was one of those books like Schindler's List, where you read it because you're supposed to and you tell everyone it was good because it's supposed to be good, even if it leaves you so depressed you can barely function. I checked it out of the library as a sacrifice to the metaphorical gods of culture and good taste, whom I have greatly angered through the video games I have played. Turns out it's spiritual without being preachy, life-affirming without being saccharine, and just the thing to lift you from an emotional slump. The main character's the sort of stoned loser I always dismissed without a second thought, but the author made me see how he thinks and why he lives the way he does, and managed to convince me that in his own way he could be a hero--all of us could be heroes. Bravo, Proulx, and I can't wait to see what you write next!

I adored this book.

Picked it up a couple of weeks back at a sale - one of our stores imports mammoth amounts of stuff specifically for their sales; it has nothing to do with the quality of what's on offer - and I ripped through it in three days, doing two-thirds of it in one sitting on the last day.

The story is incredible. The synopsis initially makes you think of something like Final Destination or something similar, but that's about where it all stops because Final Destination was about being scared of dying and trying to change fate whereas this is about someone dealing with the fallout of knowing people are dying and being sometimes unable and sometimes unwilling to change fate.

The author has managed to encapsulate modern teenage life beautifully. I'm some way past seventeen, the protagonist's age in the novel, but I have dealings with kids who are around that age and I think she's spot on with it. Luke is misunderstood, but only to a point, and apathetic, but only to a point. She paints a very real portrait of a modern kid wasting away in a stagnant town. The story itself is Luke's narrative and comes across as his version of therapy, putting everything down in black and white to deal with it himself. His train of thought is simultaneously dark, comic, self-deprecating and self-important while still being brutally honest and downright brutal in itself. No punches are pulled.

I was enchanted from the very first page to the very last line, through the journey of what might veer off into some sort of supernatural/sci-fi at any point but instead grounds itself in the emotions of a personality which was once strong but is now fragile and weakening daily.

It is a spectacular first effort and I'm looking forward to the author's next work.

While it was in the Library looking for a good read after finishing "Everlost", I came across this. A glance at the black cover had me all interested- A kid foretells a friend's death for no reason and it ends up being true. How do you imagine that happening? I checked it out, took it home and finished it in 2 days, ANd I'll be honest- I thought it was good, but nothing really special. I can understand that this was Proulx's debut novel, and most debut novels are not that great, but this one... meh. I dunno what to think.

THE GOOD:

-Proulx must be a mother, because she manages to capture the teenage boy voice very well. Sadly, I know a lot of people who live like Luke Hunter- very spoiled, angst, and do drugs. And believe it or not, Teens do swear that much- ever since age 13, I swear like a pirate!

-It's well paced- some bits are slow, some move fast, and the book draws its conclusion wonderfully.

-The storyline- this mixes in a "Thirteen" type teen slang with the paranormal. Nobody would ever have thought that the two could merge very well.


THE BAD:

-There are so many unnecessary bracketed sentences and details. Yeah, lucky you, you went to Spain and on vacation you lost your virginity. Keep that in your diary, Luke, don't share it with the world.

-The story. "But you just praised the story!" True, I do like the story, I just don't think it was written the way it should have been, or at least how I wanted it to be told. Basically, as the story unfolds, Luke tries to pretend certain events in the book that happened earlier didn't happen. Well guess what, they did. We were there. We read it.

-THe main character, Luke, is such a male Mary Sue character, if there ever was such thing. Everything seems to be perfect, yet he hates it. Come on, wake up and smell the sunshine! You have many expensive electronics and stuff, you have a roof over your head. Think of the homeless people who DON'T have that...

Overall I am very mixed about this book. It's good in some parts, bad in others, and as a whole, feels rather disjointed.

Luke unexpectedly discovers the gift of being able to predict people's deaths. The thing is, Luke is a unambitious teenager who would rather not be special. He does drugs too often to call it social, his sarcasm convinces everyone he is mean rather than smart, he has a serious problem with lust, and he uses profanity constantly. And yet I like him. Immediately. I like him because he reveals himself to the reader the way he won't reveal himself to his friends and loved ones, allowing us to get a glimpse of the true person. We see how kind and brave and wonderful he really is beneath the surface, and all we want him to do is to see his own goodness. Powerful forces work against him, causing us to wonder if he will respond to the pressure by become the loser he says he is ... or the great man we know him to be.

The author is a brilliant writer who will have you flipping pages far into the night ... no matter how old you are. She managed to get a fuddy-duddy like me to accept the moral failures of the character as an essential part of the story ... not a blatant attempt at "sex appeal" for her young adult audience. I am deeply saddened that she resorted to making the Christians out to be fundamental radicals who don't understand grace (which is so far from my Christian experience), but I do love that grace, no matter who extends it, reveals its power in the end.

This is a great coming-of-age story that rivals Catcher in the Rye.

In 2002 in Stokum, Michigan, teenager Luke Hunter smokes pot with his friends in the basement of the house of Todd "Fang" Delaney's never home parents when he makes a dark prediction. Luke claims one of them will not make it to school tomorrow because he will be hit by an out of state red van license plate BLU 369; Stan will go heads to head at 8:37 and lose.

Word quickly gets around that Luke predicted to the nth degree of accuracy Stan's death. The media being in its usual uncaring frenzy state assault Stokum for information on the "Prophet of Death". They stalk Luke and his frightened bewildered parents as the town has become an asylum for the certifiable especially amoral reporters. Luke sees more "death flashes" that soon become real; seven months of death horrifying him as he wants to go back to his formerly mellow but somewhat cynical life. A prescription helps abate the visions even as religious fanatics try to intervene while a mom begs him to find his daughter when all he wants is his dream girl at school to say yes.

This is a fast-paced young adult contemporary paranormal thriller that focuses deeply on a previously bored teen whose 99.99% of his brain consisted of one icon: girls; suddenly he has the curse of seeing in graphic detail the death of someone soon. Thus Luke must cope with his unwanted psychic skills while avoiding the media, the religious nuts, the needy beggars, and even his family and friends whom he frightens. On top of that he is attracted to a girl who seems to reject him making him wonder if she fears his "gift". ANTHEM OF A RELUCTANT PROPHET is a well written teen angst thriller that leaves some threads unanswered, which implies sequel to me.

Harriet Klausner

I loved this book. Luke Hunter is such a great character. It's amazing to me that this book was written by an adult woman. The teenage voice is totally convincing. This could be this generation's Catcher in the Rye.