Customer Reviews

King of the Screwups

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Liam Geller is the son of a successful former model and an uptight CEO. The pressure placed on him to succeed from a very young age, combined with the layers of emotional abuse suffered from the words of his father, results in causing him to believe that he's not good at anything except "screwing up". When a final mistake at home causes his father to kick him out he goes to live with his "Aunt" Pete, a man who's been estranged from his family for years due to his refusal to conform to what had been expected of him.

The story goes on to share Liam's struggle of coming to terms with the fact that his parents aren't perfect and he isn't broken, as they've lead him to believe he is. The humor in this story is all a mask of much deeper issues. It's a rewarding read because of the beautifully constructed main characters. But, there will also be points when you'd like to thorw it across the room because of the anger that the other, minor characters, instill in you as a reader.

K.L. Going does a fantastic job of making you feel like you could be a watcher in this smalltown of Pineville, experiencing the ups and downs of Liam and his uncle as a next-door neighbor really would.

The one thing I would state against this book (and the reason I didn't give it the full 5 stars) is that it's not for middle-schoolers. Sure, there may be some kids mature enough to handle the subject matter at that age, but I feel that the majority of 12-year-olds out there would not be able to grasp the dynamics of this story.

These are hard subjects to handle, even for a high-schooler. But I would definitely advise that the sexual innuendo, language and subtle detailing of emotional abuse would be much better received by a slightly older audience than what the cover of the book recommends.

Other than that, A+.

You can't please everybody. I knew that before reading KING OF THE SCREWUPS by K.L Going. Ms.Going, however, is going to please a lot of people with her newest book. I have read her other books and she just has a way of creating an engaging ensemble of characters in each book you read.

I like Liam Geller, the protagonist in this story. He is Mr Popular. You know the type - very good looking, knows how to dress, has his way with the ladies, excels at sports. He is just an average student, though, and this disappoints his father to no end. His father is a CEO of this prestigious company and a member of Mensa, so you can imagine what an embarrassment it must be for him that his son does not take after him. Liam actually takes after his mom, a former runway model. He has a great eye for fashion and this does not sit well with dear old dad. His father absolutely believes that intelligence and discipline is what will get him far in life. Popularity and likeableness in high school will not help in the real world. I beg to differ on that point....

I do not like Allan Geller. Personally, I think he is a horse's ass. The pressure he puts on his son is ridiculous. Working in the school system, I see a lot of fathers like that. Their kids are generally good kids, have potential, but just feel like losers because they are buried under such criticism and feel no love.

This definitely can be considered a coming-of-age story. Liam, throughout this book, discovers who he is and how to make it work. Going seamlessly combines much needed comic moments with some heartbreaking ones. I think the intention of this book was to show that it is okay to not be perfect, but what really came out is how damaging a parent's high and sometimes unrealistic expectations can be on their child.

Now, I am not saying Liam is perfect - he does screw up and does some things that may make parents cringe, but he is not an utter failure at everything. I don't think it was right to get drunk and pretty much have sex on his dad's desk. He was doing what teenagers do, but this last episode was the one that broke the camel's back. This screwup gets him kicked out with a slim chance of ever returning. His father has had enough of him and wants him out of the house.

He has made arrangements for Liam to live with his grandparents, but because they don't care for him too much, Liam makes alternative arrangements to live with his Aunt Pete, which angers his father even more. You see, aunt Pete is a gay glam rock DJ living in a small trailer, not exactly the role model for discipline that his father wants for Liam. It turns out though that "Aunt" Pete and his colorful assortment of friends are better role models for Liam than his dad will ever be by a country mile.

And so begins Liam's new life. Here in Pineville, NY, where nobody knows him, he can reinvent himself. Here he could be a nerd, focus on academics like his father wants, and just become someone that his father is proud of. Once his father sees how much he has changed, he will surely take him back.

The thing is, no matter how hard he tries to be unpopular, people like him anyway. Well, most people like him. The only one that he wants admiration from is a girl that can't stand him - Darleen, the girl next door.

I know as I got further and further into the writing of THE KING OF THE SCREWUPS that I wanted Liam to succeed. I needed Liam to succeed. But Darleen is right when she tells Liam that you can't create love - you have to take it where it happens.....

Reviewed by: coollibrarianchick

I read this book because my granddaughter wanted to read it and I had found out that one of the characters that influences the young man concerned in the story is gay. Now don't get all upset! I am not a prejudiced person in any regard, except when it comes to my grand children and then I don't care what you are...I want to KNOW about you.
I came away completely impressed with the author's deft handling of all subject matter. I let her read it and she loved it. I never let her know about my qualms for fear of ruining her read, but I felt like the King of the Screwups for my desire to censor the modern adolescents view of the world as it is in these modern times. I would recommend this book to any youth in high school because it teaches some much needed lessons missing, I think, from far too many kids lives today. My gratitude to K.L. Going.

I picked this up on a vacation where I had a lot of extra time, and I read it in one evening. I thought the plot and characters kept the pages turning.

At first I hated Liam because he's such a mess, but pretty early on, he won me over. His narration is fantastic and authentic. He's his own person and he's definitely a young person. By the end of the story, I really felt for him and hated his father. While others have commented that his father is a flat character and maybe even a cliche, I think that in a first person narration, the father as flat is acceptable. This is how Liam perceives his father. He wants to please him and wants to make excuses for him. Sure, he's somewhat two-dimensional, but more complexity would muddle the story, and it's not the father's story anyway. It's Liam's.

I liked the mother and her relationship with Pete, how they were so close. I found it hard to believe that Pete would take such pride in his appearance sometimes, but not others, and that he would live in a pig sty, but I know not all gay men are neat freaks.

An earlier critique said this story is typical YA fiction, but I didn't feel that way in the least. While Liam is a screw up and his father is always riding him, he has so much more to deal with. And I think simply having Liam move in with his glam rock band gay uncle is pretty far from normal teen fiction.

One of my favorite pieces of this book is that Pete is such a better father to Liam than Allan. He talks to him. He expresses his concern for him, and not only his disappointment. He buy him a birtday gift that Liam actually wants. Pete is a great character and made this book unique.

On craft, I think the way Going uses the flashbacks in this story works better than in most books I've read. The flashbacks all come together to create a picture of Liam's youth--the love from him mother, the experiences in fashion, the jealousy/anger of his father. I enjoyed them more as I went on in the reading.

I enjoyed FAT KID RULES THE WORLD and KING OF THE SCREWUPS. I'm headed for SAINT IGGY next. Thanks, K.L. Going for some great reading.

I like the unusual and the unorthodox, and the plot of this book was just that. Never mind that this is young adult fiction, when I read the synopsis, I had to check it out, and I'm glad I did. This is a young adult book, as I said, and I breezed through it in about two hours simply because it moved along at a brisk pace and was expertly written. It's a great read because even though the target audience is of a younger generation, the author doesn't talk down to them, it's very intelligent. So if the back jacket of the book caught your eye, (who doesn't want to read about a gay glam rock DJ?), then you'll probably be as entertained by this book as I was. A very good read.

With some juvenile delinquents you feel sorry for the parents, with others you feel sorry for the kid. Liam Geller falls into the latter category. We don't get to hear about all the bad things Liam did before the book opens, but I don't think any of it was too hardcore. When we meet Liam he's drunk and cavorting on his father's desk with a half-naked teen girl he doesn't even like that much. That's the straw that breaks his father's back and causes him to kick Liam out of the house. Liam's mother defies her husband and sends Liam to live with his estranged gay uncle instead of his strict grandparents like his father wanted. This is one of the few times she grows a backbone and stands up for Liam, although not enough to let him stay at home.

Liam and his mother have a special relationship. During his early childhood she was a runway model and would take Liam with her to shows and photo shoots. They get along great. She gave up her career while still in her prime and opened a boutique. Liam works at her shop and helps her choose clothes and set up displays, something he has a natural talent for. We find out later that his mother was pressured to quit modeling by her husband who was insecure and jealous.

When Liam goes to live with his "Aunt" Pete in a trailer park in small-town New York, Pete, his boyfriend and his two friends become Liam's surrogate family. One's a cop, one is Liam's English teacher, and one is Eddie, the owner of a local clothing store. Liam enrolls in the local high school and makes a plan to show his dad how good he can be so he can move back home. Liam has bad self-esteem and thinks that no matter how hard he tries, he always screws up. Even when he tries to become unpopular at his new school, he can't manage it because he's just too cool. But Liam is really a pretty good kid. He's been told that he's a screw up for so long from his father that it has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. With encouragement from Pete and his friends, Liam finds his own path and it looks like he might have a bright future after all.

This was my first book by K.L. Going and I'll probably read her other ones. The writing style is easy and there are no slow parts to trudge through. That's not to say it's a big action book, it's not. But it has nice characters and a good story.

I can't say the "King of Screwups" is an important novel in teen literature, but I will say it is a mostly positive and accurate portrayal of many teenagers who struggle with gaining approval and self-discovery.

The story evolves are Liam, who has just been kicked out of his house for doing the dirty with a girl in his father's office. Through a series of mishaps, lies, and finagling, Liam ends up moving to live where his father wants him least - in a small town trailer home with his gay uncle. Follows is Liam's series of mistakes, mishaps, and screwups that disappoint himself, his uncle, and the girl he tries to impress.

As I read through the novel I found myself hating Liam - how could anyone be so stupid? His screwups aren't always just an issue of foot-in-mouth, but often they are simply unnecessary mistakes that anyone with half a brain could avoid. Sometimes even his "successes" are considered screwups because Liam has such a hard time discovering ways to impress the people he cares about. I had almost grown so sick of Liam's antics that I hoped he'd just get hit by a bus. Towards the end of the novel, however, you really understand that though 17 year olds essentially live adult lives and make adult choices, they are remarkably still dependent, needy, and heavily influenced by those who they love.

What impressed me most about the novel was the fact that it did something rare in teen literature - the inclusion of many adult elements that surround the modern 17 year old. In this book you'll find discussions and descriptions of sex, drugs, drinking, metrosexuality, homosexuality, parenting styles, independence, jail time, and even several uses of the "F" bomb. As a teen I read many novels designed for my age group and usually found myself rolling my eyes when the author skirted around all the big naughty things that happen quite frequently.

Overall I liked the book, the writing was easy to read and engaging, even when I wasn't at the edge of my seat I found myself wondering how Liam was going handle his next situation. Despite my initial hate for Liam's character I won't lie and say I didn't have real life friends who mirrored his personality almost exactly. In honesty I hate these real life people as well, but I'd never thought about the immaturity of many teenagers (and adults) and even though they act like they've completely separated from their parents' authority, might secretly be longing for acceptance. Like I said, this isn't going to become a classic and it shouldn't be required reading, but it is something every modern school library should carry, and hey it's even good enough I'd recommend it to my friends.

Liam Geller is the offspring of a aelf made businessman and former model/prom queen. Unfortunately, he takes after his mother, and that doesn't sit too well with dad. In some books, you eventually see that the protagonist's believing his parents to be selfish and self-absorbed is not completely true, but not here. After Liam's behavior becomes too much for either mom or dad, he's sent to live with his Uncle Pete, a cross-dressing, glam rocker deejay in upstate New York. He meets a girl in the trailer park where he now lives who has paint stained overalls and a ponytail and decides to make her over into prom queen. No, wait, that's a movie. Actually, Liam decides to make himself over and become studious and "unpopular." This will make Dad happy, right? Well, the reader can predict what will ultimately happen, but the book is still funny and original. It gets a little preachy at the end, but that's the only real flaw.

More like 3 1/2 if that was an option.

The plot of "King of the Screwups" starts off by borrowing a page from the Salinger playbook - except this time Liam is kicked out of his house by his disappointed software developer father who is disappointed that he wants to be a model (like his mother) and moves in with his uncle "Aunt Pete" who lives in a trailer park. Liam screws up constantly, whether it's at the beginning of the book when his parents walk in on him having sex in their house, when he writes the word "the" in a class taught by his uncle's boyfriend. Then Liam has an epiphany.

Unlike every other book where the shy kid moves to a new school to become popular, Liam tries to be more of a nerd (which is a welcome twist for the genre), like his software developer father. Comic mishaps ensue including getting arrested by an altogether familiar police officer after attempting to spice up a party. Yadda yadda, be yourself. That kind of thing. Then there is a climactic and extremely predictable showdown in the principal's office between Liam's uncle and his father.

It's not as bad as it sounds though even if it isn't particularly original. Most of the characters are flat. Liam's father has about as much depth as a sheet of tracing paper and serves as a vaudevillesque antagonist who yells at his saintly wife and tries to sign up Liam for the military. Aunt Pete's friends often serve as plot devices. Yet, Liam is a surprisingly likable protagonist and Aunt Pete is one of the better written gay characters in YA lit.

Some of the dialogue is snarky and very funny, too. After the aforementioned police incident, Liam is confronted and says he needed to relax, then Aunt Pete responds, "from all the sleeping and watching television you do?"

It's fairly funny at times (and I think the intended audience might find it very funny), and the friction Liam experiences with his parents is something some teens with business-oriented parents can relate to. Despite the fact Liam does a million stupid things, comic mishaps wreak cosmic justice on him every time and eventually he learns valuable moral lessons from his uncle, so I don't think the book has any character issues, either.

Here's where the major problem comes in - I'm a tad mixed on this book because as a teacher, I can see it's borderline unteachable, though it would be a welcome addition to class libraries (especially since it deals with homosexuality in a tasteful way), but I can also see that many adolescent caucasian girls and a minority of males would probably enjoy it even if it's not a particularly great book. Here are some of the reasons why.

While I think it'd be fine for a classroom library and deals pretty honestly with middle and lower middle class gay culture, and I think white middle class teenage girls would love it, it's not really particularly teachable given the sexual content, length of the book (310 pages!) and lack of consistent literary devices besides flashbacks and stream-of-consciousness narration (which I think is a literary technique better taught vis-a-vis the much shorter and better-written Catcher in the Rye). Teaching Catcher is hard in a diverse setting. Teaching this (which has no recognizably African-American characters and a male protagonist that wants to be a supermodel) would get me tarred and feathered.

Given it's a YA book by one of the major children's book publishers, lesson planning is normally thats something that's important. No lesson plan guides on the author or publisher's website (though I can see why). It's written on a 4th or 5th grade level, which is good if you have low-proficiency students, but I doubt low proficiency students will be clamoring to read a 300+ page book. I would've liked to have seen slightly more advanced vocabulary being used in a book of this length.

Also, in order to characterize Liam, Going inserts overly lengthy decriptions of clothing in his first person narration, which grows tiresome - especially considering how long the book already is. I would expect outright revolt from the boys. In short, not a bad book for adolescent girls and a few fashion-oriented boys (I think they'll like it), but a terrible book to teach.

Also, taken in comparison to books like "The Catcher in the Rye" and Chbosky's "Confessions of a Wallflower" (which is a great book to teach epistolary narrative), this book is about 100 pages too long, and suffers from a lack of teaching materials (I checked the publisher page, most YA books come out with lesson planning guides, this didn't).

If you're a teen and this book sounds interesting, I'd read "Catcher in the Rye" or "Confessions of a Wallflower" first, but pick this up if you'e already read those, you'll like it. If you're a teacher, a definite "yes" for the classroom library. A definite "no" to teaching.

Liam Geller is and has always been Mr. Popularity. But knowing how to navigate the social scene has only been good for his public image, and unfortunately, this image is what gets him into the most trouble at home. His extremely successful businessman of a father can't understand why someone who shares half his DNA could seem like such a screwup. When Liam's father finally has enough, Liam is kicked out and only reluctantly taken in by his "Aunt" Pete, a gay glam-rocker deejay. A complete and utter change of scenery may be exactly what Liam wants--in order to mold his image into that of a studious and well mannered man his father can be proud of. He figures that as soon as his father catches on, he'll be home in no time. But is that what Liam really needs, to please his father at the expense of his true identity?

From the first chapter until the very end, King of the Screwups is a rocky, heart wrenching, and very personal journey. This novel opens with and continues to be interspaced with Liam's flashbacks to hwen he was younger to show the depth of dysfunction in the Geller family, and how that created the person Liam is. It's disturbing how poorly Mr. Geller treats his son Liam and his wife, and even sadder how those two accept Mr. Geller's mean word as truth. This makes Liam such an easy character to care for even though some of his actions are not well thought out or are pathetically defeatist. Going skillfully portrays this difficult environment in which a child cannot earn a parent's approval no matter how hard he tries, and this kept tears rolling down my face. King of the Screwups is the kind of book I'd love to hate but simply cannot; for example, I hate Mr. Geller's selfishness and Mrs. Geller's lack of a backbone, but I love Aunt Pete's well defined attitude and contentedness with life. Liam's story of being able to finally be himself is such a great one in that he has to overcome such mental and emotional challenges. Beautifully and provocatively written and completely realistic, King of the Screwups is a hopeful story that will seize one's heart and never let go.

This emotional story will be enjoyed by readers who also liked Absolutely Maybe by Lisa Yee, Love, Meg by C. Leigh Purtill, and Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers.