Rockoholic [Hardcover]

C.J. Skuse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2012

She's got it bad, and he ain't good -- he's in her garage?

Gonna have to face it: Jody's addicted to Jackson Gatlin, frontman of The Regulators, and after her best bud Mac scores tickets, she's front and center at his sold-out concert. But when she gets mashed in the moshpit, loses her precious moon rock, and bodysurfs backstage, she ends up with more than a mild concussion to deal with. By the next morning, the strung-out rock star is coming down in her garage. Jody -- oops -- kind of kidnapped him. By accident. And now he doesn't want to leave.

It's a rock-star abduction worthy of an MTV reality series . . . but who got punk'd?!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Made me laugh, cry, and seriously reconsider my taste in rock stars." -- Lucy Christopher, author of the Printz Honor Book STOLEN

"Perfect for the inner fangirl in us all. A hilarious look at what happens when fantasy and reality collide. Fast-paced, squirm-inducing, heartbreaking, life-affirming: It will make your think twice about your celebrity crushes. But not stop them. THAT would be crazy talk." -- Elizabeth Eulberg, author of TAKE A BOW

"Unexpected, in the best possible way. Romantic, surprising, a wild ride from beginning to end." -- Stacy Kramer, co-author of FROM WHAT I REMEMBER

"If Bridget Jones had a little sister, it would be Jody. Her narrative is sharp and pithy, yet perfectly captures how complicated it is to figure out what it means to love...and to learn how to let go. This reviewer cannot remember the last time she so desperately wanted everything to work out for a set of characters. ROCKOHOLIC is fun, funny, and would make a great book club read." -- VOYA

"This engaging, surprisingly serious caper is rock-solid." -- KIRKUS REVIEWS

"A raucous story of romance, rock music, and accidental kidnapping...shines a light on the pressures of fame and the process of seeing oneself from a new angle." -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"Funny and accurate." -- THE TIMES OF LONDON

"Sharp, vivid, daft." -- THE TELEGRAPH UK

"Intensely funny. Laugh-aloud slapstick with a dash of romance, it's terrific." -- THE BOOKSELLER UK

About the Author

C.J. SKUSE loves graphic novels, '80s sitcoms, Gummi Bears, My Chemical Romance, and malamutes. She hates omelettes, carnivals, and coughs. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University in England. BCCB called her novel PRETTY BAD THINGS "a fast-paced action adventure [that] provides a subtle sociolgical study of the effects of living in a hyper-mediated culture"! ROCKOHOLIC is her second book.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Chicken House (November 1, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0545429609
• ISBN-13: 978-0545429603
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #339,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

C.J Skuse, author of Pretty Bad Things, was born in 1980 in Weston-super-Mare, England. She loves graphic novels, sitcoms, Gummy Bears and the music of My Chemical Romance. She hates: hard-boiled eggs, the tops of her arms, carnivals and coughing. The movies Titanic, My Best Friend's Wedding and Twilight were all based on her ideas, she just didn't get to write them down in time. Before she dies, she would like to go to Japan, try clay-pigeon shooting and own a malamute. C.J has First Class degrees in Creative Writing and Writing for Children and her second novel, Rockoholic, about a teenage girl who accidentally kidnaps her rock star hero, was released in the UK in March 2011. She is currently working on her third, for which she is researching lizards, mortuaries and 80s electro.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite books this year! November 4, 2012

By Mary Bookhounds VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

MY THOUGHTS

ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT

Bristol teen, Jody, has a major crush on US rock star Jackson Gatlin. She has his posters plastered on her wall, eats what he professes to eat and just generally fangirls out at his concerts. Her best friend, Mac, wants to be on Broadway star and genially puts up with her Gatlin rants with a stoic front. They spend most of their time together at his family's pub and taking care of his little sister, Cree while his parents work. Her divorced mother has moved the family in with her father and Jody develops a special relationship with her grandfather. When he passes away, Jody is left bereft and slowly spins out of control. The only bright spot in her life is seeing Gatlin's band preform, so when she angers her mother and her mother in turn rips up Jody's ticket to the show, things get desperate.

Mac graciously gives Jody his ticket and even drives her to the show, even waits for her to finish. When she ends up injured at the concert, Mac tracks her down and finds her with Jackson, in a bizarre and accidental kidnapping. They find that Jackson doesn't want to go back to his band and evil manager and also has a horrible drug addiction to uppers and downers. So what is super fan Jody do? She takes him home to nurse him, hiding him in her grandfather's garage and rehabing him. What ends up happening in the story is truly heartwarming, bittersweet and funny enough to make this one of my favorite reads of the year.

Although the characters are in England, this story should resonate with any young adult just coming of age and trying to deal with what they want to do with their lives. The fact that Jody is so clueless about Mac's feeling for her really was a sweet moment when she realizes that Mac is and has been in love with her forever and it is the right kind of love. Both of them have families with major issues and the fact that these two aren't more messed up is amazing. Parents: there is language, some kissing, alcohol mentions, drug abuse. Please note that this book takes place in England where the drinking age is different. The drug abuse is shown in a bad light.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Last of the Teenage Idols April 26, 2011

By HeavyMetalMonty

Format:Paperback

Rockoholic is aimed primarily at the teen market.

CJ Skuse does an excellent job of expressing the angst, torment and often-irrational passions that drive adolescent females. Her characters are well written and believable, with realistic character development as the story progresses. Morals are weaved into the storyline, so girls who identify with the main character will soak up positive messages from the book. The opening chapter is, for readers of any age or gender, beautifully written.

There was a little too much 'OMG' and 'LOL' for my liking; this smacks of a gifted author resorting to vacuous nothingspeak in an attempt to pander to her target market. The worst example of this was the use of 'LOL-ing' as a verb. It isn't necessary for a writer as talented as CJ Skuse to dumb herself down by using flavour-of-the-moment acronyms like LOL, OMG and ROFL unless she's describing a text exchange in which said acronyms were actually used. For an author of her calibre to use 'OMG!' as a sentence of prose is a literary felony. Another minor niggle was the description of Jackson's cold-turkey withdrawal from hard drugs; the author didn't do justice to the intensity of such an experience. (See Irvine Welsh's novel Trainspotting for a realistic account of the hellish suffering that accompanies the comedown.) Granted, Rockoholic is aimed at a younger market than Trainspotting was, so there's a need for censoring certain things, but the visceral horror of cold-turkey withdrawals isn't one of them. Had the author been more graphic in her description of that transition, the impact would have been intensified.

The story's strengths heavily outweigh its weaknesses. Rockoholic is a well-crafted novel which, in addition to carrying valuable social messages, is truly touching. This book will thrill young adults, especially those with an interest in rock music.

5.0 out of 5 stars The limeLight Isn't What you'd expect. April 7, 2013

By Ashten Reeds

Format:Kindle Edition

C.J. does an impressive job sneaking in a bunch of rock culture references and she also puts in a lot of theater references for West Side Story and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Overall Rockoholics is in my top 10 favorites.