Castration Celebration

By: Jake Wizner
Release Date: May 26, 2009

Summary(from Barnes & Noble):
It’s High School Musical—rated R!When the girl who’s foresworn men meets the boy who’s devoted himself to picking up women, there’s bound to be drama—perfect for a sixweek summer program devoted to the arts. Olivia’s summer goal: to write a musical that censures men with wandering eyes. Max’s summer goal: to hone his acting skills, along with his talent for attracting the ladies. Before camp is over, they’ll perform Olivia’s musical onstage and in real life—though the ending may turn out differently than either expects.


Review:
Character Development: 6/10
Originality: 9/10
Plot/Storyline: 6/10
Ending: 7/10
Voice: 8/10
Recommendation: 5/10
Total Score: 41
Grade: B-

Age Appropriate Rating:
Cussing: 10/10
Drugs, alcohol, etc.: 8/10
Sexual Content: 20/10


Written Review:

This novel is WAY overly perverted. I guess that's obvious by the title but still. Every time there was an opening for an inappropriate comment or joke...or something....there was one. Actually every other sentence there was a rude joke. I'm very proud to not be a person who engages in behavior of this sort and so a percentage of the jokes went over my head. It was rather disgusting how much of a theme sex was in this novel. But as much as I'd like to say I hated it for that, I didn't. Besides the sexual jokes there were some little jokes and actual laugh out loud moments that made this book worth it. It was filled with humor and I couldn't put it down.

The characters contradicted themselves a lot. Like their descriptions would make you think they'd act one way in a situation but then the character seems to act completely different. But besides that the characters as a group were still written very well. They all had great chemistry that was evident from the beginning. The conversations and flirting and romance and friendships were written (almost) flawlessly to me. It takes a lot of effort to create characters that can really connect not just to the reader but to each other and I applaud any author that can do so.

There were many gross out moments in this book. Jake Wizner had a way of describing things graphically without being graphic about them (if that makes sense at all). Some of the songs or scenes in the play and even just scenes in the book made me feel super uncomfortable. I've read some raunchy stuff. I mean most young adult novels are that way now but CASTRATION CELEBRATION was taken to a new extreme. I could get past it though because this novel's purpose is a joke basically. Like the summary says' this is a High School Musical rated R. It's not meant to be polite or appropriate. It's meant to entertain and it clearly did that easily.

Overall I was entertained. It was a really quick read that is very lighthearted and funny. If you can look past the crude humor, there is an actual story and its a sweet (but again crude) romance that is plenty humorous and enjoyable. It flowed really well and though the characters weren't relatable to me (which if you've been reading this blog you know that's my key thing) their great chemistry made up for that. I recommend this book to any older and more mature teens looking for a good lighthearted laugh.

thanks.
-jill