#BookReview of The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig by Don Zolidis

Synopsis: Janesville, Wisconsin (cold in the sense that there is no God)

1994

The worst thing that's ever happened to Craig is also the best: Amy. Amy and Craig never should've gotten together. Craig is an awkward, Dungeons & Dragons-playing geek, and Amy is the beautiful, fiercely intelligent student-body president of their high school.

Yet somehow they did. Until Amy dumped him. Then got back together with him. Then dumped him again. Then got back together with him again. Over and over and over.

Unfolding during their senior year, Amy and Craig's exhilarating, tumultuous relationship is a kaleidoscope of joy, pain, and laughter as an uncertain future-and adult responsibility-loom on the horizon.

Craig fights for his dream of escaping Janesville and finding his place at a quirky college, while Amy's quest to uncover her true self sometimes involves being Craig's girlfriend?and sometimes doesn't.

Seven heartbreaks. Seven joys.Told nonsequentially, acclaimed playwright Don Zolidis's debut novel is a brutally funny, bittersweet taste of the utterly unique and utterly universal experience of first love.

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About the Author:  Don Zolidis grew up in Wisconsin, went to college in Minnesota, and is mostly known for being a really funny playwright. For the past five years, he's been the most-produced playwright in American schools. His more than one hundred published plays have been performed tens of thousands of times, and have appeared in sixty-four different countries. He currently splits his time between New York and Texas, and has two adorable boys who will someday read this book and have a lot of questions. He aspires to owning a dog. The Seven Torments of Amy and Craig is his first novel. He's hard at work on the next one. 


Rating: 🌟🌟🌟
My Review: Although this was an interesting story.  I kind of felt really bad for Craig.  However, it really came down to this not having that spark that I was looking for.  It is basically a story for those who are looking for a story about the heart break of two teens.  And all the issues that go along with that.  I did like the nerdy parts of the story and I do have to say that a lot of what these teens were going through felt true to the age.  But it was just lacking that spark. 

"Craig's wry, self-absorbed, and self-deprecating voice carries this slice-of-life love story to a higher plane. Readers, like Amy, will fall in love with him even as they want to shake him... Packed with fantastic dialogue and vivid staging... A thoroughly absorbing, authentic and entertaining read."―Shelf Awareness

"Craig's dryly witty narration adds humor... and the nonlinear narration keeps things interesting. A coming-of-age romance with bittersweet tones for fans of John Green-style jocularity."―Booklist

"Paying light homage to John Hughes movies via a mid-'90s setting, Zolidis handles the on-and-off relationship with humor and heart while deftly weaving through the more difficult subject matter."―Publishers Weekly

"Funny, painful, and starry-eyed. A must-read book for anyone who has ever been in love."―Jenny Boylan, author of The Long Black Veil and She's Not There

"A charming, funny love story."―Kirkus Reviews

"Appealingly realistic... Outrageously funny... Full of humor and heart, this refreshingly unromantic romance is highly recommended for most collections."―School Library Journal

Accolades

2018 Cybils Award, Young Adult Fiction Nominee

Bustle: 11 Upcoming Romantic YA Novels That Might Just Be Your New Favorite Rom-Com, selection (2018)

BookRiot: 125+ Upcoming YA Books You'll Want on Your October to December Radar, selection (2018)

BookRiot: Breaking Up is Hard to Do: 21 YA Books About Heartbreak and Breakups, selection (2019)

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Posted in: 3 Stars, Disney-Hyperion, Review, Young Adult