Multi-POV. Cautious treading!

Weird. A little meandering?
A fast read. The POVs work out rather well.
The story feels/is weird like you wouldn't believe - and I'm not sure even why. It's actually very hard to rate.
Nothing really happens here but many things are going on. It's tricky. P: Very unusual.

FINAL VERDICT: It's good ( )

Actual rating: 2.5 stars ( )

Black Painted Fingernails is the 6th book by Australian writer Steven Herrick. The story starts with James Spalding, a student teacher, setting out west to the town of Hillston for his first teacher-training round. He’s setting out with a cut lunch from his mother, Angela, a gleaming new red BMW M3 from Michael, his dad (a well-off surgeon) and also with a definite lack of enthusiasm. Sophie, owner of the Black Painted Fingernails, is twenty-one, looks gorgeous, wild and unconventional and is hitching a ride back home. She approaches him at a petrol station for a ride. James, young, inexperienced and (by his own admission) a bit geeky, is overwhelmed by her cockiness, and finds himself with a passenger. The story is told in several voices: James is detailing what happens to him and to Sophie on the trip west; Sophie details what has happened in her life to bring her to this point; Angela and Michael separately detail their anxieties about James on this, his first time away from home. At Sophie’s suggestion, they enter the “Truth Factory”, and learn a great deal about each other. James admits that he doesn’t know what he does want, but he is quite certain he doesn’t want “my mother to tidy my room or buy my underwear or find me a suitable girlfriend. I don’t want to be a teacher”. Herrick sets a great scene: the reader feels present in the story from page 1. The dialogue is authentic, the characters quickly become people you care about and the plot is realistic. This novel has some lessons to teach: decide what is really important in your life; think carefully about burning all your bridges, as you may want to use them to go back home; stay connected with the people you care about and tell them you love them, they could be gone tomorrow. This is a heart-warming tale and an easy read. I did wonder if the author used “chaise lounge” (three times!) intentionally, tongue-in-cheek, or if both authors and proof-readers can’t spell these days. Am I showing my age? This novel is described as Young Adult Fiction. I am not a Young Adult, but I very much enjoyed it, none-the-less. ( )

Black Painted Fingernails is the 6th book by Australian writer Steven Herrick. The story starts with James Spalding, a student teacher, setting out west to the town of Hillston for his first teacher-training round. He’s setting out with a cut lunch from his mother, Angela, a gleaming new red BMW M3 from Michael, his dad (a well-off surgeon) and also with a definite lack of enthusiasm. Sophie, owner of the Black Painted Fingernails, is twenty-one, looks gorgeous, wild and unconventional and is hitching a ride back home. She approaches him at a petrol station for a ride. James, young, inexperienced and (by his own admission) a bit geeky, is overwhelmed by her cockiness, and finds himself with a passenger. The story is told in several voices: James is detailing what happens to him and to Sophie on the trip west; Sophie details what has happened in her life to bring her to this point; Angela and Michael separately detail their anxieties about James on this, his first time away from home. At Sophie’s suggestion, they enter the “Truth Factory”, and learn a great deal about each other. James admits that he doesn’t know what he does want, but he is quite certain he doesn’t want “my mother to tidy my room or buy my underwear or find me a suitable girlfriend. I don’t want to be a teacher”. Herrick sets a great scene: the reader feels present in the story from page 1. The dialogue is authentic, the characters quickly become people you care about and the plot is realistic. This novel has some lessons to teach: decide what is really important in your life; think carefully about burning all your bridges, as you may want to use them to go back home; stay connected with the people you care about and tell them you love them, they could be gone tomorrow. This is a heart-warming tale and an easy read. I did wonder if the author used “chaise lounge” (three times!) intentionally, tongue-in-cheek, or if both authors and proof-readers can’t spell these days. Am I showing my age? This novel is described as Young Adult Fiction. I am not a Young Adult, but I very much enjoyed it, none-the-less. ( )