Sunday 18 December 2011

Book Review - Happy Birthday To Me

Title: Happy Birthday To Me
Author: Brian Rowe
Series: Birthday Trilogy (book 1)
Publisher: CreateSpace
Release Date: 5 April 2011
ASIN: B004VF69C8

Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Cameron Martin has a huge problem: he’s aging a whole year of his life with each passing day!
High school is hard enough; imagine rapidly aging from seventeen to seventy in a matter of weeks, with no logical explanation, and with prom, graduation, and the state championship basketball game on the horizon. That’s what happens to Cameron, a popular pretty boy who's never had to face a day looking anything but perfect.
All Cameron wants to do is go back to normal, but no one, not even the best doctors, can diagnose his condition. When he finds love with a mysterious young woman, however, he realizes his only hope for survival might be with the one person who started his condition in the first place.

 
My Review
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I had seen a few reviews for this and was curious so I accepted it to read, it's not my usual sort of read so I didn't get round to it for a while. But now I've read it I have to say I enjoyed it.
Cameron is 17 years old, Basketball champ and looking forward to a bright future, but he's also arrogant and rude, when he upsets a young girl he starts aging a year every day. The idea for this book was really clever and done really well. Such an original idea.
I didn't particularly like Cameron, he was pig-headed and rude, his main focus seemed to be winning basketball and getting his girlfriend to have sex, he really irritated me, in fact it took me a while to care about what was happening to him, for a good portion I wasn't bothered but as the book went on he matures in more way than one and by the end of the book I quite liked him.  
Each chapter represents a new age in Cameron's life, you see him go from 17 to 18 right through to 80 years old. The pacing is really good and the descriptions and changes of Cameron's change is spot on. Brian Rowe has really captured the aging process and it really makes you think about what older people go through/experience.
Liesel is a bit of a mystery throughout the book but I found myself captivated by her, I wanted to know more about who she was and where she came from and I hope to see more of her in the next book. 
The best moment in the book was a very touching scene between Cameron and his Dad, it made me go 'Awe', I won't give anything away but when you read it you'll know what I mean.
I will admit i had tears in my eyes towards the end of the book, it was very touching and emotional - very well done.
Overall I enjoyed it a lot more than i thought I would and Cameron really grew on me as a character, I'm looking forward to reading book 2.

My Rating
I would give this book 9/10. Funny, moving, different. Definitely worth a read.  

2 comments:

Lan said...

Sounds like a great read. I like the idea of someone aging a year each day and learning something about it.

barmybex said...

Was good, I would recommend it. Quite a quick read too.