review: Bruiser by Neal Shusterman

pub date: June 29, 2010

publisher: HarperTeen
pgs: 336
content: 1 swear
source: library

I just finished Bruiser by Neal Shusterman. I loved it. I've decided that the biggest factor in my deciding if I like a book or not is the character. If I love a character, I can over look a lot of other stuff I might not like about the story. And I loved the characters in this book. And I loved everything else, too. I'm not implying that there were things I had to overlook, because there weren't. I was just saying in general I can overlook a lot when I love the character(s).

It's told from the point of view of four characters: Tennyson (brother) and Bronte (sister) are twins, Brewster is an outcast at school that Bronte begins to date, and Cody is Brewster's little brother. I loved their voices. Tennyson can be funny. He had these one liners that had me laughing out loud. Though he is rather selfish and a bully. Cody's eight-years-old and his observations of the world were pretty humorous. My favorite was Brewster, also known as the Bruiser. His chapters were beautiful! I was moved to almost tears twice while reading his poetry. The first time was at the very end of his very first chapter. SO BEAUTIFUL. Though I loved all four characters, he is the one that I loved the most. I adore him! I can completely understand how Bronte fell in love. And look at those beautiful green eyes! (from the cover)

I am one who doesn't like to know too much about a book before I read it. I totally judge books by their cover and skip the blurb inside. So I won't give too much away about Bruiser. I read some reviews that gave everything away and it made it so that surprises in the book weren't surprises. So here is the blurb from the library website: "Inexplicable events start to occur when sixteen-year-old twins Tennyson and Brontë befriend a troubled and misunderstood outcast, aptly nicknamed Bruiser, and his little brother, Cody."

Shusterman is a master storyteller. I love his books. This is one that I will have to buy. It is so great! Totally five apples!