Godless

A solid short novel by a talented author who deserves more recognition. It's never going to be my favorite Hautman novel but it certainly has its moments. Manages to handle the weighty subjects of adolescence and religion without being overzealous or trite. Couldn't stand the main protagonist, however, especially in the last chapter. ( )

I read this book in a day because it was easy to read and weirdly compelling. Jason learns some about himself after inventing a fake religion and triggering his friend's mental illness. As an atheist, there were some lines I liked, for example when Jason questions why believing that a water tower is God is more silly than believing in the Catholic God. But then I also kind of like where Shin asks how you can understand something you don't believe in? I guess some stuff you just gotta "get" and I really don't get religion. I also really liked the mythos of the ocean gods that Shin wrote that began each chapter. Someone should make that into a movie. ( )

I cannot explain how much I can relate to this book, more so about the water tower incidents. To keep my self out of trouble I will not say anymore! ( )

Interesting, different, but the ending left me flipping the page back and forth going "Really? That's the ending? Pfft." ( )

This is one of those books which, as an adult, I can really appreciate... but which I'm fairly sure I would have quickly grown bored with when I was actually a teen, who this book is (theoretically) meant for. There's a review on the book that, to me, says a lot: "Anyone who ha questioned his or her religion, especially as a teenager, will respond to Jason's struggles with belief." The review is from Booklist, and now that I've read the book and come back to that quote on the back... well, yeah, I agree, but the fact that that quote puts the questioning in the past is important. Adults are going to see what the author has done here and be able to appreciate it, but teenagers actively involved in questioning their faith probably aren't going to be interested, or else I have a feeling they'll find it beneath them and move on to something else (this is, more than likely, how I would have felt when I was a teen who wasn't sure how to feel about religion).

So, in the end, I'm not surprised that this is an award-winning YA book, or that I've heard other adults rave about it. There's a lot to admire here. Is it a book I'd pass on to young readers, though? Probably not, though I might pass it on to adults who read YA. ( )