
Coming Of Age Fiction – One Hot Summer
Humorous, touching and brimming with energy, One Hot Summer spins something completely original out of something familiar as Barker captures a perfectly framed snapshot of teenage angst, life, love and loss.
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SUMMARY: The Fallen Boys were at their zenith when Zac’s luck ran out. How does the shock of being dumped from dazzling and conspicuous success into relative obscurity affect his fellow boy band members Karl, Ritchie and Leon?
The BookViral Review:
Brimming with great characters, warmth and laughs, Fallen Star reminds us that to be charismatic and famous is to risk losing ordinary human happiness. We’re aware of the well-trod story machinery toiling away below deck but it doesn’t matter because Barker takes the much-loved genre tropes and makes them his own.
The plot is lively, the dialogue has wit and intelligence, and Karl and Lizzie are very easy to like. We know they’re fated for each other, but we’re always quicker to see these things than the characters are because Karl isn’t just another fallen pop star. He has hidden depths and finds himself conflicted by the life he used to have and the promise of a life with Lizzie. A down-to-earth alternative to the countless groupies who have come and gone.
Lizzie takes him at face value and together they have the first normal date he’s had in years. And this is where Barker’s story really comes into its own. Capturing moments when they are just a normal couple. Hand in hand, wandering through the city but pausing for moments of truth when Karl finds himself torn between new opportunities and Lizzie finds herself wondering if it could really work between them.
With a cheerful assortment of lovable friends and family and the obligatory cad in their midst Barker’s often humorous narrative is perfectly paced as it heads towards a cracking ending. Sure to leave a smile on your face Fallen Star is a must-read for fans of humorous romantic fiction and is highly recommended.
Humorous, touching and brimming with energy, One Hot Summer spins something completely original out of something familiar as Barker captures a perfectly framed snapshot of teenage angst, life, love and loss.
Whilst not lingering in extraneous detail, Dieters successfully conveys a full complement of emotions, using pathetic fallacy and sensory imagery to intensify his players, as they evolve against a highly charged background and a believable historical backstory.
How often do we read a book where a character appears in the mind’s eye fully formed?
Whilst the issues of prejudice and discrimination are multi-faceted and complicated beyond belief, a key moment for me was the day I picked up ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Harper Lee implicitly drilled down the relative unfairness of human existence into my 12-year-old brain, creating a sense of outrage that has stayed with me throughout my life.
Are we desensitising our young people with the graphic offerings of modern media? And going even further, do the conclusions of ‘Bandura and the Bobo doll’ still hold true in the modern era?
Will reading be ‘a thing’ in the distant future? And what does it mean for writers of fiction? More importantly, what are we collectively doing to keep reading alive?
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