Book Review: “A Really Awesome Mess” by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin

Two teenagers. Two very bumpy roads taken that lead to Heartland Academy.

Justin was just having fun, but when his dad walked in on him with a girl in a very compromising position, Justin’s summer took a quick turn for the worse. His parents’ divorce put Justin on rocky mental ground, and after a handful of Tylenol lands him in the hospital, he has really hit rock bottom.

Emmy never felt like part of her family. She was adopted from China. Her parents and sister tower over her and look like they came out of a Ralph Lauren catalog– and Emmy definitely doesn’t. After a scandalous photo of Emmy leads to vicious rumors around school, she threatens the boy who started it all on Facebook.

Justin and Emmy arrive at Heartland Academy, a reform school that will force them to deal with their issues, damaged souls with little patience for authority. But along the way they will find a ragtag group of teens who are just as broken, stubborn, and full of sarcasm as themselves. In the end, they might even call each other friends.

When I first came across this book, I was like “oh, it’s just another book about mentally disturbed children and how they get out of the institution they’ve been locked up in.” And it was. But it also had so much more to it than that.

A Really Awesome Mess is told from the point of view of Emmy and Justin, two teens who both struggle with similar issues although in different ways. When the shit hits the fans and their parents feel that their at their wits end, they send the two teens to Heartland Academy, the mental institute that prided itself in being “a caring place”. Upon being sent to Heartland for separate reasons, Emmy and Justin: meet up other teens who indefinitely become their friends, try to discover who they are and, ofcourse, fall in love. Throughout the story, loyalties are tested, crazy escapades ventured upon, a premeditated jail break for a certain porcine friend attempted and an unexpected and unbreakable bond with a couple of teens who have more in common than they thought at first.

Frankly, I had no favorite characters in this book because I liked them all. Emmy who is anorexic not only because she has deeply rooted self-esteem issues but because of a certain rumor that got her alienated from the rest of her peers, analyzes every situation she finds herself in at Heartland Academy. She is desperate to not end up in her previous position again and is loaded with a bunch of snarky comments and sarcasm that was highly entertaining. It’s easy to empathize with her when she describes how being an adopted child from China feels like and the constant prejudice she endures. Later down in the story when she has her big breakthrough, it’s evident that her character has really grown since the beginning of the novel.

Then there’s her significant other, Justin, who finds himself locked up in Heartland Academy because of a bottle of Tylenol and an almost blow job. He is full of quirky charm and a side of cynicism. Both authors of A Really Awesome Mess, prove through just these two characters that males and females really do deal with situations in totally different ways. Justin’s breakthrough doesn’t happen till the end of the story and is absolutely heart wrenching to read.

The other characters are also unforgettable in their own way too. Tracy, who went by the name Mohammed in the beginning, is a guy who is obssessed with conjuring up different personalities because he’s afraid to be himself.

Chip is literally a game freak and a hacking mastermind; he hacked the institute’s system so that the guys would be able to watch porn on their iPods.

Diana, an eleven or ten year old (I never was too sure) appears at first to be a sadistic little girl and often got creeped out looks from her peers every time she cackled. Later in the story, I realize that she’s possibly the most clever one out of the group as she devises most of the plans for the group. She can be a total vindictive bitch at times but overall she means well.

Then there’s Jenny. Jenny had a condition that the staff at Heartland called “selective mutism”. This means that she chose not to talk to anyone rather than can’t talk. Early in the story it’s explained that she won’t talk because of a certain incident that took place involving a pig just like Little Willy (the pig the group of friends stole from a state fair). However, as she forms bonds with the rest of the teens, she opens up her heart and also her mouth.

On top of the fact that I favored all the characters in the book (even the adults), I really admired the fact that the authors of the novel, were never inconsistent in their writing and if an event was even the slightest bit corny, they made another character recognize it and call it out.

In all, this absolutely charming piece of work by Trish Cook and Brendan Halpin, allow young adults of every race, social status and mindset to easily relate to the characters in the book and the situations they find themselves in.

Rating: 8.5/10

Book Info:

Publisher: Egmont USA (July 23, 2013)
Length: 288 pages (Hardcover)
Series:  N/A
Source: ARC (Provided by Publisher)
Genre: Teens & YA
Completed: July 2013