DNF Review: Carter Finally Gets It

Carter Finally Gets It #1

By: Brent Crawford

Published: April 7, 2009 by Brilliance Audio

Audiobook

Source: Borrowed from my SNL, Sandy @ Somewhere Only We Know

(Goodreads / Amazon)

Summary:

Meet Will Carter, but feel free to call him Carter. (Yes, he knows it's a lazy nickname, but he didn't have much say in the matter.)

Here are five things you should know about him:

1. He has a stuttering problem, particularly around boobs and belly buttons.

2. He battles Attention Deficit Disorder every minute of every day unless he gets distracted. 

3. He's a virgin, mostly because he's no good at talking to girls (see number 1).

4. He's about to start high school.

5. He's totally not ready.

Join Carter for his freshman year, where he'll search for sex, love, and acceptance anywhere he can find it. In the process, he'll almost kill a trombone player, face off with his greatest nemesis, suffer a lot of blood loss, narrowly escape death, run from the cops (not once, but twice), get caught up in a messy love triangle, meet his match in the form of a curvy drill teamer, and surprise the hell out of everyone, including himself.

MY REVIEW:
Before I get into why I DNF'd this one, let me explain a little background information. This was only the 2nd audiobook I've ever attempted to listen to. The first one was so horrible it scarred me from any desire to attempt another one. Something about the narrator's voice in my head threw me for a major loop - not to mention the one book I chose to read there were a TON of dialects in it and reading those are bad enough, but listening to someone else's version of them was pure torture for me. Need-less-to-say I didn't make it far in that first one.

Fast forward a few years later, after hearing 2 of my snl's talk about this particular audiobook and how they probably wouldn't have enjoyed reading it but the narrator made this book funny and highly recommended it, I decided to make a second attempt at listening to an audiobook.

There were indeed laugh-out-loud moments. Quite a few actually. So yeah, it was funny. I made an honest attempt - listening to 7 full chapters. But there were a couple issues I had which led to my decision to DNF:

1. The way the narrator says the word "boob" (which the character says A LOT) was like nails on a chalkboard to me. It was awkward and weird - and probably the way a lot of 14 year old boys say it. Which our main character is - an awkward, hormonally charged 14 year old boy.

2. I had to sit on my couch and listen to this from my laptop while attempting to get some other blog related updating done (ie. be productive while listening to a book). I found my mind wandering so much to the point that I realized I was missing a lot of information, too much if I wanted to write a cohesive review about the book. I certainly couldn't pinpoint any favorite quotes - not fast enough to stop, write them down and quote them correctly.

3. I've spoken about this in other reviews, but for the sake of those who may be new to my blog, I enjoy reading Young Adult books. I don't mind that they are about teenagers, primarily. In fact, I'm quite fond of a lot of things typical to experiences that happen in the late teen age range - first love for one. BUT, what I don't enjoy reading about is teens acting immature (that's like an oxymoron comment, right?). 14 year old boys - yeaaaaahhhhh....that's a bit immature for my liking in fiction. Literally this Carter kid is so obsessed with females and e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g about their bodies, that it really got on my nerves. Enough already! (Side bar rant): Coming from a Mom of a 12-year-old (less than 2 months shy of being 13 at the time of this posting) boy I am VERY proactive in talking to him about how to treat girls; the honor and respect they deserve; how to be their friend first. So yeah - attractiveness is important, don't get me wrong. But I want my son to look at the inward beauty of a girl as equally important as what he views as beautiful on the outside. Guess what? That goes against our nature to look inwardly. It has to be taught. And that teaching starts at home by what they see and what they hear from their parents. (rant over)

Basically my reason to DNF Carter Finally Gets It boils down to the fact that I think I'm too ADD to listen to audiobooks. How many times am I going to try it when I haven't enjoyed the last 2 times? I'm not a gluten for punishment.

I could see those in their teens enjoying this one more than I did, perhaps being able to connect a little more to what Carter thinks and feels. It's not one I would attempt to read either. Just not for me. But the funny moments, I did get a good laugh at, so there's that positive.

Final Rating: DNF