Wizarding School: Koldovstoretz, Russia
Prompt: Read a book related to a serpent
Format: Audiobook (Libby – San Mateo Public Library)

I have not read a YA (Young Adult) book since I was a teenager and I picked this one up just to keep things diverse this year for the book challenge. While I am certain I will not be reading YA diligently from now on, this book was actually not as bad as I expected it to be.

Set in Forrestville, Tennessee, (a town named after a famous KKK leader) this is a story about three teenagers:
1. Dillard – he is the main protagonist, the grandson of The Serpent King, the son of a pervert priest who is in prison. His dad was imprisoned for sexually harassing young members of his church and was found with loads of kiddie porn downloaded on his laptop. Also, he makes the members of his weirdo church handle poisonous snakes as part of Sunday Mass and has them drink strychnine (so pretty normal for the South). Dillard (or Dill), is not struggling with his identity in school where everyone knows him as the pervert’s son, and even his mother somehow blames him for testifying against his dad in court and sending him to prison (ugh!). Misfit No. 1.
2. Lydia – she is Dill’s best friend and eventually love interest (remember the classic YA stuff) – a fashion blogger, with smart kind well-endowed parents who, in spite of being socially superior and wealthy, bring her to this rundown town in Tennessee to study because they studied here and want her to grow from the roots. She hates the town, hates religion, is a feminist, and has a sharp witty tongue. She wants to get out of the town ASAP, and go study Journalism in NYU. She dresses smartly, wears the finest makeup, has a gazillion online followers and is quite the dominant in this group of friends. And she is unlike any other girl or boy in the school, often referred to as dyke or witch or bitch by others. Misfit No. 2.
3. Travis – he’s easily my favorite – a boy who lives in his own world of imagination, reads fantasy novels (Bloodfall) as a full time thing, wears a dragon necklace and carries a staff that people in the Bloodfall series carry. He cares very little about what others think of him, has a heart of pure gold. loves hanging out with his two buddies, and spends most of his time online readng fan fiction, playing Bloodfall games, and awaiting the next book in the series. His father is a very abusive, horrible man who drinks a lot and whips his son and doesn’t care about anything other than Football; and his mother is eternally trying to bring truce. Misfit No. 3.

As these three friends navigate high school, the book focuses on how they make their own identity, live with tainted family names, are there for each other no matter what and believe that the future will be better. While their upbringing plays a huge role in how their personalities are, they are also what they determine to be.

One day, a huge tragedy strikes, something absolutely heartbreaking and shatters their lives as they and we know it. And this is where the writing fell apart for me. While it made me sniffle, it was also very superficial at the same time and the events and their description was lackluster. I wanted to feel what they felt and cry and laugh with them, but the writing faded into banalities and expected platitudes which left me wanting more from a book that was so well structured.

Also, I have a problem with the title, since this was not really about The Serpent King, but more about the lives of these kids – except for the inner insinuation of “you are not your grandfather, you are not your father – their serpents are not your serpents and their poison is not your poison”. I wish the life of Travis was deeper and his problems were addressed better too.

My Rating: *** (3/5)