Guest Review: The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman

Main Character: June Elberg
Love Interest: Wes Anderson
Series: n/a
Author: Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads

June and Wes do not “meet cute.” They do not fall in love at first sight. They do not swoon with scorching desire. They do not believe that they are instant soul mates destined to be together forever.

This is not that kind of love story.

Instead, they just hang around in each other’s orbits…until eventually they collide. And even after that happens, they’re still not sure where it will go. Especially when June starts to pity-date one of Wes’s friends, and Wes makes some choices that he immediately regrets.

From National Book Award winner Pete Hautman, this is a love story for people not particularly biased toward romance. But it is romantic, in the same way that truth can be romantic and uncertainty can be the biggest certainty of all.

I read this in one sitting, so if you’re up for a light, quick, romantic read, this book is for you.

June’s father is a workout specialist. Not a personal trainer, but a consultant that comes into failing businesses and fixes them. This mean June’s family moves around – a LOT. It’s the beginning of junior year and she’s in Minnesota. She’s become very adept at identifying the stereotypes in high school crowds. There’s that girl that latches onto the new kids in hopes they’ll be her friend, but after about 2 days you realize she’s a stage-5 clinger and then you don’t want to, but you have to ditch her so you don’t become a social pariah. June is good at navigating the social minefield that is high school.

Wes. Wes has lived in the same town his whole life. The biggest thing he’s ever done is broken up with his girlfriend of forever. Something he wonders if he regrets doing it. But he’s just a guy that gets along with lots of people and can call lots of people friend. He notices June first and crosses paths with her a few times. Not enough to turn them into friends, but they don’t run away or avoid the other person.

Things go on in this way during the four months that June is dating Jerry, Wes’ friend. And then one snow stormy day, they run into each other at the supermarket, and after Wes inadvertently gives June a black eye, they share an explosive kiss in June’s kitchen. Which they both decide to act as if it never happened. But that only lasts so long and then these two kids quit denying what they feel and start to tumble into each other.

But all is not well. June’s father is finished what he came to Minnesota to do and now they need to leave to Nebraska. June’s parents always tell her to leave the past behind and to focus on the future, but can June and Wes let go of each other or will that connection between them remain strong?

I enjoyed The Big Crunch. I like the build up to Wes and June’s friendship and when they finally got together I thought they were really cute. But the separation. How was that going to work out? I like the way the author had them dealing with the separation and thought it was realistic enough. The parents actually play a role in this novel, which was different from other YA I’ve read in the past where it’s like these kids are parent-less. Ya know? LOL And yeah the book and writing and characters were enjoyable but the story didn’t go very deep. There wasn’t anything that rocked my world. It’s the fluffy book you read between more meaty tomes, when you need a change of pace. The Big Crunch was a good between-books book. Nothing earth shattering, but not bad. I’m giving the Big Crunch a B-.

For all my Moms out there, I’d give this book a rating of:

..and that’s your scoop!

Buy the book: B&N|Borders|Amazon|Book Depository
Book cover and blurb credit: http://barnesandnoble.com

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