The End of Fun

Summary:

Everyday reality is a drag™.

FUN®—the latest in augmented reality—is fun (yay!) but it’s also frustrating, glitchy and dangerously addictive (boo!). Just when everyone else is getting on, seventeen-year-old Aaron O’Faolain wants off.

But first, he has to complete his Application for Termination, and in order to do that he has to deal with his History—not to mention the present, including his grandfather’s suicide and a series of clues that may (or may not) lead to buried treasure. As he attempts to unravel the mystery, Aaron is sidetracked again…and again. Shadowed by his virtual “best friend” Homie, Aaron struggles with love, loss, dog bites, werewolf pills, community theater, wild horses, wildfires and the fact (deep breath) that actual reality can sometimes surprise you.

Sean McGinty’s strikingly profound and laugh-out-loud funny debut unearths a world that is eerily familiar, yet utterly original. Discover what it means to come to the end of fun.  (Summary and cover courtesy of goodreads.com)

Review:

This is one of those books that you end up really disliking Aaron at times, yet still want to see how things turn out.  His life seems to be one bad choice after another followed by not knowing how to say “no” to friends presenting bad situations.  I will definitely admit that this book was not what I was expecting it to be, yet I was still intrigued and went with the flow.

The context of FUN is never explained very well, yet it is interesting to see how it reflects how people do get sucked into social media.  There were funny, cringe-worthy, self-reflective and horrible moments, but all in all it ended up being a good read.  The book would have been more on the 3-3.5 star level for me, but I really liked how the ending turned out.   Aaron realized some tough love and how things actually work in the “real world”.

Warning: Contains some violence and sexual references.

Rating: 4 stars!

Who should read it? Fans of “Ready Player One” and self-discovery novels.