Pick Up Böser Engel Conceived By Timothy Carter Available In Paperbound

was a great book, though not without it's issues, That said, it was a lot of fun, It is a great read for young readers, it has to be said, .

Christian fiction isn't typically on my reading list, but I met Mr, Carter at CanConand, having read the blurb which contains my new favourite phrase 'layeth the epic smackethdown', I couldn't resist getting a copy for myself, Mr. Carter did a great job of avoiding the trap the much Christian Fiction falls into, The book was neither annoyingly preachy, nor evangelically misguided, In fact, it contains a very moderate and much more appealing view that I find is so lacking in religious discourse today,

Like much YA fiction, this book deals with very serious issues the indoctrination of hate, for example with a quick wit and a large dollop of humour.
In fact, there was so much humour I found myself giggling to myself often, and sometimes barking a loud laugh that terrified my cats, The fact that God is presented as truth, or the presence of angels and demons did not affront me quite so much as books of this kind usually do.
No offence, writers of Christian Fiction, I'm just not a believer, you know

It made for an incredibly enticing read, so much so that I read the entire book in one sitting.
The story is compelling, wellwritten, YA without being insulting to the intelligence of youth and hilarious to boot,

And I enjoyed every minute of it,

I highly recommend getting this book, both for yourselves and for the young people in your lives, It's great fun! Really, I'm not sure who this novel is for, not me, surely, This book is not evil, but it's not good either,

Stuart is a gay teen, goes to a fundamentalist Christian school, in a fundamentalist Christian community in Ice Lake, Ontario, He summons a demon to explain what religion should be about, What gets him in trouble is when his little brother catches him masturbating, It turns out his community is run by a fallen angel, who really hates masturbation, And won't use that word, but uses puerile euphemisms, . .

To say that this little novel makes no sense, has giant plot holes, and wasn't fun, in my opinion isn't enough, Avoid this book. This book is totally irreverant and fairly raunchy, yet a fun amp light not difficult read,

I mean, read the summary a town goes psycho because of the influence of fallen angels and wants to smite down all the teens who are discovered to commit the Sin of Onan i.
e. masturbation. To top it off, our protaginist is an "out" homosexual who, not liking what he hears at church amp Christian school, verifies things by summoning a demon that he binds to himself to tell only the truth.
So, if you're looking for something funny amp the topics above don't offend you, go for it but in good conscience, I have to say I wouldn't recommend it for under aboutyears old.


FYI, there is no sexual activity other than the masturbation in the book amp the priest at the church is by far the most understanding person in the town the protaganist feels comortable enough with him to confide his demon summoning though the priest's acceptance of that certainly feels artificial.
This book doesn't seem to condemn religion or faith, but rather the misunderstanding of religion amp zealotry in spreading misunderstanding, A strange, strange book. There is a satirical element, suggesting why people become obsessed with one "sin" and are willing to completely overlook others, The priest here is a good guy but also totally ignored by the congregation also an interesting element, I can't get over just how poorly this book was written, I read the synopsis online and thought what a terrific concept it would make I still think it could have been a good book, The problem lies in the terribly casual way that Carter approaches it, The main character is as twodimensional as the minor characters and the dialogue is brief and unappealing, I don't know how he managed to write such a boring conversation with a demon, but he did, Two enthusiastic thumbs down. This is the second time I've read this book, The very first time I was a naive,year old girl who didn't quite understand the humor in this book, Now, I love everything about this novel, It's absolutely original with everything that happens,

As the book goes, Stuart is a troubled teenager who happens to commit a sin, A sin we are all familiar with in one way or another but it just so happens his brother catches him in the act, and soon enough, the whole town knows about it.
Other than the main plot, there are demons and fallen angels and Bible Raps, Yes Bible raps



What I liked about this book the most was that I could actually see this becoming a movie, Obviously not a serious one but most definitely a humorous one, I had a few gigglefits during a few chapters and that rarely ever happens with the books I read,

I also loved a few characters, Stuart and his demon friend Fon Pyre are hilarious, Stuart has the right mindset and doesn't give up and that's just how I like my heroes brave and true, Fon Pyre just loves to open his mouth in the expense of others, Truly priceless.

I leave a star missing because it was an overall short booksome pages and I just didn't want it to end! I read the whole thing withindays.
Also, some of what the antagonists did bothered me, When the mother is easily brainwashed to pretty much boil her son's reproductive parts off, I blew my top, Also the kissing between her and Mr, Brightly was gross poor stuart!

I plan on reading it again, not too soon, but I will, It happens to be one of my favorite novels and I'm glad my curiosity got to the best of me that day I first picked it up.
I recommend people reading this if they are okay with their religion being challenged, Cautions: This book centers around well masturbation, really, . . And some slightly uncomfortable themes stereotypes and how they tie in with religion, etc, . .

It's the cover that first caught my attention at Borders, Anything that has to do with angels is pretty much a book I'll want to read, Furthermore, the fact that the title is a question was even more interesting, So I grabbed it and flipped over the cover,

Like the synopsis says, Stuart is an openly gay teen in a fairly religious town, No one's really bothered him much up until this point, His brother catches him 'in the act' in the shower one day, This sets off a fastpaced chain of events that lead to the whole town rising up against Stuart, And it all smells a little fishy,

An entire town trying to kill one boy may seem like a perfect set up for a thriller, but the way the author describes Stuart's inner thoughts makes everything hilarious.
It's a weird kind of funny, but that's what makes you keep reading, At moments where there should be total seriousness, Stuart cracks a small joke

that breaks the tension and reminds you that everything's gonna be okay, For example:

"It was the most horrible thing I had ever seen, And I'd seen Fon Pyre's butt, " pg

Overall, a great read, if not a bit awkward at first, My only warning would be that your first few laughs are going to be nervous laughter they'll turn to enjoyment soon after though :

There's demons and angels and silver crosses, but I don't want to give EVERYTHING away.
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