LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!! THE LIBERATION OF MAX MCTRUE isn't anything spectacular, It isn't a story about Max fighting demons or werewolves or anything otherworldly or otherwise undead, He hasn't set out to save anyone and, really, the only person that needs saving is himself, From the world created around him that, up until he meets Clara Jane, he's quite content in, Max is someone that doesn't have a plan, His plan is to follow others plans for him: where to meet, which schools to apply to, which sports to play, which jobs to chase.
But then Clara Jane comes in and rattles his brain even more than his best friend Emerson ever could and for a flash of a second he hates her for it.
Then he hates himself for not realizing it sooner,
People aren't the biggest fans of change, Add in fear of the unknown and zombies are born those that in one place their entire lives, whether it's actually because of fear or they're simply content and lacking desire, they end up existing in the lives created for them by other people.
Max was no exception and even when Clara Jane came into his life for just that short school day, he fought the change.
He made excuses for why it had to be this way, He lashed out. He accused. He hurt. And then he was finally free,
Told in a voice that makes me want to wrap the words around me like a blankie, it pulls you into Max's life.
It gives you an idea of where he's coming from, It shows you glimpses of the people that rule his life, And then it shows him changing, It's not an easy change but Max makes it, He doesn't make it until the last possible second, where, as the reader, you might be thinking that he won't do it.
But Max doesn't disappoint. All it took was a girl,
This isn't a story about love at first site, It's about intrigue and the will to chase something different, To break from the norm, and from the norm that other people have thrust onto you, and do something completely different and see whether the shoe fits or not.
It'll make you reevaluate where you stand in your own little world, It'll make you open your eyes to the people around you, even those that may pass in and out of your life in a flash.
Because they can still leave a lasting impression,
THE LIBERATION OF MAX MCTRUE has a butterfly effect not just for Max but for the reader.
Sometimes you just need to get slapped in the face with a branch before you see the forest for the trees.
And that's exactly what it does, Your life will be one step closer to complete after reading this, This was my first ebook and I read the entire book, cover to cover chuckle in a single plane ride.
I loved how easily I got into the rhythm of Max's world, True, nothing earth shattering takes place in the single day the book covers, but I think the searching for answers can ring true for any reader young or notso young.
"People think being alone makes you lonely, but I don't think that's true, Being surrounded by the wrong people is the loneliest thing in the world, "
Clara Jane, The Liberation of Max McTrue by Kim Culbertson, pg,
I love this story! The Liberation of Max McTrue may not be a full novel, but it manages tell a very important story in justpages.
I was sucked in by the seemingly random events of the first few pages, and made to keep reading by the subtle emotions the writing evoked inside me.
The problem Max facessuddenly realizing that he has no idea where he's headed in lifeis one that many of us face sooner or later.
But as he follows Clara Jane around, he discovers more about himself than ever before,
The book is full of interesting characters who are realistic and easy to like Max, Clara Jane, Emmerson, Darcy.
Many people make appearances in the story, and each one manages to leave an impression, no matter how short their appearance.
Each person who comes into the story, and each conversation had changes Max and the way he looks at his life.
Piece by piece, he begins to see his real self, and what he really wants out of life.
He also begins to understand himself for the first time in his life,
I love the notion that so much can change in just a day because it can.
This story uses a fun setting to explore the emotional change one experiences while doing just so, It's about being who you really are, It's powerful and moving, but very subtle in its approach, A few of the events seemed a little too farfetched to me, but maybe that's because I need to have a liberating day as well.
With strong characterizations and beautiful writing, I highly recommend it,
The review was originally published on my blog: sitelinkThe Reading Fever,
I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, THE LIBERATION OF MAX MCTRUE is my new novella eBook coming out in January, It's the story of an ordinary boy who has an extraordinary day,
For Max McTrue, life is not mysterious, He simply does what hes told and that path has served him well, has been easy and free of conflict.
Hes a good kidgrade point average, plays football and baseball, has membership in a couple of school clubs, Hes not much of a blip on anyones radar, a fact he has wholly embraced for all of his seventeen years.
Until one winter day when all that changes,
That cold Februaryst morning at Java Jewel, the café he works in before school, Max meets Clara Jane Ramsey.
But Max doesnt know any of this yet, In fact, he sees her only briefly and then goes to class where the only thing he thinks of interest is the fact that his student teacher in Senior English has opted to not wear a bra that day.
Sitting in class, with three thick college application folders on the desk in front of him college applications he has until five oclock that day to mail, he sees Clara Jane out toward the baseball field, and for reasons he
certainly cannot explain to himself, he raises his hand to ask for the pass, gathers his things, and joins her.
Clara Jane is homeschooled and her family is on the last day of their motorhome stop through the small foothill town that is the setting of the novel.
Max spends the day with Clara Jane turns out, her lost dog is part of a treasure hunt her dad sets up for her as the “assessment” portion of that weeks studies.
Along the way Clara Jane meets Emerson, Maxs best friend who is on Home Hospital for her allergies, has perfect SAT scores, and drives a converted ice cream truck that holds her archery equipment and a portable reading library of used titles.
And then theres Darcy, Maxs on again off again hes never quite sure girlfriend, who puts a slight crimp in the clearly romantic tension that has been building.
Clara Jane and Max explore each others own longings and trappings and ideas, About what it means to learn, what it means to love something, and what it means to seek something.
Eventually, the three packets Max has been hauling around become an issue, Why doesnt he just send them
The Liberation of Max McTrue is the story of a single, crucial day.
After seventeen years of a lovely albeit noncommittal existence, Max grabs the reins to his own life,
Check it out if you get a chance : Max McTrue's life is finebut in one extraordinary day, when he ditches school and meets a girl unlike anyone he's ever known, he comes to realize that "fine" isn't really fine.
He hasn't made choices, hasn't yearned, hasn't loved, And now, all at once, he finds himself taking all those risks for the first time,
This is a beautifullywritten story about daring to be who you really are inside, even if that someone is complicated or messy or uncategorizable.
It's subtle and emotionally complicated yes, I cried and wonderfully real, .