The Suburban Strange by Nathan Kotecki Review

The Suburban Strange by Nathan Kotecki
(The Suburban Strange, #1)
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers ; 368 pages

Shy Celia Balaustine is new to Suburban High, but a mysterious group of sophomores called the Rosary has befriended her. Friends aside, Celia soon discovers something is not quite right at Suburban. Girls at the school begin having near-fatal accidents on the eve of their sixteenth birthdays. Who is causing the accidents, and why? As Celia’s own birthday approaches, she is inexorably drawn into an underground conflict between good and evil—the Kind and the Unkind—that bubbles beneath Suburban High. Plentiful references to music and art—along with the intriguing underworld mythology—make this supernatural series debut a page-turner.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book in order to have a review for it!

This cover really reminds me of that song that's really popular "Royals" by Lorde. This song was running through my head almost the entire time I read the book because it seems like The Rosary, Celia's group, fits right in. I relaly like how Celia on the cover is portrayed as someone who is more like a fashion model, because that's sort of the way we are supposed to be looking at her. Her, and all of the Rosary for that matter are beautiful, and unique, sophisticated. Interesting for high schoolers.

I have a love/hate relationship with this book. Part of it were really amazing, and enlightening and during parts I felt like Celia while she was discovering the new, darker side of the world that The Rosary showed her. I've listened to the music that is listed in the book and I'm in love. I felt like that "gothic" side of me that I nurtured in high school came back but in a more sophisticated way. It was refreshing to have an alternate subculture play a prominent role in a novel that is set for teens. 

Another part of me thinks that this novel is just too many different things to fit into one. It's Celia's coming of age with the Rosary, it's a music compilation, it's about Kind and Unkind and life and death. This book is like a teenager's life. It's so many different things and some parts don't make sense, but at the end it's all worked out, sort of. 

Part of me thinks that The Rosary is just...not believable. I love them, but realistically I doubt there would be people like this in a random high school. I guess that's a fantastical side that is able to be around because this is a novel and not a non-fiction piece. Either way I'm enthralled with the characters, and the setting and the plot line. 

I have to say that as a member of the LGBT community it was great to see Brenden and Marco's relationship spoken about so lightly. I think that in order to conquer the hate and taboo we should accept things for that they are, and showing these two boys in a relationship is great.