/Cecil Castelluccishelf | Boy Proof

With her shaved head, ring-covered ears, and a swirling cloak, brilliant Victoria insists her name is Egg, after the hero in her favorite SF movie, Terminal Earth, which she has seen 42 times. Who cares that she has no friends in her high-school senior class in Hollywood? She will never be normal. She is “post-apocalyptic.” What she loves is working with her dad in movie special effects, tinkering with “eyeballs or aliens or ears.” But when brilliant, gorgeous Max arrives, she cannot help loving him, especially because he is also in tune with the sf/fantasy world, and he shows her that she can be her own person, and fight real apocalyptic conservation issues right on earth (Hazel Rochman).

I was skeptical upon first picking up this book, even though it was recommended to me by my best friend (and therefore also someone with very similar tastes in books). Though the book flap summary was written to be interesting, it conveyed to me a sense of immaturity. I was expecting one of those light reads, like, well, The Year of Very Secret Assignments. But you know, those bright pink books with the curly text cover and the cartoonnetwork-isq illustration.

Was I surprised when I got to the end in a single day.

Though short, Boy Proof turned out to be an engaging read. Narrated through the perspective of Egg, we see an exceptionally creative girl live out her senior year in Hollywood. She draws the reader through what she feels, and her off days are my off days. She has a few issues, yes, but don’t we all?

She may seem overly immature at times, especially for a senior (from the perspective of someone already out of school), but for those currently attending high school, not so. Also, it must be kept in mind that she did skip a grade [or two].

Now enough praise, because I can’t have a review just praising the book, however much I liked it at the end. One thing I could accuse this book of being is shallow. Well, not in the usual connotation of the word, but it doesn’t dive far enough into the persona that is Victoria. It merely brushes the surface of the story. Like it tells instead of shows, to give a strange analogy. Not in its style per se, but in its content, if you get what I mean. Her relationship with Max also blossoms much too fast for my tastes, and changes happening out of the narrator’s view seemed to be overly sudden.

Or maybe it’s just that I can’t fully appreciate books that are under 300 pages these days. Heh.