It is with great honor and happiness that I review this book entitled Exit Here written by Jason Myers. This is one of my favorite books side-by-side with the Eragon series.
I bought this book from National Bookstore in SM Cebu by random chance. I just picked out the best from the stack of books and this is the lucky guy.
I probably have read this book three times already. I wouldn’t read a book many times unless I like it (which means I like the classic, To Kill A Mockingbird). So what is this book all about? No, this is not a classic novel situated in the medieval times, nor is it a fantasy in another world and this is also not some odd science imagination. This is what I call a modern fictional novel that revolves around each corner of reality. And what’s more appealing is that it is about a teen’s life, which I could more or less relate to more than reading an adult-themed novel.
But there’s a catch! This is not some kind of a faggoty novel that is all but crappy love story. This novel, if put into movie rating style, would be given an R-18. Not that it is obscene but I call it honest and straightforward. How would one understand the story if things and terms are coated with confusing metaphors. In this novel, don’t be surprised to see the words sex, penis, coke (cocaine), drugs, fuck, ass, etc. pop out every now and then. Apparently, the whole story wouldn’t be complete without those terms on hand.
What is the gist? The novel is about Travis, a teenager who has a big problem but he can’t tell it to his friends. His past is good, his present messed up. I don’t know if this is really the scene in America but the teens in the novel have been showed to be ultra liberated that their unknowing parents are blind that their kids are doing drugs and all sort of negative stuff. The story revolves around the trials of everybody, not just Travis’. In the end, Travis’ mind clears off, he pays the price of his innocence and though not everyone lives happily ever after, there is a lesson that is learned which will prove useful to everybody.
Let me quote this part of the Afterword from the book which is really a heavy statement and very heartbursting:
…The future, while not unlimited with possibilities as it once had been, will still hold many opportunities for me. But the thing is, my slate will never be wiped clean — this will never fade into the background and become some sort of learning experience or bump in the road. The shit that happened in my life and this book is real. And because I finally woke up to that whole realization much too late — that realization that life really happens and there is always a consequence for your actions — I lost everything, in some sense, but in a weird kind of great way, if you flip it all around, I may have gained the most important thing of all: the truth. I can live with that.
I just hope you read everything in that excerpt. What hits me most is the last few lines where Travis talked about losing everything yet being okay with it because at least he knew the truth. That is one hell of a good lesson to be learned.
I love this book so much even though it is not an acknowledged masterpiece. Girls can also read this one. My friend said it is yucky but is bearable and I think she learned something.
Topmost photo by cw3283 (cwPhotography)
Find an Exit Here book and read it now! :up:
Book review after I finish reading.