Book Review: Twisted
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this young adult novel has
references to drinking, drugs, and sex, as well as some
swearing and violence. Nothing is graphic, but it's there. The
main character puts a gun in his mouth. His friend is tied
down, stripped, and tormented.
Families who read this book could discuss Tyler's dilemma. How can he get control of his life again? Could he have avoided all this in the first place? What do you do when it seems like there are no good options? Is your high school anything like this?
Common Sense Media Review
At first, you'll think you've seen this before. There's the
rich jock bully; the rich, popular, snooty hottie; the
picked-on dweeb dreaming of sex and revenge; the angry,
clueless parents, teachers, principal -- well pretty much all
the adults are angry and clueless. Yup, been there, done
that.
But then you start to notice the differences: the dweeb is buff and has a police record, some of the adults actually seem to care, the siblings like each other, the little sister has a good head on her shoulders, and the teenaged main character has become an adult before he or any of the other characters have noticed. And its not much longer before you're completely swept up into a story with powerful emotional resonance, in which the protagonist may actually see a light at the end of the tunnel before the reader does.
Author Anderson does a good job with her first try at getting inside the head of a boy and speaking in his voice. Everything rings true here, and Tyler has more than earned the sympathy of the reader long before he is pushed beyond what anyone should have to deal with. It's a terrific thing, and all too rare, to see a protagonist develop hard-won strength of character right before your eyes.
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
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