Disconnected

Rating:
Summary: Summary
Review: "Disconnected" follows the most private thoughts of Devon Wilkins, a boy some would label as a juvenile delinquent, as he struggles with his issues with his family and the world.
When Devon's therapist leaves for a book-signing tour, he requests that Devon keep a detailed journal of his thoughts and daily life as a sort of personal therapy. Very early on one can see that he is a very unhappy young man who feels very disillusioned with the human race.
He is angry about the injustice and hypocrisy that he thinks surrounds him, and he notices only the negative aspects of life - selfishness, greed, corruption. He is confronted daily with what he calls "fake" people whose lives are consumed with keeping up appearances, people who are slaves to "the man."
But when Devon fixates on his next-door neighbor, a girl he's never spoken to, he begins to develop a sense of empathy. The girl, who he calls April, even though her real name is Stephanie, goes through a difficult time during the period that he watches her through his bedroom window.
Devon's growing obsession with April and her friend Iyari causes him to meet several new people, and the details he learns about all of their lives give him new resolve to straighten his life out. Unfortunately trouble manages to find him time and time again, and just when things are starting to look up, everything comes crashing back down.
"Disconnected" is an accurate representation of the psyche of a frustrated teenage boy who feels like it's him versus the world. Devon, though obviously a troublemaker, is lovable in his seemingly honest attempts to turn around a life that has been wrecked with tragedy and emotional turmoil. It is a "sad, but true" account of many young American juveniles' fight to be understood by an uninterested world.


Rating:
Summary: Unexpected Disconnected
Review: From the very first page you are gripped in. Disconnected, written in journal format, sweeps you into the mind of a 17-year-old boy who has the world all figured out.
As you begin to understand (or think you understand) the main character, the crass and despondent Devon Wilkins, he becomes almost endearing despite his ludicrous rants and philosophies.
The most enjoyable aspect of this book is it's unpredictability. The very moment you think you have the character or the plot figured out, it goes in a completely different dirrection.
This is a book that makes you think without being confusing, is complex without losing simplicity, and jumps out of scrutinizing details before getting boring.