How You Ruined My Life

I have read this book in under 4 hours, yes, that is with me not putting the book down.The book itself is very interesting, I've never seen a book that is whiten the way this book is whiten. It's very interesting, not super funny but funny enough for me to keep reading it.This book will definitely leave an influence on my own book, but I have to say I Have A Bad Feeling About This 😉😉

Rod Conklin is the protagonist/narrator of the story. His happy life is disrupted by the arrival of his rich cousin, Blake, that he hasn’t seen since childhood, who proceeds to destroy everything good in Rod’s life. Rod is a good guy. He gets good grades and willing helps out in his single-parent home. So, it’s easy to sympathize with Rod as his evil cousin systematically destroys everything in his life.Like sometimes in movies and (mostly) plays, Strand’s character, Rod, “breaks the fourth wall” by talking to readers of this book as a sort of narrator. Initially, he comes off as solely a story character and narrator and takes no credit as writer of the story, as in this dialog:Rod (to us readers): “I’m not the one writing this book, so you can’t expect me to tell the story for you!”But later there are contradictory comments from Rod that indicate he actually IS writing the story (somehow in present tense) even though we know it was written by Jeff Strand and not by a fictitious character in the story. Yeah, it’s confusing, but since I appreciate Strand’s humor I’ll forgive him this inconsistency.Overall, a well written and well told story with nary a typo.

For those looking for more Jeff Strand scariness, this is not the one for you. Mister Strand is trying his hand at the popular YA market, and he probably succeeds with this. However, much as I want to enjoy it, every so of ten there's a sentence that grates on my taste genes. I'm sure that if I were thirteen (does that count as 'Young Adult' now?) I would be really into it. Unfortunately I am long past that age and my tastes in literature have changed. They're not necessarily better, they're just different.I shall, however, continue to read Jeff Strand's adult-orientated work, which is more to my liking.

My 14 yr old son is picky about what he reads so I let him pick out his own books on Amazon. He really likes this author and we have since purchased his other books. Very happy with our purchase.

Guitar, garage band, girlfriend, old beater car, put these in a box and shake it and voila—you have every teenage guy’s dream life. Almost. Strand’s first person narrator breaks the fourth wall, breaks a few ceiling tiles and rips up the floor boards. It’s surprisingly clean for a Jeff Strand book—I don’t recall even a single ‘hell’ or ‘damn’ and also, for a Jeff Strand book, there is a remarkable low level of squeam. The book falls somewhere between mid-grade and YA but is enjoyable by anyone of any age with the ability to read English.

Reading Jeff Strand is like taking an adventure right along with the characters, which come to life. I can't wait to check out more of his books!

Very readable with lots of laugh out loud humor. Perfect for young adults or really immature older people like myself.BLAKE! BLAKE! BLAKE!Thanks for the grins and Chucks, Jeff.

I liked the build up. I knew from the start Blake was going to be a nightmare. I always enjoy Strand books.

Most annoying book ever.

Jeff Strand ist mein "Garantie-Autor" - wenn ich seine Bücher, ob nun dieses für junge Erwachsene oder seine komischen Horror-Bücher: Ich freue mich schon darauf, laut loszulachen. Wer Sprachwitz mag, der muss Jeff Strand lesen! In diesem Buch geht es um Rod, den sein Cousin Blake besucht - leider für 3 Monate - und sich...seltsam benimmt. Sehr, sehr seltsam! Doch ab jetzt - bitte selber lesen!