Kelly Oram, The Avery Shaw Experiment

Author: Kelly Oram
Title: The Avery Shaw Experiment
Published: May 4th 2013
GR

I like Kelly's books and her way of telling story. It's easy and readable. Characters are usually teenagers with some not so serious  issues - okey, when you are struck by lightning and turned into unstable freak like Jamie Baker, I guess you have a problem but that is not my point. This book doesn't contain supernatural elements and complex plot.

Avery Shaw is a good girl. She lives with her mother and sometimes with her mother's best friend's family. Part of this family are also two cute boys. Eighteen-year-old Grayson and almost-like-Avery's-twin-brother-and-best-friend Aiden who she has been in love with for years. They grew up together counting on each other all their lives. Rest of the world was strange to them until Aiden got bored and wanted to try something new.

Aiden was only familiar and safe thing in Avery's life and she translated those feelings of security into being in love with him. She came clean about it and it didn't go as good as she thought. When the only person you have ever loved breaks your heart and leaves you alone, you have to deal with betrayal and desire to share your experiences with that person. There were only two solutions: Avery could stay alone forever or find new friends. 

Luckily, there was another brother, Grayson - hot, outgoing and available. 

I was very curious about the experiment. Avery loved science. She thought she had to get through seven stages of grief (disbelief, denial, bargaining, guilt, anger, depression and acceptance/hope) to overcome effects of a broken heart. She also decided to write her observations into journal and entered with her new partner Grayson Utah State Science Fair. 

"You've got to face the facts, Aves. If you were really my sister and we'd ended up in the shower together, I'd have puked and hired a therapist. Not stared at your chest and wondered if you'd hit me if I took your shirt off."'

 Honestly, I don't know what I think about this book. There were some things I didn't like: First of all, a small involvement of other characters. Second of all, lots of crying - seriously, I wanted to hit that girl, her tears could cause a flood in North America! 
The story is told in the first person, through Avery's and Grayson's points of view. There´s the thing - Grayson, according to annotation, is the womanizer. In my world, that kind of men think a lot about girls and sex. Nasty thoughts are part of their existence. So what was wrong with Grayson? Or is my picture of womanizer different from the Kelly's one? If you compare Grayson to another similar characters in this genre you will understand. 

I am not even going to start talking about predictability. It is one of the main feature of books like this one. That's the funny thing, I suppose. Everyone knows what the end would be like but we still read it and love it. It´s about nothing and everything at the same time. Paradox, right?
In spite of my aversion toward Avery's changeable mood, I enjoyed romantic spark between her and Grayson. Of course, what it would be like if they got together in the beginning? Their relationship was developing very slowly. It drove me crazy but I hang on to those moments when they were together and you will too. 
At the end, I found it to be an overall good story. 

Recommendation: When you want to rest with a nice and naive lovestory you should definitely read about Avery Shaw. It's not breath-taking but it makes you smile. I recommend The Avery Shaw Experiment for contemporary fans.

Poznámka: Toto je moja prvá recenzia v angličtine, s ktorou som sa jedovala dva dni a z toho jeden som sa odhodlávala na zverejnenie; a aj tak sa mi zdá hrozná. Ale niekde začať treba. Nie je to hanba, že v angličtine pozerám a rada čítam, ale pri tom nevypotím ani jednu debilnú vetu? Možno keď ma niekto vysmeje, konečne so sebou začnem niečo robiť. :D