Poet of the Wrong Generation by Lonnie Ostrow

Poet of the Wrong Generation is a fictional biography of Johnny Elias, which, by the way, I managed to finish in one day despite its length. Johnny starts off as an underachiever, but when his girlfriend's mom successfully breaks the two of them, he starts on a path that leads to stardom (and then failure, thanks for aforementioned girlfriend's mom). Most of the book centers on how Johnny deals with stardom and the fall from it, and it's more interesting than my summary of it.

Although the book occasionally lapses into the "telling" tendency (usually whenever Johnny's lyrics are explained), it shines whenever Johnny, Megan, Andy, Jacqui plus friends get to just be themselves. I liked the varied cast of characters and although I've never had the curse of being famous, Johnny's high-pressured life felt rather sad and very real, and I really empathised with him.

The same goes for Megan. Although her mother is toxic and I was screaming at her to cut contact early on, I can understand her inertia and reluctance to stop what seems like a mostly good deal. Out of all the characters, I like her growth arc the best.

Overall, this is a pretty strong book. It took a little time to find its stride (I wasn't a fan of the prologue), but the fact that I managed to finish it in one day despite having a Hong Kong drama I am also hooked on shows how readable it is.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for a free and honest review.