Viral

Viral
By Alex Van Tol

If you are like me at this very instant, busy with tons of work and desperate to find an easy book to read for English class, “Viral” is the perfect solution for you. The copy I have consists of 131 pages with a huge font and literally took me about two hours to read, and I am a slow reader. Your teacher can not say it’s not a worthwhile book because it is; it speaks about teenage problems we should be more aware of and careful about.

The story is narrated by Mike, who shows us examples of life lesson we should be careful of. Mike describes his best friend Lindsay, and how a misunderstanding made them grow apart. When the school year starts, down-to-earth, sensible, tomboyish Lindsey is a completely different person. She turns into the stereotypical teenage girl, showing too much skin, acting like she doesn’t care, and trying to fit in. Lindsey develops new friends who aren’t a great influence. We especially see this at a party where they offer Lindsey drugs. Lindsey, wanting to follow her friends, takes them. Mike tries to stop her but when he is outnumbered he can’t do anything. Next thing he knows, she is taken into a room with two other guys, something that is going to leave huge consequences.

This book is so melodramatic that you’ll say, “This will never happen in my school”, but trust me you can’t take anything for granted. The story plot talks about average teen problems that unfortunately happen frequently like peer pressure, alcohol, drug abuse, dating mishaps, lack of communication and much more. In my opinion it’s educational because through Mike and Lindsey we see the awful things that can happen to us and our friends if we aren’t aware of the consequences of our actions. But I also found it a little too vague for my taste; I usually like background stories where we have a giant plot that turns into knot of chaos. Then again, when you're in a rush this is perfect. Until next time, read!

 

My Rating:

~A. BW