Rockoholic

by C.J. Skuse

Jody loves Jackson Gatlin. At his only UK rock concert, she's right
at the front. But when she's caught in the crush and carried back
stage she has more than concussion to contend with. Throw in
a menacing manager, a super-wired super-star, and a curly-wurly,
and she finds herself taking home more than just a poster. It's the
accidental kidnapping of the decade. But what happens if you've
a rock-god in your garage who doesn't want to leave? Jody's stuck
between a rock-idol and a hard place! From the pen of C.J. Skuse,
author of 2010's super cool debut Pretty Bad Things, comes a
tale of rock star obsession gone nuts.

• ISBN13: 9781909489233
• Publish Date: 5 September 2013 (first published 7 March 2011)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 25 April 2024
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Chicken House Ltd
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[Raven]

Read this and other reviews at my blog.

Thank you Netgalley for providing my advance copy.

Jody is horribly addicted to her favorite band Regulators, especially it's frontman Jackson Gatlin. She eat, sleeps, and breathes Jackson. So when she gets the chance to see Regulators in concert, she is super happy, waiting all day in the bitter cold for a front row perch. But things don't go as she plans, as she goes home with a concussion and Jackson himself, who she somehow managed to kidnap with a candy bar. Now she has the rock star holed up in her garage, and he doesn't really want to leave.

This book was nothing like I expected. It actually started out really boring. The chapters with the concert and the lining up outside the concert hall especially were turn offs for me. It was all inner monologue with lots of description. It gets better quickly after, but even then the book itself was rather slow paced.

The characters were good. I loved Mac so hard. He is just such a great guy. Jackson was a jerk and a half for a good portion of things. You kind of grow to understand him. He has no people skills, being a celebrity has killed any he might have had prior. Jody begins very unlikable. She is such a "hardcore" (see: "obsessed") fan that she is annoying. She gets better. Jackson quickly highlights her delusions and crushes her dreams. She spends a good part of the book being either really dense or really blind.

The story is actually really fabulous. The interactions between the characters all lead up to a very touching end. The tie ins with Jody's grandfather are perfect. He seems like he would've been such a fun old man, a "legend" as Jackson describes him. But the realization at the end is just brilliant. The ending makes up for what seems like a lame story. Everything builds and weaves rather slowly and when it all comes together at the end you are just left with fuzzy feelings. Not all of them are good fuzzies either. You are left feeling sorry for celebrities, feeling happy for Jackson's fate, feeling enthralled by the items that improve Mac and Jody's lives.

This was really a great book. It was hard to rate because of how slow it is for most of it. The ending really saved it. It was a great read, so I do recommend it. It will feel slow for a really long time, don't give up on it! It is worth finishing.

[Amber]

Jody, Rockoholic’s main character, is Jackson’s biggest fan. When her best friend Mac gives Jody a ticket to The Regulator’s gig she jumps at the chance to go. After queuing up outside all day Jody gets to see just three songs before she hits her head and is taken to the nurse’s room.

Mac drives her home, plus one – Jackson , who is so high on drugs at the time he thinks that Jody's Curly Wurly is a knife. Yes, you read that right!

Honestly, I found the concept of this novel to be very bizarre. I mean, a fan kidnapping her idol and stashing him away in her sound proof garage is a little strange, right? But I loved it.

Rockoholic is filled with humour and various references which had me laughing out loud. Skuse has an original and unique writing style which drew me in straight away. She also deserves bonus points for the Harry Potter references!

Mac was a fantastic character. I loved it when Mac was looking after his younger sister. I also loved the fact that he stars as Frankenfurter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show in a play.

Now, the parts of the book that I didn’t like were Jody and Jackson. Both characters were immature and got on my nerves – Jackson more so than Jody.

Jody kidnaps a rockstar and thought it was completely okay to keep him for a few days, and Jackson was a 27 year old drug addict living in a 16 year old’s garage.

I don’t know if Jody’s behaviour was realistic – as realistic as it could be, anyway – or not, but I would have never acted like she does at sixteen. Then again, my stepmum does say I’m abnormal, haha. I admit that Jody did grow on me after a while, and there was a hell of a lot of character growth there.

That said, the book does send out a good message towards the end and I feel that this is important amongst the teen hysteria.

Overall, I liked the book. I loved Mac and Cree and Skuse’s writing, but I just couldn’t connect with Jody. Although, there are probably lots of teenage girls out there who can