Jacked Up

by Erica Sage

Saved! meets Tim Federle with just a dash of A.S. King in this hilarious and poignant debut about a teen stuck at Jesus camp.

It’s bad enough that Nick’s sister is dead, and, in some bizarre attempt to force him to confront his grief, his parents are shipping him off to Jesus camp. But he’s also being followed around by Jack Kerouac, who’s incredibly annoying for a genius.

If arguing with a dead beat poet doesn’t qualify him for antipsychotics already, Nick’s pretty sure Eden Springs is going to drive him insane. The campers ride donkeys into the desert, snap selfies with counselors dressed as disciples, and replace song lyrics with Bible verses. And somehow, only Nick seems to find this strange.

Worst of all is the PC Box, into which the campers gleefully place daily prayers and confessions. With Jack nagging him to do it, Nick scribbles down his darkest secret—about his sister’s death—and drops it in the box.

But then the box is stolen, with Nick’s secret inside of it. And when campers’ confessions start appearing around the camp, Nick is desperate to get the box back—before the world learns the truth about what he did. The truth he can’t even face himself.

Laugh-out-loud funny, surreal, and insightful, this is an unforgettable novel about the strangeness of life, death, and grief—and the even stranger things people do to cope.

• ISBN10: 1510730052
• ISBN13: 9781510730052
• Publish Date: 19 April 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Imprint: Sky Pony Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 280
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

I love a good grief book, throw in conversations with a dead author and an interesting setting, and it should be a solid winner for me.

There were parts of this book I loved so much. There was a lot of humor, great characters, and some awesome banter. There was also some really painful and beautiful moments shared with us, but I always struggle when an author outwardly hates on a group of individuals. Sage's distaste for conservatives and Republicans is quite obvious. I would let a comment slide, but as soon as I found myself enjoying the story, she would throw another comment in there, and it sort of detracted from my enjoyment.

Regardless, I loved Nick and I was so invested in his story, that I did read to the end. I was happy that he was able to deal with his guilt and pain, and that he gained a little perspective on many things during his journey.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.