The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik

by David Arnold

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Things in Noah's life appeared to be going according to plan. The problem was, they were not his plans. He was 16-years old, and not sure what he really wanted. He, in fact, seemed to be having a sort of existential-crisis. His solution? He got really drunk, and spent time with a rather strange stranger, who appeared to have done something to him, because the following day, Noah's life had been altered in small ways with big affects.

I fell in love with Arnold's storytelling via Kids of Appetite, returned for more of his genius with Mosquitoland, and am now firmly a devotee of David Arnold after finishing the quirky and thought provoking masterpiece, The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik.

I found Noah to be quite a fascinating protagonist. His level of intelligence coupled with his heightened self-awareness yielded so many stimulating inner monologues and conversations. I truly loved being in his head and in his world.

Noah was grappling with a lot of things, which I think many teens (and adults) could relate to. He felt stuck on this path, which he did not choose, and he was afraid to be honest about what he did and didn't want. His fear of change and the future was some common ground between Noah and myself, and I thought his feelings and reactions were very realistic.

One of the things Noah feared was the relationship between him, Alan, and his twin sister, Val, changing. They called themselves "the fragile triangle", and they shared a really special friendship. I liked Val a lot, but the right angle of that triangle was the bromance between Alan and Noah. Their bond was so lovely and strong, and I adored how they could be so open and emotional with each other.

I am all for the present and awesome YA families we are seeing more and more of these days, and Noah's family joins this list. They shared meals together and family movie nights, and they also talked to one another. His parents were loving and openly affectionate. His sister was a little firecracker, who won a piece of my heart, and it was special seeing the bond between those two grow and gain strength.

But you want to know what I really adored? Noah wrote these concise histories. He would take all these seemingly unrelated things, and find a thread between them. The first two totally had me WTFing. They were phenomenal, and had me looking forward to more of them.

And then there were the strange fascinations. I never really thought of things I am fascinated, borderline obsessed with, but I will admit, that Noah has me thinking about them. I thought Arnold deftly wove these fascinations into the story, and I appreciated how they tied into his fears of change and loneliness versus being alone.

Overall: David Arnold is 3 for 3 for me! This was another wonderful addition to his body of work, which lived up to its title, and was wholly fascinating.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.