The Fixes by Owen Mattews
Publisher: HarperTeen
Genre: Contemporary and Young Adult
Release Date: August 30, 2016
Pages: 528 (Hardcover)
Five…
Eric Connelly is about to combust.
Four…
His senator father is forcing him to spend the entire summer working a mind-numbing law firm internship. He won’t stop lecturing him about the importance of upholding “the Connelly name.” He doesn’t know the definition of “blowing off steam.” But he’s about to find out. Because Eric is ready to blow.
Three…
Then Eric meets Jordan Grant. Super-rich, semi-famous Jordan Grant. The guy of Eric’s (secret) dreams. Jordan likes Eric. And, well, Eric likes that.
Two…
Jordan comes with a group of friends—the Suicide Pack, they call themselves—and they’re sick of the shallow hypocrisy of their exclusive beachside town. So they cook up some simple “fixes” to right the wrongs that the wealthy elite have committed. But as the fixes escalate, some members of the pack start to panic. Intoxicated by Jordan’s attention, Eric stays calm. Until Jordan starts to build the bombs.
One…
The question is not whether the bombs will go off—but who will be left standing when everything goes up in flames.
The Fixes is an interesting novel and I must admit I had a lot of fun reading it. There’s this loose stream of connectivity between the book and the narrator and I didn’t mind being pulled out of the story every other chapter or every other line because the remarks were just too funny and it would have been even better I swear if there just weren’t so many fucking holes. Like what’s up with Jordan’s family? Is he a psycho like his dad? Does his dad know how fucked he is? I sometimes hate how much I critically think but everything has to connect. There are just too many holes.
So I get that Haley and Paige were friends before the pack but why? They seem completely different especially with their group of friends and moreover, why would they want to be? In the whole book they barely speak to each other about anything. It makes me wonder that they’re together just because they’re girls. I also had an issue with the suspense. Maybe it was planned out this way but the deliverance is not very smooth as it starts and stops every few pages and the climax is literally a shit show. I also want to know and fully understand the thought process that is Jordan. How did he get everyone on his side? And so quickly? I want to understand how Eric got this way and how he convinced everyone to go through with things I want to understand the manipulation behind it all.
The reasons why I enjoyed this novel is because it is good. It does allow readers to fall into the story with its clever lines and smooth transitions. This is so with the transition of Eric going from E to Eric. The writing flows in such a calm way. The ending is cool because I hate cop-outs and I’m glad this one did not have that. Despite having many holes, it does resolve things. The character of Paige and how she comes back into Eric’s life, albeit weird, shows that they really were friends.
While reading The Fixes it seemed like I was asking one thing over and over again: why?
What’s even worse is that just about nothing is ever really answered. I’m trying really hard to be a better reviewer so I’m not going to completely bash Matthews for making Eric such a puppy. Some people just feel more than others but still. Come on, why. But I still really enjoyed this novel and would recommend it to anyone. Yes, it is really long but the chapters are pretty short and sweet.
3 Mediocre Clouds
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