Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Perry Stormaire is a normal high school senior who is stressing over getting into college. Slated to be a big-time Manhattan lawyer like his father, Perry is feeling the pressure to get accepted into Columbia and throughout the school year, has been forced to make a lot of concessions—like quitting his beloved swim team to join the debate team—all in the name of higher education.
When Perry’s parents ask him to make one of the biggest sacrifices of his life: taking Gobi Zaksauskas, their ϋber geeky, Lithuanian exchange student to the prom, instead of playing a once-in-a-lifetime gig with his band, Perry puts his foot down. Then he begrudgingly takes Gobi to the prom.
When Gobi descends the stairs in a horrifying fashion faux pas, which she defends as traditional formal wear in her country, Perry doesn’t think the night can get any worse; but, he’s wrong. Dead wrong. As the night progresses, Perry will learn that his dowdy, wallflower housemate is actually a smoking hot, twenty-four-year-old assassin who plans to avenge her sister’s death in a very big and messy way.
Joe Schreiber has penned one of the most high-intensity thrillers of the year. A plot-driven, ball of female-fueled fury that takes place on the streets of New York City, and is replete with espionage, explosions, car chases, raining bullets, revenge killing, torture and a kiss or two thrown in for good measure. To say it’s action-packed would be an understatement.
No doubt written with the big-screen in mind, Schreiber sets the stage with his words and the free-flowing, vivid visuals automatically follow. Additionally, each chapter begins with a question from top college applications, serving to add wit and dark humor to the utter chaos that Perry is experiencing and how his application would read when compared to the mundane lives of other high school seniors.
Despite being a main focal point of the story, Gobi is interesting and exciting, but not as fleshed out as she should be, and plays out more as a means to an end than a contributing, solid character; though, that may change in the sequel.
Although Au Revoir Crazy European Chick tips the scales a bit in the believability department, it’s all in the name of good fun and high entertainment. Joe Schreiber has created a teen-focused action thriller that blurs the line between gender and age and is sure to be thoroughly enjoyed by all.
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Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; 1 edition (October 25, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-0547577388