Winger

Winger is about a fourteen year old boy named Ryan Dean West who plays rugby at Pine Mountain Academy. He is very "teenage boy" if you know what I mean; hormonal, crude, and thinks he's in love with every girl he sees. He also draws some, and those cartoons are integrated right into the text of the novel.Why am I giving this book a 1 star rating? I am fine with saying that I just found myself too old for this book. Some people may argue that you can't be too young or old for books, but in this c [...]

I can't even begin to tell you how good this book was. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. I had issues with the main character, but I like when I have problems with a main character. I enjoy reading about flawed characters. It gets annoying when you read books where the main character is perfect and everybody likes them. The main character in this book goes through a transformation throughout this book and that was really neat to follow. The plot was really interesting and the book [...]

fuck. my. life.

Ah, Ryan Dean, Ryan Dean, Ryan Dean. He's definitely not your usual contemporary YA hero. Actually, this whole book is a breath of fresh air. Set at a boarding school for both boys and girls, "Winger" illustrates the life of a fourteen-year-old boy in love with his super hot sixteen-year-old best friend, Annie, and his way of coping with being put in the same dorm as someone he's afraid might strangle him in his sleep.Ryan might come off as an immature, obsessed with the idea of sex and troublem [...]

How can one story make you literally crack up laughing on one page and the next you find yourself bawling your eyes out. If I could give this more than 5 measly stars I would. 440 pages of genius.

I’ve got to be brutally honest, I’m not sure why this book has so many glowing reviews and award nominations. Andrew Smith is a good writer, and his truthful, unedited portrayal of teenage boys reminds me of John Green’s Paper Towns (yes, for once, the Green comparisons are actually valid). But Winger is poorly paced and as a feminist and a LGBTQ ally I found Smith’s novel deeply problematic. Winger tells the story of Ryan Dean, a fourteen-year-old junior and rugby player at a boarding s [...]

Unpopular opinion of the day: Winger wasn't that wonderful.Seeing all the glowing, five-star reviews of this book, I wonder if it's me who went wrong. Andrew Smith did a lot of the little things right in this in Winger. He established a consistent narrative, incorporated rugby and its rules with ease, used a boarding school as the book's setting, and featured a nice friendship between Winger, the main character, and his best friend, Joey.But I wanted more from this 400+ page book. Several themes [...]

Well then. What even was this catastrophe. I feel like squinting at this book and then poking it with a long pole and saying "WHAT IS THE POINT OF YOUR FACE???" because what. I feel like I just read 430-pages of a teenage boy moping about how dorky he is and punctuating each. freaking. page with "I'm such a loser". You know what, Ryan Dean West? YOU ARE SUCH A LOSER. And as my friend said, maybe it should've been titled.WhingerBasically it's a boarding school book. Cue rich kids! In a strict env [...]

Here I am again, the voice of reason, fighting a tidal wave of support in a heroic attempt to save you some irritation and wasted time. But I know what you’re thinking, “This is the guy that hates everything, right? How can I possibly trust his opinion?” Well no worries, friendo, because I’m about to break it all down for you. If you’re a teenager or you can relate to or still have the mentality of a young, horny, sex-crazed, mouthy adolescent, then, by all means, delve in. Feel free t [...]

What-if-I-were-to-write-my-entire-review-like-this-in-a-hyphen-abusing-sort-of-way? Would-it-annoy-you-nearly-as-much-as-reading-several-sentences-like-this-on-every-single-page-of-the-book-annoyed-me? Let's-try-it:Ryan-Dean-is-many-things. He-is-a-stupid-name-and-an-unlikeable-protagonist. He-is-the-author-of-his-own-troubles. He-is-a-loser, he-is-a-skinny-bitch-ass, and-he-is-not-gay. If-you-can't-remember-any-of-this-don't-worry-he-will-incessantly-remind-you-in-a-guy-with-alzheimer's-sort-of [...]

I don't know how to review a book like Winger. I've loved every single one of Andrew Smith's books. Some more that others. But each one has offered up something honest and real and beautiful. Winger is different. I read in the NYT's review that Winger belongs to a group of books that are all very John Green in nature. And while John Green is certainly a talented writer, I think he writes the kinds of teenagers that adults wish teenagers were. Andrew Smith, on the other hand, writes teenagers as [...]

4 STARSIn this episode of What The F*ck HappenedMeet Winger.Pine Mountain Academy is a school for the rich and the supposedly neglected where Ryan Dean West is a 14-year old junior. The story starts as he begins to serve his sentence (for stealing a teacher's phone) in Opportunity Hall, the school's dorm for the exceptionally delinquent. His day begins by getting dunked in one of the common toilets in O-Hall by two football bullies. Fun times. To make thing more interesting, he is also bunkmates [...]

Meet Ryan Dean aka Winger, he is that guy that isn't really a nerd but sure isn't that cool guy either. You remember him don't you? He's the guy that makes you laugh like no one else could. Little horn dog fellow who thinks about sex five thousand times a day. Ryan Dean is fourteen and in the 11th grade at a "rich kids school"-he has been assigned in OR hall for stealing a teacher's cell phone and hacking into it. He is to share a room with the school's jock bully so he is sure to die before the [...]

“Joey told me nothing ever goes back exactly the way it was, that things expand and contract- like breathing, but you could never fill your lungs up with the same air twice.”The first few pages I wasn't sure I liked it. A hundred pages in I really enjoyed it and about halfway through, I was fed up with the main character: Yeah he's a loser, I get it, I don't need to hear it again. Yeah he's horny, I know, cause apparently everything that walks and isn't male gets his blood pumping. Just tone [...]

I don't know if these are spoilers, per se emotional spoilers, maybe? Anyway, read at your own riskNo. JustThis book didn't earn what it tried to do at the end. And it's sonsational that it makes me angry, like really and truly MAD, at the author for trying it. 410 pages of dick-and-ball jokes, homo-bashing, and objectifying girls are NOT erasable by a shock ending.Fuck you, author man. I'm so mad I can't even with this.*****************I can see, based on this novel's Printz-nod and unbelievab [...]

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.Why did I wait so long to read this book?!?! I could kick myself for putting this one off for so long. This book has to be one of the best YA novels that I have ever read. It is really that good. I read this book cover to cover in a single day and I can't think of a better way to spend a free day. Of course, I really didn't have much of a choice because once I started reading this story, I simply could not put it down.Ryan Dean West is in man [...]

Find all of my reviews at: 52bookminimum/Ryan Dean West (“Winger” to the guys on the rugby team) is a Junior at a boarding school. He’s different than the other boys, though. He’s only 14. This is the story of Ryan Dean’s life-altering year – dealing with first kisses, first bullies, first love, first loss – all while trying to remove himself from the stigma that is being the “little guy”. “It’s always that one word that makes you so different and puts you outside the overl [...]

I'm so freaking upset right now.--------------------------------------------------------------------Did I laugh ? Yes.Was the writing good ? Yes.Were the drawings pretty ? Yes.Those were the only redeemable things about this book.And Joey, the only character I actually liked/cared about.Other than that it just felt like a homophobic and sexist read.(view spoiler)[I didn't care about the cursing nor the constant mention of genitalia or how Ryan Dean was so "perverted". I got that he was a 14 year [...]

OK, I never say this, but all I could think as I finished this book was, WTF? Seriously, what just happened?There are two kinds of terrible books: the kind that you put down after a few pages, because the writing or characters or storyline are awful; and the kind like Winger, that draw you in with decent writing and engaging characters and an award-winning author - and then reward your trust with sloppy plotting and a completely out-of-the-blue ending.I had a few problems with this book:1. There [...]

I need a moment

Part of my "Huge Review Binge 2k15" (aka trying to catch up on reviews I haven't done in the past two years)Date read: December 1st, 2013Date reviewed: July 11th, 2015-----------One of the things about rugby that's an inescapable tradition is that everyone on the team has to sing, and everyone also gets a nickname. It's not conscious or thought out, it just happens. And, when someone finally settles on calling you by a nickname you're stuck. Forever.So no matter what happened to me in my life, a [...]

Check out this review on Lauren Reads YA, with photos of the book!What a piece of crap. is full of 5-star reviews of this book, and I’m honestly not sure if we all read the same book.The entire book is literally just what I imagine it’s like inside the head of a horny teenage boy. Ryan Dean is fourteen and constantly thinking about ‘hot’ girls, making gross comments at them, sometimes even inappropriately touching them when he gets the chance. Throughout the entire book he objectifies (n [...]

O M G You know what? I expected a light, funny read that would make me laugh. BUT WOW JUST WOWWOWWOW I didn't see THAT coming! This book is really so much fun and it has pictures and you just have to read it MAN I'M BLOWN AWAY READ THIS IF YOU LIKE LOOKING FOR ALASKA :)

I agree with the reviewer who said there was a tragic twist way too late in the plot. For one, it was completely unneeded; the main theme of the story was already resolved and everything that followed did feel tacked on. It was also not in keeping with the rest of the book's tone. The narrator makes you believe you are in a comedy for about 400 pages when actually he's narrating a tragedy. Plus it's not really relevant to most of us cause that kind of thing basically doesn't happen.(view spoiler [...]

IF I'm being honest (when am I not honest haha?), I found Ryan Dean to be a huge knob. And that's putting it lightly. He spends half the book whining about how much he dislikes other people but is a huge hypocrite and doesn't see those same traits in himself. He was a dick. There were no proper descriptions of the characters, I don't really know what anyone looked like. I am sure the writing was meant to convey the inner machinations of a fourteen year old boys brain, but it just came of as miso [...]

Andrew Smith's Winger flattened me. I was breezing along, laughing and cringing at the shenanigans Ryan Dean West gets into, and then the ending cold cocked me in the feels. Yes, I saw some kind of tragedy on the horizon, but I expected something different than what I received. I was a blubbering mess by the final page. Such a mess that my lovely wife said, "Dude, it's just a book." Yet there are some books that rise above simple ink and paper, or collected kilobytes. There are some books that b [...]

"I found out something about words. There are plenty of words I can put on paper, words I can see with my eyes and scribble with my hand, that I never had the guts to say with my mouth."Since this year has started, I've only cried over two books. Winger by Andrew Smith is one of them. I'm not sure if it's Ryan Dean's moving, realistic voice that had me hooked, or if it was the way I could easily relate to the character and connect with them on such an intense level that made it so hard for me [...]

Ekrana boş boş bakıp nereden başlasam diye düşünüyorum. Başını anlatsam sonunun burukluğunu atlatamadım, sonunu anlatsam başının eğlencesini kaçıracağım. Sanırım en baştan anlatmalıyım.Ryan Dean West her ne kadar kendine durmadan eziğin tekiyim dese de (ki bunu diyip durması kitap boyunca beni delirtti ) kendisi gördüğüm en orjinal karakterlerden biriydi. Kitap boyunca öyle bir olay olduğu yok. Ryan Dean'in yürüyen hormon olmasından kaynaklı başına gelen k [...]

I often get asked, "So what do you like to read?" The answer is "Anything, as long as the voice is there." I can't make it off the first page if it isn't. Just finished Winger, and man, is the voice ever there. Smith is such a good writer, and the funny, smart, confused, hornswoggling Winger -- aka Ryan Dean West -- is so alive on the page that I feel I've lived inside the head of a fourteen-year-old boy for a week. Smith, whose novel Grasshopper Jungle won a Printz Honor, is a new writer to me, [...]