REVIEW: There are Reasons Noah Packed No Clothes, by Robert Jacoby

There are Reasons Noah Packed No Clothes

You need your eyes, don't you?

So does Richard Issych. Two weeks ago he overdosed. Now he's fighting for his life, finding threatening notes like that one on his nightstand.

19-year-old Richard Issych wakes to a harsh new reality inside an inpatient unit. Now Richard's journey turns into one of revelations and struggling through his own reasons for being as he discovers new meanings for redemption, sacrifice, hope, love-and the will to live.

In the end, what are the reasons Noah packed no clothes? Richard can only imagine. But it has something to do with a size 3XL bowling shirt with the name "Noah" stitched over the pocket.

There are reasons . . . everyone uses his own dictionary.
There are reasons . . . some new heavens come from some new hells.

First, I had a hard time reading this book in the beginning. The subject matter isn't difficult, it's the train of thought the speaker has. Meaning, this is some sort of mix between narrative and stream of consciousness in the beginning. And it's all 3rd person. 

It's really rather a neat device, though. As Richard comes out of his drug-induced fog and begins to see things clearly, the speaker is more clear. When there's panic and paranoia..there's panic and paranoia evident in the speaker's voice. The teenager tone is VERY evident in this speaker (though, I work 5 days a week with that teenager tone, so I might be biased.)

It's a really good story. Richard is really just a typical kid in a not-so-terrible situation who just doesn't see any way of overcoming his disenchantment with life and depression--well, overcoming and still be alive. He grows up in the story, through interactions with those much worse off than he.

It does have some rather edgy bits--suicidal thoughts, some very inappropriate relations, etc.--that would make it hard for me to put on the shelves in my conservative small Texas town. I could hand it to mature juniors and seniors, but not my freshman and sophomore readers. 

What do you think??

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this ebook galley from Cloud Books through the netGalley publisher/reader connection program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.