It's this book and Megamorphs 4 that I become phsyically ill over when I even consider trying to read them again. That's not hyperbole and it's not because I felt they were bad books. It's all because of what Tobias goes through in each book.
At the end of the day, the reason Tobias was always my favorite character was because I identified with him; bullied, poor family life, and maybe only one or two people who actually gave a crap about me. Then I think of all of these kids in the news who comitted suicide because of bullying and I think that at least I had a way to escape from it that those kids didn't have, and seeing someone else in that kind of pain makes me feel sick and dirty that I'm powerless to stop it.
For that reason, I can't bring myself to read any of the books where Tobias is savagely bullied or mistreated. The fact that I was able to get through it once was bad enough and even when you glossed over some of those parts, I still felt the pang of nausea.
None of this is your fault of course, or the fault of the writers. I'm not placing blame or saying it shouldn't have been written like that. In my mind, if a story gives a reader that kind of reaction, it's only because it was well written enough to hit the emotional tones just right. I'm just emotionally scarred like that to where I can't even see a fictional character going through those things and not feel that way.
Great review as always.
