[Review] Neanderthal Opens the Door to the Universe - Preston Norton

Summary: Cliff Hubbard is a huge loser. Literally. His nickname at Happy Valley High School is Neanderthal because he's so enormous-6'6" and 250 pounds to be exact. He has nobody at school, and life in his trailer-park home has gone from bad to worse ever since his older brother's suicide.
There's no one Cliff hates more than the nauseatingly cool quarterback, Aaron Zimmerman. Then Aaron returns to school after a near-death experience with a bizarre claim: while he was unconscious he saw God, who gave him a list of things to do to make Happy Valley High suck less. And God said there's only one person who can help: Neanderthal.
To his own surprise, Cliff says he's in. As he and Aaron make their way through the List, which involves a vindictive English teacher, a mysterious computer hacker, a decidedly unchristian cult of Jesus Teens, the local drug dealers, and the meanest bully at HVHS, Cliff feels like he's part of something for the first time since losing his brother. But fixing a broken school isn't as simple as it seems, and just when Cliff thinks they've completed the List, he realizes their mission hits closer to home than he ever imagined. (Pub Date: Jun 5, 2018)

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Oh, wow.But...

So I'd say it's a 3.5. 

Cliff is big, quite big, and thus he's called Neanderthal and has no friends, but his brother who is now dead. He knows high school is terrible and his school is especially problematic, but he had never considered he could do something about it until golden boy Aaron comes back from a coma with a list of tasks sent by God. Who, by the way, also said Cliff would help him accomplish them. It does sound crazy, but there's just something to Aaron's story...

This was very different. Cliff has a unique voice I haven't found in any YA's so far. Also the style of the story is very dynamic, I almost felt as if I was watching a movie. This made for most of the fun in the reading, imagining how it would be in the movie. It's a very visual story, I'd say.

I liked how Cliff gets to know people better, see that his actions were also a part of the problem and thus he was a part of the solution as well. It's a nice tale, though it does get cheesy.

The thing is that the book was too long. It is indeed uplifted but not enough that I didn't drag at times.

This doesn't deny that it's well written and planned. I liked all the steps Cliff has to take until he finally gets it. Also, Cliff's friendship with Aaron was a highlight. They were so cute together I almost hoped they'd fall in love. Silly me, but they were that cute. By the way, I wasn't expecting but we get some (hetero but still) romantic scenes. I'm still more in favor of the boys, I apologize, but I did have a silly grin during the actual couple's scenes.

In sum, this should have been more entertaining and it could be less cheesy, but it's still a nice story.

Rating: 3 out of 5.