[Review] The Gifted, the Talented, and Me - William Sutcliffe

Summary: Fifteen-year-old Sam is not a famous vlogger, he's never gone viral, and he doesn't want to be the Next Big Thing. In fact, he's ordinary and proud of it. None of which was a problem until Dad got rich and Mom made the whole family move to London. Now Sam's off to the North London Academy for the Gifted and Talented, where everyone's busy planning Hollywood domination or starting alt-metal psychedelica crossover bands. Sam knows he'll never belong, even if he wanted to -- but can he find himself on his own terms? (Pub Date: Oct 13, 2020)
 

Sam's family has just become rich, so they decide to move to London and enroll him and his siblings in a non-traditional school. While the other two seem to find their places very fast, Sam struggles with the school's progressist methodology and his very weird classmates.  

 

2.5 rounded up to 3.

 

This really wasn't the book for me. Too many small jokes, that I did like in the beginning but tested my patience after ten percent of the read. Too pointless. Yes, I eventually understood it was a coming-of-age story and Sam does progress, but for more than half he kept regressing, testing even further my patience. But I finally noticed my big grudge was the main character, Sam is just unbearable. And even after he develops by the end, I still think he's not worth anyone's time.

Now, the story itself is okay and might have been even a four-star for me with a likable MC, and probably a little less joking around. You're just a normal kid and ends up at this super weird, artsy school, to make things worse your loner of a brother becomes popular, your little sister is having the time of her life... It's super relatable. 

The one thing I loved was that, while Sam couldn't bother with anyone else but himself, the writer developed very well his mother's conflict, going from a hobby to the other without any emotional support whatsoever. To be honest, that family was borderline mean to her. 

There's also some romance but it's very low-key and Sam is too much of a jerk to deserve her, but romance is romance and I still love it. 

I recommend this to people who like their YA less about falling in love and more about living. Plus, while I thought the jokes were too much, I can imagine a lot of people will instead love them and since the author managed to keep up the rhythm the whole book, then you'll have a feast. It's also a quick and fun book, ideal for taking your mind off of stuff in real life.

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

Rating: 3 out of 5.