This Boy is a roughly written attempt to relate to a teenage audience about sex, teenage life, and addiction. In this book, Paul goes through high school with his faithful friend Roby Smalls and falls in love with a girl, Natalia, while coming through age and suffering through the teenage experience.
There are several twists and turns in their relationships, and lots of side characters. However, it fails to deliver in several aspects. The characters are not fleshed out enough for how much the novel wants to put gravity on the situation and feelings that occur. This feels like a book written by a teenager, and strangely describes sexual ideas from the perspective of a woman trying to write as a teenage guy. It comes of as strange and insincere on how the character thinks. Paul is also just generally unlikeable, except near the end of the book when he struggles with drug abuse. This section of the book is genuinely touching and made me wish that the author went more into teenage drug abuse instead. However, this book is redeemed only through the exploration of drug abuse. It is not an enjoyable book to read and feels like a grown woman trying to summarize a teenager’s life.