Official Review: Smog City by Rebecca McNutt

[sound_readerrev]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Smog City" by Rebecca McNutt.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Would you protect the thing that can potentially kill you? Smog City by Rebecca McNutt is a novel in the Other Fiction genre. The story takes place in a little town named Cape Breton Island in Atlantic Canada. The town is full of pollution due to the Sydney Tar ponds that have been around for decades. When scientists discover the dangers that the tar ponds provide for the environment, the inhabitants of Sydney wish for them to be removed, but some individuals would rather have them stay.

Mandy Valems is not your typical teenager. She does not care about the latest fashion or the hottest gossip that everyone else seems to indulge in. She's more of the quiet, introverted type and would much rather keep to herself. Mandy cannot wait to finish high school and pursue a career in photojournalism. No one really encourages her in anything she does, but Ms. Matthias, her nosey neighbor, crudely attempts to crush Mandy and reprimands everything the eighteen year old says or does. One day, Mandy runs into Alecto, an odd boy who dresses in dark clothing, smokes like a train, hangs around the tar ponds, litters everywhere, and is not exactly human. Somehow, Mandy feels an odd connection with him. He wants the Sydney Tar Ponds to stay, and a part of Mandy wants them to stay, too, but she’s not quite sure why. When the town starts talking about the removal of the tar ponds, Mandy protests by publishing an article in the local paper, claiming that the ponds are harmless. Over time, Mandy befriends Alecto and soon discovers that Alecto's life somehow depends on the existence of the tar ponds. Powered by the fact that her only friend will vanish and that the terrible secret that she has been hiding will be uncovered if the tar ponds were to be destroyed, she fights for them to remain. A war breaks out between the agency trying to destroy the ponds and the creatures that depend on the pollution they create. Who will win- the environmentalists or the pollution?

A theme in this story is that you must fight for what you believe in. Mandy Valems believes that the Sydney Tar Ponds must stay due to their historical significance. Though her opinion causes people to turn their backs on her and think that she is crazy, she continues to defend the tar ponds.

What I like about this book is that it was easy to read and written very unusually. I have never read a book like this before where pollution is personified. It was very interesting yet very peculiar. Alecto is an interesting character, and I liked him right away. Mandy was an interesting character also, but it seemed like she had more than one personality, and one was worse than the other. The message at the very end is interesting, though I do not agree with it. If the story was written like the prologue and like the last few pages, I think I would really enjoy this story very much.

What I did not like about this book is that it felt as if the author just spewed ideas and wrote them down. It seemed as if she did not know what to do with the characters. The order of events was not written very well, and there were some grammatical errors, such as punctuation being completely left out, quotations in the wrong places, and dialogue that was put together when two different people are speaking. The story itself was not as interesting as the prologue. Also, the main character Mandy Valems went from being interesting and mysterious to being a bit shallow. I think this story could have been a little longer and a little less confusing. I had to read the story a couple times and was still left with a ton of questions about the story and the characters. Another aspect that I did not like was that there was too much profanity coming from Mandy.

If I were Mandy Valems, I would want to research pollution before I defended it. She seemed completely irrational towards the end of the story. I too would have wanted to protect a site or building that held great historical value, but I would want to find out about the potential danger that it presents to the people living around it and to the environment. All of the characters seemed irrational in the end, but I guess it’s because of the fact that both parties were desperate.

The story started out very well and I liked it very much, but as it progressed, it seemed as if the author ran out of ideas. I felt very connected to Alecto, but Mandy often disappointed me. I do not know why but she seemed like a weak character by the end of the story, though she started out strong. I rate this book a 2 out of 4 stars because I like the idea of the story but it could have been written better. The story could have had more details and better structure. I did not give this book 1 out of 4 stars because of the unusual ideas and characters. I do not think anyone has ever thought to personify environmental factors as a teenager. I did not give this book a 3 or 4 out of 4 stars because this story often irritated me and depressed me to the point that I had to put it away for several days. I am not sure to whom to recommend this book, but possibly, people who enjoy sad, weird stories with tragic endings would like to read Smog City by Rebecca McNutt.

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Smog City
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[Tanaya]

I have never read a book like this before where pollution is personified.

Too bad about all the errors but the unusual aspects of the story definitely pique my interest.

[gali]

Sounds interesting though I am not sure the book is for me. Good review!