Review of Kianola

[Alissa Deann Devargas]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Kianola" by Nathan Roth.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Video games have their perks. It's said to improve the brain activity of a child, but too much of it is indeed bad. It mostly affects the child's social life in real life. In Kianola by Nathan Roth, we read about a kid who seemed addicted to video games. We read about the good and bad effects it had on him.

Nole was a regular thirteen-year-old who liked video games and didn't like school to an extent. At school, he had only two friends, Hurley and Finn. When Nole first transferred to the school, he was seen as weird because he was fat, wore his daddy's shirt, and wore weird shoes. Hence, he looked different, and people don't like different, just as Hurley said. A regular day in Nole's life included waking in the morning, going to school, and returning to play video games until late at night. There was this game he was particularly engaged in; it was Enix. It was while playing this game that he met Dapple and Kianola. As someone who appreciated love but didn't get a chance with girls in school, he was quite happy to be their friend. But soon feelings started to develop, and Nole needed to decide who he truly liked: Dapple or Kianola.

There's not much to this book. As the author described it, it's a story of teenage children playing video games. However, there were quite a number of lessons I discerned from it. From Nole, I affirmed my belief that feelings don't change in a day. Nole had just professed his feelings for Dapple, who didn't know how to deal with it, and then the next day, when Kianola expressed her feelings for him, I was surprised that he said that he had the same feelings for her. So, I was not surprised by the dreadful outcome afterward. From Finn, I learned that you can't judge a book by its cover, indeed. He was a brash teenager who didn't mind saying his thoughts out loud, but it turned out that he possessed likable qualities, after all.

The only thing I didn't appreciate about this book was that the teenagers didn't sound like teenagers at all. Their choice of words and reasoning sounded adult-like. It was only their actions and the things they liked that corresponded with their role. The descriptions of the scenes in Enix were so real that it felt as though the author was talking about a different world. I couldn't reconcile the fact that the characters could feel the emotionally charged moments in the game as if they were the ones experiencing them.

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. This is because of the mismatched roles of the characters and the too-real descriptions of the video game scenes. While this might be good, it can also be confusing. I recommend this book to teenagers and lovers of video games.

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Kianola
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[Williams Jaden]

In Kianola by Nathan Roth, 13-year-old Nole struggles with fitting in at school, finding solace in video games, particularly Enix. He forms connections with characters Dapple and Kianola, but as his feelings for them grow, Nole must balance his virtual world with real-life relationships. The story explores the effects of video game addiction on social and emotional development.

[NetMassimo]

This seems like the tale of a coming-of-age of a kid who's into video games to the point of being addicted to them and his social struggle. I'm probably too old for this kind of story but probably many kids can see themselves in Nole. Thank you for your great review!

[Naimah Agboluaje]

Alooma! Mahalo nui loa for this insightful review of "Kianola" by Nathan Roth. I appreciate your perspective on the book and your analysis of its themes. It seems like a story about video games and their impact on teenagers' lives, but with deeper lessons to be learned. I found your observation about the characters not sounding like typical teenagers intriguing. It's interesting how the descriptions of the video game scenes are so vivid that they almost feel like a different reality. Overall, your comments make me curious to read the book myself.

With that said, I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars. Although the adult-like language and the immersive video game descriptions were a bit confusing, the story's lessons and character development were strong points. I would recommend "Kianola" to both teenagers and video game enthusiasts. Keep up the great work with your reviews! Aloha! Heartfelt moments, brought tears to my eyes.