Synopsis
ANGRY MOVIE GUY is a romantic comedy about a struggling film critic who decides to take on a bad attitude to achieve fame and success as the Angry Movie Guy. When his review destroys the career of a woman he's fallen in love with he must re-think his life.
Can he mend his hateful ways and win her heart?
My Review:
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Charlie has found the key to his movie critic success is to be relentlessly angry and cynical about the movies he reviews. He has found fame and notoriety, but he definitely has some pretty serious emotional problems and with the way he acts it is no surprise that he struggles to make real connections with other people. He finds himself interested in a woman and before he realizes it, he tears her movie apart.
This is an unconventional story, and Charlie's character was a tough one for me to care about. He is super prickly and is completely unpleasant both on-screen and off. There are a few moments where you realize he is trying to be sincere (or at least human), but for the first half of the book, it is tough to take him seriously or even care whether he succeeds in any regard. There are times when you feel sorry for him just because of how delusional his behavior is, and how little insight he seems to have. It is definitely comic at times how out of touch Charlie seems to be with reality.
It is pretty obvious that Charlie is a character who needs to reevaluate his life and go in a different direction, and he is finally presented with a situation that might actually motivate him to think about his actions and how they effect others. There are some unique elements here, as Charlie has an "astral self" who flies around and observes others who are reacting to Charlie's behavior. At times, it is unclear what is real and what isn't. Between Charlie's dreams, and experiencing situations through the views of "astral Charlie", it isn't always clear what exactly is going on. I also would have liked some more development of some of the peripheral characters. Overall, I think readers who are looking for an unconventional story with a main character who is far from perfect, but working to change his ways will enjoy this.
*An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review
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