Review: The Liberation of Max McTrue by Kim Culbertson

Book Description via Goodreads:

Ebook, 187 pages

February 1, 2012, BookBaby E-books

Have you ever had an extraordinary day?

Max hadn’t. Until one winter day when he met a girl.

THE LIBERATION OF MAX MCTRUE takes place in a single day. The classic Boy Meets Girl story. Well, sort of: Boy meets homeschooled girl. Boy ditches school. Boy finds his future. And there's an ice cream truck. And archery. It's a bit like what would happen if Ferris Bueller's Day Off and The Alchemist had a kid, well...a kid who was a YA eBook novella. You get the idea.

Max took a day off and found his life.

Who changed your life today?

Source: Kim Culbertson (Thank you!)

My thoughts:

First of all, the writing was breathtaking. There’s something about it – the beauty of it, the fun of it, the genius of it – that makes me want to read the lines again and again. The conversations in The Liberation of Max McTrue were never boring. The chapters and scenes were cut at the right moment, just enough so that I think about it what happens next. The author showed rather than told the story. It was very satisfying for me.

Max was the average kind of guy. He went with the flow of life and blended in the crowd. He didn’t make choices. People made his choices for him. He didn’t make plans. He just went with other people’s plans. So when it was time for him to apply for college, he seemed hesitant to suddenly change tactics. From being an average student, he needed to be different and he needed to stand out in college. That was his problem: he didn’t stand out.

Max met Clara Jane by chance. He wouldn’t even have known her if he didn’t act on his instinct and his curiosity. After following her from the school grounds, he found a future that he never even considered.

Clara Jane was charming, pretty, fun and intelligent. She reminded me of Liv from Beautiful Darkness & Beautiful Chaos by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. But Clara Jane was unique in her own way. She’s filled with positive energy, determination, desire to learn and appreciation of life. She shared her day with Max, talked about several things both general and slightly personal. She shared her thoughts and secrets with him. In the end, she changed Max’s life.

Clara Jane and Max had a connection. It was like a spark between them that blazed at times and could possibly engulf them both if they would just let it. I liked how Max saw Clara Jane through his eyes. It was refreshing for me. I liked how he listened to her and how he let her words get in his system and change him for the better.

The Liberation of Max McTrue is a captivating novella that has the charm, magic and life-changing factor of The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. Beautifully written, honest, witty, heart achingly good and genius this novel will inspire, amaze and please contemporary readers. I highly recommend it!

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