Good oil (2010)

Amelia Hayes works at the “Land of Dreams,” also known as Woolworth’s. (which isn’t American Woolworth’s but instead a Australian grocery store. Who knew? I just read about it on Wikipedia) For a large part of this book I was picturing them working in a Rite Aid/CVS type deal and I couldn’t figure out how they could have so many registers. *facepalm* Also, they wear bow ties? Anyway, she works there a few times a week to earn money while she finishes up high school. Most of her co-workers are vacuous drones but she develops a crush on the 21-year old who trains her. Chris, who is 6 years her senior, chats books with her (and we all know what a turn-on that is. This is Goodreads—book lover central!) and they discuss issues while the rest of their coworkers are gossiping.

There was only one singlet sighting in this one. I’m always on the lookout since I started my Aussie YA binge. For those of you who are not hopelessly addicted to Australian YA books, a singlet is a cami or tank top. And the title of this book is a reference to an Aussie slang saying that means “useful information.” So, I’mma give you the good oil on this book…

It’s worth the read. It flips back and forth between Amelia’s point of view and Chris’s journal. I actually really enjoyed the change back and forth because it was rather large chunks of time and pages. The author will play a month or two through with Amelia and then give you Chris’s half of the same time period. I know most people reading this would probably reconnect with their memories of being a lovestruck 15-year old girl but I really identified with Chris’s point of view. He’s almost finished with uni but has no clue what he is up to. Just add on a few more years to his age and change him into a girl and he could’ve been talking about me. I especially enjoyed hearing his take on what other people are up to. I’ve mailed the book off but thankfully the lovely Arlene kept the quote I wanted to include: “I can’t run my own race. I’m constantly checking what’s happening in the other lanes.” Luckily, most of the people running in the other lanes in my life aren’t reading my reviews on Goodreads.:) It is depressing, though, to not have a clue.

Like every other Aussie book I’ve read, I definitely recommend this one. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the queen of YA’s books or another recent read ([b:Pink|8461405|Pink|Lili Wilkinson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1301843725s/8461405.jpg|6857047]) but it is solid. It is funny and fast-paced but I just wanted a bit more from it.

3.5 stars.
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Another great aussie novel, only this time I got warm fuzzies instead of gut-wrenching depression. [b:Good Oil|8079815|Good Oil|Laura Buzo|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298925793s/8079815.jpg|12803237] is light, funny, occasionally sad, and discusses some important issues in well-written conversations that are as hilarious as they are thought-provoking. It's told from two different perspectives and I think it's the only novel I've read that hasn't bored me when going over the same events from an alternative point of view; it's also probably the only multi-perspective novel where I can't make my mind up which POV I preferred.

On one hand, you have Amelia. She is so many things that I have been at some point in my life: bookish, introverted, naive, and completely obsessively in love with her older co-worker. I think I enjoyed the book all the more because I'd read all the novels she talked about and compared to aspects of her reality; I've had most of the same thoughts, and I went through a similar stage where I first started to learn about feminism and it made me rather unpleasant and angry at the world. I really, really got this girl.

As for Chris, the co-worker and object of Amelia's obsession, he is my personal definition of the perfect boyfriend. I don't care much for these beautiful, charmless boys that have taken over the young adult genre, I've never wanted a guy with super-strength or magical powers, and I've never wanted a vampire (okay, there was that one time...). But I like that he is funny, charismatic and believable. Yeah, that's it, he's so real. I think this is an aussie thing, creating wonderful but realistic characters, I've seen it quite a bit lately. Well, Chris likes to go out and get drunk, he wants to get laid, he's sensitive but he hides it from most people... and I would have fallen for him too.

I thought the ending was handled very well and I liked how we left both Amelia and Chris. I was bracing myself for sadness but it was just the right amount of everything. I mean, throughout I was torn. I desperately wanted Amelia to be happy - the kind of happy she would have found with Chris - but I was aware of the age complications: 15 and 22 is nicht gut. I kept wondering how the author would resolve the situation, the answer is: brilliantly.
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(4.5 stars) Good Oil was another book full of Aussie filled goodness which I extremely enjoyed! Good Oil does a great job of capturing the essence of being a teenager; it reminded me of the many things I wanted to do like go to adult parties, but couldn’t get to do so as I wasn’t considered old enough, experiencing that fluttery feeling in your chest when you see the guy you’ve been crushing on for ages, having a big smile plastered on your face as soon as someone mentions his name, having the whole achy feeling of wanting him so badly but just not having! Basically Good Oil left me with a longing of the times when I was a teenager, all the fun and stupid things I used to get up to with my friends. Gosh how I miss those days! The characters in Good Oil were a funny bunch; Amelia I felt myself drawn to Amelia straight away I knew exactly how she felt and the fact that she was strong, independent and funny made her an easy to love character. Where shall I start with Chris?? He was just so awesome! Always looking out for Amelia, he was witty and he had so much knowledge about books! How I wish I had known someone like him. Then there was sweet adorable Jess, Bianca who was always ruining the moment between Chris and Amelia and her minions Jeremy and “street cred” Donna and the Kathy virus! Seriously they all had me in endless hysterics!I enjoyed Buzo’s references to the many characters from different books and how it seemed both Chris and Amelia were talking about the characters from the books but it could be easily interpreted as if they were talking about themselves and what was happening in their lives. What this book has made me realise is that I really enjoy a good alternative pov book, before I was fine with reading from one person’s pov but being able to get into both Chris and Amelia’s minds and knowing their inner thoughts and feelings I absolutely loved it! Especially with Chris, his pov was both so raw and intense but also comical. Overall Good Oil was an extremely fun and enjoyable read, it’s definitely a feel good book, so if you need a quick pick me up book when you’re feeling tired or run down, Good Oil is guaranteed to brighten up your day and bring a smile to your face! ( )

I can't review it without spoiling it for you (so DON'T REAT THIS if you don't want to know anything about the book, the characters, the ending), but if I could give it negative rating I would. I gave it one star just because it means "I didn't like it"I mean, what's the point of this book? Nothing happens (for like 7/8 of this book..) and in the precise moment when something is about to happen and I am like "ok, maybe it wasn't that pointless", then everything goes down and end of story.Am I the only one feeling that way or what?I mean, I didn't find it funny (ok, not that funny anyways), I didn't find it interesting (there were some nice conversations and that was the only thing keeping me reading it, but not interesting enough), I tried so hard to finish it (and I think that I gave up on more interesting books before).. and maybe it wasn't for me (duoh!) but are teenagers really suppose to learn something from it? What?! That if a guy is older than you then you have no chance with him because he will run away before he even tried? I would have understood him if he didn't like her. I could imagine something like this: "ok, you are kind of young and silly and I want to sleep with my girlfriend not to talk about her teachers/books, so I'm leaving and I hope you have a great life".It would have made perfect sense. But the 'i like you and that's why I'm leaving' thing it is just too stupid for me.So.. I lost all that time for ...?! I could've smashed something with this book when I got to the end and I realized that it really was the end of it. :( ( )

Laura Buzo has crafted a lovely, honest picture of growing older and getting wiser. I don't know how these Aussie authors are doing it, but they are absolutely nailing authentic characterization and natural dialogue of contemporary characters. It's a sound that translates universally, but I've yet to see it crossover into the YA I've picked up lately on the domestic front (recent exception: Other Words For Love by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal). Here's the beauty of it (and Buzo particularly shines here): they are showing a WHOLE person, not just a person who has a conflict here or there. They are showing their characters in the actual rhythm and detail of their everyday lives. Buzo gives us 'every' Amelia - the family her, school, her, work her, angry her, silent hoping her, defeated hoping her, we get the WHOLE Amelia, and I love how seamlessly they are wrapped together to really form a believable cloth that is this wonderful character.

I distinctly remember squealing with delight over what a great character Amelia was developing into while reading Good Oil. I tweeted Missie from the Unread Reader letting her know how much I really, really loved Amelia. It's always odd to look at a former picture of yourself when from high school, and that's what Amelia was for me: a somewhat awkward teen, way too serious to be cool, nothing gets by her, but has trouble fitting in some of the time, whether it's because of others judging her, or her judging others. You kind of lose some of that as you get older, so it's nice to be slapped with a reminder every now and again of how you were. And Amelia, between you and me, I promise - things get better with time and age. Trust me on this.

And then there's Chris. Meh.

Don't get me wrong - Chris is an entirely believable, extremely well-written character, as well. He's a whole person, too; he's just not my type of person, at least not in his current stage in life. That being said, I would have been head-over-heels in love with him, just like Amelia. At 15. Not so much today. Color me a hypocrite, but hear me out. . . Chris is a charming, intelligent and lovable guy. He'd be a great character on Gilmore Girls. He's at a crossroads in his life, with one road called 'Daddy Issues', another called ' Heartbreak Hangover', a third called, 'Deadend Job' and a fourth called 'School Debt'.

Blows, Chris, I know. I'm there with ya, buddy.

Now, these four roads lead to a center of town I'm going to affectionately call 'Sack Up Square'. I know we all are there at one point in our lives. Hell, I think I've sublet there more than once. That being said, I have very little patience with myself when I get there because my essential, bare bones opinion is that one needs to get moving or go nowhere. This impatience with myself was transferred to Chris, who, in my opinion, needs to either clip on his big boy pair or commit to a lifetime of indecision and self-loathing. As delightful as Amelia's road to self-discovery was, to me, Chris's felt a bit overdue. I feel like he defined his life by who loved him rather than who and what he loved. He defined his world as in terms of what was absent rather than what he wanted and working towards it. What can I say? I like my characters stoic, whether it's brazen or bashful, and Amelia has moxie in spades. Chris does not. However, for the type person he was, Buzo was spot on with writing him - he's a thoroughly believable guy who is facing major life decisions. He's also an essentially good person, who also happens to make some muy shitey judgment calls - a decent male protagonist who comes off only slightly less important than Amelia. His emphasis on dwelling on his current state of tedium rather than simply making decisions and getting on with his life just rackled me a bit. He did get under my skin and make me laugh, though.

The lad has potential. Maybe it's the sort of 'what if' that only a young girl truly can appreciate and have patience with. Hence, Amelia's crush. I get it.

I'd love to sit down with them both in about five years and see what happens.

Everything about this book is authentic. It's wonderful and unexpected dual first-person narrations from Amelia and Chris make the book all the more interesting, and I particularly like that you got the sense of their different stages in life through it. Reflecting on it, I am probably a bit too hard on Chris on some points. Give Amelia seven years to get to Chris' stage in life, and who knows - she might sound rather similar. Good Oil is a solid read and a fine example of how there is no pinnacle of maturity in life - simply stages and circles we walk through and around, learning what we can and growing as we move along. Pick up and down some Good Oil - I'd love to see how it echos in your head. ( )