The Universe versus Alex Woods

Normally I stay away from books, TV shows and films where people are quoted as saying that it will "have you smiling through your tears" but sometimes, well, I'm just a bit of a maverick.  I decide that all those people who say that this will make you blub are all just big babies and that I'll be able to handle the storyline even though I'm one of the biggest criers around.  That's certainly what I decided when I picked up The Universe versus Alex Woods.  You see, Gavin Extence's debut novel also had critics saying that they laughed, so that was what I was hoping for, that I'd find it more funny than sad.

The novel is about Alex Woods, a teenager, and his friendship with an old man called Mr Peterson.  It begins the way that lots of books like to begin, with the first chapter sort of telling us what has happened and then the subsequent chapters showing how events lead up to that point.  In my mind the novel breaks up into two distinct parts, the first bit where we learn about Alex and the second where we meet Mr Peterson.

What we learn about Alex is that he is not a normal teenager, of course he isn't, there are no normal teenagers in books.  Alex is different because when he was ten he was hit by a meteorite.  What I love about this is that it is such a one-in-however-many-billion thing to happen that the chances of it happening are miniscule, but unlike a lot of things we see in books (vampires, werewolves, wizards) it could happen.  There you are, sitting wherever you're sitting, reading this and then a meteorite could suddenly shoot out of the sky and hit you.  And it's a great leveller, the meteorite doesn't care if you're the sort of person who wants fame or not, it's just chance that the two of you crossed paths and you've now become 'the person who got hit by a meteorite and survived' and Oprah is banging down your door for an interview (does Oprah even do interviews any more?  I can't keep up)

As you can imagine, being hit by a meteorite doesn't make for an easy life and so the first part of the novel looks at how this affected Alex's life.  Then we, and Alex, meet the curmudgeonly Mr Peterson and the relationship between these unlikely friends forms the basis of the second part of the book. 

Even though we all know what the end result is thanks to the first chapter, I don't want to give away any of the lead up, any of the surprises, so I'll try and be abstract.  This book made me laugh out loud, which is always a great thing in a book, and it made me care so much about the characters that at some points I had that horrible tugging feeling in my tummy because it was kind of heartbreaking.  As I said, I am a huge crier and, no surprises, I wasn't stronger than those critics whose quotes were used for the book.  I cried.  I cried because it is incredibly sad. 

I don't think I'd re-read this book, especially knowing everything that happens, but I would recommend it.  I'm glad I read it, it wasn't bleak and depressing because there was humour in it but after reading it I remembered why I don't normally go for books that make you cry - reading sad books is hard work.  It's emotionally draining even though you don't know these made up characters.  There are many, many people who love a book that makes you cry and if you're one of those people then this definitely is a book that should be on your To Be Read pile.  If you're someone who doesn't usually like to cry but is feeling brave then I reckon give this book a go because the humour will help soften the blow.  And if you're someone who's had an absolutely awful week and just wants something that will make you feel happy and full of laughter then, erm, maybe you should grab some chocolates and watch The Mindy Project instead.

One sentence back cover quote

Boy did I cry, but I also laughed and really cared about the characters.

Buy The Universe versus Alex Woods at Waterstones