Moving on.
Barry Lyga is pretty awesome. I've read his books as they've come out, so it has been spread over a few years. So far, all of his books take place in the same town (Brookdale). Except for two, they are not really a series. But he does drop in characters here and there that appear and multiple books. Characters do pop in and you can think, "Ooooh, I know more about that guy!" or whatever. It's nice feeling In-the-Know. Someday I might go back and re-read these all together to get the full effect. But these titles definitely stand on their own. Plus, they're not chronological, so it doesn't matter which you read when.
I have loved these books. The characters are well developed. Good and bad things happen to them. They are usually fairly smart people, but they still say stupid things and don't listen to their own common sense.
I recently finished his newest book, Goth Girl Rising, which is the sequel to The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl. Overall, it definitely stood up with the others. I had slight hesitation because this was the first one where the narrator was female. I applaud for Lyga holding his own and even writing about *gasp* boobs and periods. There were many, many times I wanted to smack Kyra upside of the head and be like "Stop being so stupid." But we real people are stupid too, so I usually forgave her. This was a great follow-up to Fanboy and Goth Girl but I feel the audience may be different. Shifting narrators from Fanboy to Goth Girl may alienate male readers. This book is very girl-centric. Seriously. Periods. Enough said. Still a wonderful read!
Two final things on Fanboy and Goth Girl and Goth Girl Rising: (1) There are a lot of comic book references. Honestly, I had no idea what a lot of them were in the first book but am more familiar with the Neil Gaiman references in the sequel. For graphic novel readers, this is a way to tie what they read into a novel. For non-gn readers, these are just good books with many references they may not get, but Lyga usually explains. (2) Lyga has some kick butt covers. Goth Girl Rising is gorgeous! But I miss her lip ring. In the text she has a nose stud too, but the lip ring is often discussed in both books.
I have loved meeting these characters and spending time in their lives. All characters are similar in that they have obvious flaws but their life experiences are radically different. I look forward to many more from Lyga.
