Review of Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John

Title: Five Flavors of Dumb
Author: Antony John
Published by: Dial
Pages: 338
Source: Won in a contest
Format: Hardcover
Rating:

Summary from Goodreads: The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.

The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.

The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?

Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

Absolutely brilliant.  I loved this story from the first page to the last.  From the unique storyline, to the crazy, messed-up characters this book had all the elements for a great read. 

Piper is almost 100% deaf and somehow through unexpected circumstances, lands the job of managing an amateur rock band.  Piper is a character you instantly like.  She's spunky, a bit moody, and like a lot of teenagers...insecure.  Piper takes on this gig without really knowing much about music.  Not only does she have to understand the industry, but also to really feel what makes music that magical element that it is.

The band itself is made up of some pretty awesome people who will completely change your opinion of them by the end of the novel.  The ones that I originally liked I ended up seriously disliking, and the ones that I didn't care about at the beginning I ended up loving.  Each character in this novel added so much depth.  You know how there is usually one character that doesn't really matter to you or is often forgettable.  This didn't happen for me.  All of the characters made the story what it is. 

The things that really made this story great was how people change and how our opinions of people can change also.  Five Flavors of Dumb threw a lot of stereotypical people at you, but also makes you realize that there may not be stereotypical people after all.  Everyone, no matter who they are, has a little bit of rocker in them, and Antony John lets that shine through in his characters. 

The one aspect I had a bit of trouble with at the beginning is Piper's family.  I felt really bad for Piper and I think she often got the short end of the deal.  Her dad was a complete jerk and her mom just didn't seem to have all her priorities straight.  Throughout the novel I understood their dynamic a little more and by the end things had changed enough that I was happy with how it ended.  In fact, I was more than happy.  The ending was ridiculously awesome! 

I am so happy I gave this book a chance and I hope to read more by this author someday.