Good Oil by Laura Buzo

Thursday, October 21, 2010


A wonderful, coming-of-age love story from a fresh new voice in YA fiction.
'Miss Amelia Hayes, welcome to The Land of Dreams. I am the staff trainer. I will call you grasshopper and you will call me sensei and I will give you the good oil. Right? And just so you know, I'm open to all kinds of bribery.'
From the moment 15-year-old Amelia begins work on the checkout at Woolworths she is sunk, gone, lost...head-over-heels in love with Chris. Chris is the funny, charming, man-about-Woolies, but he's 21, and the 6-year difference in their ages may as well be 100. Chris and Amelia talk about everything from Second Wave Feminism to Great Expectations and Alien but will he ever look at her in the way she wants him to? And if he does, will it be everything she hopes? For ages 15+.

My Review:-

Favourite Quote: He didn’t move straight away. He looked at me and, with full eye-contact for maximum impact, said ‘You are the real thing, youngster. I hope you will never change’. Before moving slowly back to his own register.
I know a compliment when I hear one, even if I don’t fully understand the nature of it. The hammer shot that last nail in one strong blow.


Wow. This is such a honest and heartfelt coming of age story. It brought back so many memories of being 15. trying to figure out the world and of course having a crush on someone out of my league.

This is not a cute and fluffy read. There is definitely a lot of funny moments but this book is also a little bit heart wrenching at times. The writing is effortless to read and it is easy to get caught up in Amelia and Chris‘ lives. I enjoyed the dual points of view that allowed us to really get a feel of what both characters were thinking. With Chris' point of view, it never felt like a female author was trying to write what she thinks a male would be feeling. His point of view surprised me with it's raw honesty.

You can’t help but fall in love with both Amelia and Chris. The both show so much growth throughout the book. My heart went out to Amelia. Such a hopeful character. Mature for her age in some ways but also naive. But most of all very relatable. It brought back both the joy and agony of being 15. I loved Chris even if he did make some poor choices. He is a flawed character but has a good heart. His side of the story allowed us to see that guys can be just as confused and vulnerable when it comes to love as us girls.

I liked the ending, it was realistic but I would have loved it more if there was an epilogue of a couple years down the track to see what was happening in Amelia and Chris' lives. This book doesn’t need a sequel but I want one.

Overall, a stunning Australian author debut and I hope we hear more from Laura Buzo.

Rating: 5/5

9 comments:

Cass said...

Nice review. :) Can't wait to read it. Good to know it's not just a fluffy read.

I'm glad you set up a new blog!! Now I won't need to follow you around on Goodreads. (I'm really terrible at it!)

Nic @ Irresistible Reads said...

Thanks Cass. Goodreads can be crazy trying to keep up with everyone. Hope you enjoy Good Oil :)

Nomes said...

I loved Good Oil too!

I think I love it more now just thinking back on it. It's definitely one that I will keep for re-reading.

Good job reviewing it :)

x

Jen (Makeshift Bookmark) said...

I loved your review, Nic! This sounds like an amazing book and has a really cute cover :) I need to track this one down somehow!

Nic @ Irresistible Reads said...

Thanks Jen. It an Aussie title so I am not sure if is available in the States yet.

Missie, The Unread Reader said...

Another not available to me! :(

Ah yes, being 15 and falling in love with boys that were out of your league was dreadful.

You know, it is easy to assume a book like this would be all about the fluff of first love, so I was rather surprised that you said it goes a bit deeper than that. I love alternating POVs from the male and female perspective, so this is one I'm definitely interested in. I will keep an eye out for it, Nic.

Leanna Elle said...

I've heard really good things about this one!

I've been making a list of all the Aussie YA I want from reading your blog - I want to join the Aussie YA reading challenge, but the books are so damn difficult to track down over here! :/

Missie, The Unread Reader said...

What?

August is your winter and December your Summer? How is this possible? My Texan mind can't comprehend it. Even if it doesn't get very cold down here in December, we still consider it winter. LOL!

And it is never cold in August!

Chris must be playing with my head.

Nic @ Irresistible Reads said...

LOL. Yep! We have opposite seasons Missie. Although it never really gets that cold where I live.

Can't wait to hear what you think of Good Oil :)

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