Representation: Side Black character
Trigger warnings: Bullying

6/10, this wasn't a good YA novel, is this the best Australian authors can do? I've seen better novels than this one. The main character experienced character development by realising his potential and not living a sad lonely life all the time, however, the other characters were just very flat and dislikeable. The gang of friends Ben has just insulted people, swore all the time and tried and get girls, and that was their entire personality. The first out of the two most annoying and flat characters was Chase, who was just an annoying bully who hurt Ben all the time out of spite or something, Ben tried to do some payback by beating him in the swimming carnival, but later he got disqualified for doing an improper stroke, and later Chase just physically assaulted him in the end. The second most annoying character in the book was Naya, who was just a walking caricature who just acted preachy, and that was it. If you want a novel with character development, skip this one and try The Tryout, or When the Ground is Hard instead of this novel. ( )