Review: Text Me, Guido

Text Me, Guido by Adrian Staccato

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Book Info: Genre: Fiction
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of Jersey Shore, Italian-American/Italian lifestyles, something to make you think

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis: Text Me, Guido is the debut novel from author Adrian Staccato. Told entirely through text-messaging conversations, the book follows five Italian-American college friends as they complete their final semester of school. They are: Enzo, Sofia, Giulia, Claudia, and Phil.

Enzo is your typical bronze-tanned Guido. The son of a wealthy home builder, he spends his days at the gym and his nights at the club. When he’s not buying drinks for his friends, he’s showering his longtime girlfriend, Sofia, with gifts – making her the envy of the neighborhood. Her friends, Giulia and Claudia, secretly hope the two will break it off, but Sofia is set on marriage and eagerly awaits Enzo’s proposal.

Enzo’s friend, Phil, is the outcast of the group. He dislikes to party, and attributes the “Jersey Shore lifestyle” to the decline of civilization. Nevertheless, he finds himself infatuated with Giulia – a crush since kindergarten. Giulia, however, is wildly insecure and has no interest in his bookish ways. She has her heart set on Enzo – and with a little maneuvering, she might just get what she wants!

My Thoughts: I will start off by saying I am not a fan of Jersey Shore and, in fact, know next to nothing about it. The author of this book says he wrote it hoping that fans of Jersey Shore would like it and find it entertaining. I asked him why me, then, but I guess my reputation as being honest preceded me. I was particularly interested when a friend of mine, who has tastes somewhat divergent from mine, but whose opinion I value, read and loved this book, writing a rare review singing its praises. I mean, when Tabitha calls something “brilliant,” I tend to sit up and take notice. However, despite my best intentions to get this read way back in August, it kept being pushed into the background – I kept thinking, “I can probably read this in an evening; I’ll start it late on a Sunday,” but then running out of time week after week. So, no more – I set out to get this book read!

First of all, I have no idea what genre this might fit into – it is obviously an experimental style, and Staccato pulled it off brilliantly (to echo Tabitha). Since I am not the intended audience, some of the references went over my head, but I enjoyed the story nonetheless. The ending was a real shocker; I did not see that coming, so brace yourself! What? I’m not going to tell you – that would be spoiling it!

The live links to Wiki and YouTube added a neat touch, even though by reading it on a basic Kindle I wasn’t able to get that full experience. I would recommend you read it on a tablet or the PC Kindle program, or possibly in the Cloud, in order to get the full impact of the links. I think this will appeal to a broad range of readers, but having knowledge of the background will likely increase the readers’ enjoyment. Check this out – it’s pretty neat.



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