More Than Good Enough (review)

3/5 stars

More Than Good Enough (Goodreads | Amazon) is the story of Trent Osceola, half Miccosukee and half white, a teenager who is living with his father for the first time since his childhood on the Miccosukee Reservation, a piece of his culture he really doesn't know much about.  Having recently failed out of his prestigious music high school, Trent is drifting through life without much direction.

There are aspects to this book that I like.  I think Trent's identity struggle, not knowing where he belongs and feeling disconnected from the reservation community is the more interesting piece of this novel.  But it's not enough of the book.  We don't meet Cookie, one of his relatives on the reservation and probably the best character in the whole story, until nearly the end of the book.

Instead we're given the story of Trent breaking up with his DJ girlfriend Michelle, starting a new public high school and trying to romance his childhood sweetheart Pippa.  These sections of the book seem like they're trying to be hip, painfully so, using slang like "homeslice" and having Pippa dress like something off the hot-topic website.

The book is short, which makes it a quick and easy read, but also prevents the relationship between Trent and almost anyone (his father, Pippa, etc) from developing.  Sometimes the conversations and Trent's internal monologue were too random.  Though that's probably realistic for teenagers, it's not particularly enjoyable to read.  While I like what this book was trying to do, it feels too scattered and plotless for the first half while simultaneously trying too hard to be cool.

I received an advanced reading e-book in exchange for an honest review.