Book Review: Happy Birthday to Me Again by Brian Rowe

 

Synopsis (from Goodreads):  Cameron Martin has a huge problem: he’s aging a whole year of his life with each passing day… again. And this time... he's going backward!

When Cameron proposes to his beloved witch of a girlfriend Liesel, he thinks life can’t get any better. But when he reluctantly breaks off the engagement just days before the wedding, Liesel angrily unleashes another curse on the unlucky guy, this time making him age backward, from eighteen, all the way to zero.

Making matters worse, Liesel mysteriously disappears, leaving Cameron with no options, except watching himself rapidly shrink into a helpless child. Will Liesel be able to save his life again? Or will Cameron ultimately fall prey to his girlfriend's wicked spell?

My Thoughts:  Poor Cameron!  In the first book, he barely escapes death by aging a year for every week.  After his girlfriend Liesel (who just happens to be a witch) saved Cameron at the last moment, the two made a spectacle at the high school graduation.  This ended up on You-Tube and although Liesel and Cameron tell everyone it's a trick, there is someone out there who knows it's not.

Now Liesel and Cameron are engaged.  Cameron's parents aren't thrilled with the idea but Cameron is sure that he is ready.  He takes Liesel on a weekend getaway where he meets Hannah and from there, things go downhill.

Hannah tries to convince Cameron that he is not ready to get married and Cameron actually starts having his doubts.  After taking Liesel out for her birthday dinner, he lets her know his doubts and she gets mad.  Well, we all know what happens when Liesel gets mad...at then Cameron starts aging again.  Only this time, he is aging backwards.   

This was a cute story with some different problems than the last book.  There is the same great humor in this book as there was in the last one.  I liked how the chapters changed with Cameron's age as well.  Kimber had changed in a positive way and I think she was probably my favorite character.  Wesley at first was a little bit of a jerk but in the end, he came through for Cameron too. 

One of the things that did bother me was all the "shouting" that went on in the book and the all caps that showed the shouting.  It was a little excessive and did start to distract me from the story.  

Other than that, this was a fast, easy and fun read.  The ending left us with a great cliffhanger and now I can't wait to pick up the last book in this trilogy to see what happens to Cameron, Liesel, Hannah and the rest of the characters.

 

Book Review: Happy Birthday to Me by Brian Rowe

Synopsis (from Goodreads): Seventeen-year-old Cameron Martin has a huge problem: he’s aging a whole year of his life with each passing day!

High school is hard enough; imagine rapidly aging from seventeen to seventy in a matter of weeks, with no logical explanation, and with prom, graduation, and the state championship basketball game all on the horizon. That’s what happens to Cameron, a popular pretty boy who's never had to face a day looking anything but perfect.

All Cameron wants to do is go back to normal, but no one, not even the best doctors, can diagnose his condition. When he finds love with a mysterious young woman, however, he realizes his only hope for survival might be with the one person who started his condition in the first place...

My Thoughts: This book starts out with Cameron, the main character, in his hospital bed at the age of 80. He is really anxious to get out of the hospital to see "her". You can tell it is so important to him but you aren't sure who "she" is or why it's so important. From that moment, I was sucked into the book.

Rewind 3 months to when Cameron was 17. Yes, you read that right...it only took Cameron 3 months to age from 17 to 80! Cameron was a popular senior at school who had a lot going for him. He was good looking, the start basketball player and had the hottest girl as his girlfriend. He was "perfect". Well, except for his attitude. He was vain, selfish, arrogant and cocky. He picked on people and looked down on people. He was just an overall jerk!

After winning an important basketball game, Cameron heads to the local pizza joint to celebrate. Cameron has a game he plays that he thinks is hysterical. He tells people it's his birthday to get free stuff, whether it be free tans or a free slice of cake. His mistake was playing this "game" with the same waitress twice in one week. Liesel obviously knows it isn't Cameron's birthday but brings him the cake and sings to him anyways. Cam thinks nothing of it...until a couple weeks later when he has aged one year for every day.

The story takes you through Cameron's life as he progressively ages. He decides to still attend school and he gets to see how he has treated everyone from the little, nerdy guy, Paul to the Librarian and of course, Liesel. He gets to know how it feels to have his looks count more than his personality as his super popular girlfriend, Charisma, drops him like a hot potato and even his own father tries to change him.

I hated Cameron and his father and Charisma until the middle of the story. Cameron's father is superficial and a complete jerk, trying to do plastic surgery on Cameron to make him "perfect". Charisma is just as superficial and will use anyone to get what she wants. However, towards the middle of the book I ended up liking Cam and his father a lot. Charisma....yeah, well, there has to be one character you never like right?

I loved how Cameron grew through the story. He found out what was important to him and that it matters how you treat people. He finds new friends and in the end....well, you will just have to read it to find out what happens to Cameron.

The one thing that kinda bothered me (and it wasn't really a huge deal) was that Charisma put SO much emphasis on Cameron getting facial hair. She says over and over again that she will not sleep with Cameron, who has yet to grow any facial hair, until his is a man, which to Charisma means until Cameron grows a beard. It was just silly to me.

All in all, I think this book was very emotional and an excellent read! I would recommend it to teens over 16 due to some sexual content.

**I received this book free from the author for an honest review**