Jul 13, 2013

"Underdogs" by Markus Zusak


Underdogs
An omnibus edition of the Wolfe Brothers trilogy
by
Markus Zusak

Summary:


  
Cameron and Ruben Wolfe are champions at getting into fights, coming up with half-baked schemes, and generally disappointing girls, their parents, and their much more motivated older siblings. They're intensely loyal to each other, brothers at their best and at their very worst. But when Cameron falls head over heels for Ruben's girlfriend, the strength of their bond is tested to its breaking point.
 
 
 

 The Underdog
Wolfe Brothers, #1

 Read on July 11th, 2013.

My rating: 3.5 of 5
 

 My Thoughts on The Underdog:

 
 
The Underdog is Markus Zusak's debut novel, and the first book featuring Cameron & Ruben Wolfe. This book is told from Cameron's PoV, and in the end I liked it quite a lot! It started hilarious, they decide to rob the dentist (although as always when it comes to their silly schemes, they don't go through with it), and they made me laugh out loud through the book more than once. At the end of every chapter, Cam is describing one of his weird dreams, and I slowly grew fond of this, especially since in one of his dreams (and from there in some other chapters, too), I could see glimpses of the brilliant writer Markus Zusak would become. He does make some good points in this book, and the characters although full of flaws are likable enough. So, yeah, I liked a lot this YA contemporary novel!

 
  
 Fighting Ruben Wolfe
Wolfe Brothers, #2
 
Read on July 12th, 2013.
 
My rating: 3.5 of 5

My Thoughts on Fighting Ruben Wolfe:

  
 
Fighting Ruben Wolfe as the sequel to The Underdog is a little bit better than its predecessor & I could definitely see the improvement in Markus Zusak's writing, and he makes some amazing points in this book that I absolutely loved, and totally agree with them.
 
Once again we follow Cam & Rube's "adventures", they definitely made me laugh out loud again. So, they start to fight in illegal boxing matches every week, and Rube is the winner & girls start to notice him, and Cam once again falls for a girl that doesn't like him, and I loved how through it all, their family supports each other, and stands up for each other, and it sends a lovely message.
 
I think this is the book where they started to get under my skin, and I didn't even realised it at the time. Also, in this book, at the end of every chapter, Rube & Cam have this hilarious talks with each other before they fall asleep.
 
 
 
Getting the Girl
Wolfe Brothers, #3

 Read on July 13th, 2013.
 
 My rating: 5 of 5
 

 My Thoughts on Getting the Girl:

 

When I started reading Getting the Girl, I soon realised how much I've grown to like the Wolfe family, despite all of their flaws, as well as Miffy, and that Cameron Wolfe had carved himself this special place for himself in my heart. So, yeah, everything he feels & goes through in this book, I did, too. I couldn't help but hope that he will find some happiness. 
 
His brother Ruben changes his girlfriends every few weeks, so when he moves to another, Octavia (the girl Cam especially likes), seems to like him, too. So, yeah, it was so lovely & sweet to see Cam & Octavia interact, and I was so happy for him. Also, I got totally teary-eyed in this book more than once, poor Cam. But, he's definitely one pretty great character.  
 
Getting the Girl is definitely the best book in the trilogy, and I absolutely loved it! It was obvious that in this book Markus Zusak had started getting close to the level of brilliance he achieved in his following 2 books, and I could totally see where the brilliance of I Am the Messenger had started (a book even now I can't seem to write a review for, despite having it read twice). That especially comes through in the writing Cam starts to do himself at the end of each chapter, I absolutely loved it, it was lovely & brilliant!
 
So, yeah, I totally loved this book, and it made me fall in love with this trilogy & the characters! I'm definitely looking forward to reading it again! Also, once again Markus Zusak makes an excellent point in this book, that was so real, something that probably everyone has realised at some point in his life.
 
 

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