Ugly to Start With

Ugly to Start With
John Michael Cummings
177 pages
Publisher: West Virginia University Press
Source: the author
★★☆☆☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Ugly to Start With is a collection of short stories that centers around Jason Stevens, a young man from Harper's Ferry, West Virginia in the 1970s.  Throughout the stories Jason battles his family's status and tries to become a budding artist.

Because the book is a series of short stories rather than chapters, they jumped forward in time and were a bit disjointed as a result.  I will admit, at times it left me slightly confused.  One minute Jason was living in a decapitated three story house and then next he was living in a shack?

Two stars - it was okay.  I don't want to say it was a bad book, it just wasn't for me.  I didn't feel like I got to know any of the characters well and the plot definitely didn't hold my attention.  Hence the short review.

For the record, this book is being billed as YA, but it reads more like an adult novel.