3.5 stars. Senior year in college is about to end so 5 young men decide on one last rafting trip to bond and enjoy before they have to become grownups in a business world they have no interest in joining. The amount of drugs & alcohol used is astounding. The raft trip without the booze, etc would be dangerous enough, but with minds totally fogged, it is beyond dangerous, beyond stupid.

"Legs" is the one we hear the most from and the story of his graduation alone is enough to make a parent cringe beyond words. He does have some regrets, mostly on how he let down his Black friend, the same friend who is being treated poorly by another of the 5 and subjected to racism. Should Legs intervene? Kind of hard to do when you are blotto.

A story I didn't think would be very good at first, turned into one I was glad I read. Though I can't relate to any of it, I'm glad to have read it. Thanks NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I will not be posting this review on any websites. I didn't like the book and just gave up on it at about 50% complete. I kept thinking that I'd find something redeeming in it, and it looks like others have, but the whole story was too much like a diary. I could never get a handle on who the 5 boys/men were, other than burnouts who really didn't seem to even like each other. I was not offended by anything in the book...just felt like something important should have happened along the way. It was easy to read...I didn't find even one single mistake, which is definitely saying something good. It is just NOT for me.

#HubrisFalls #Netgalley #bookstagram #bookreview #matthewshiley this book was a phenomenal read. It's a group of four friends. The main character tells us the story thru his eyes. The friends talk of politics, race, friendship. After graduating college they decide to go on a rafting trip what happens during this trip is something no one could have predicted. It's definitely a must read. Even though it's set on 1997 I feel as if these issues could be set on present time.

I’m grateful to have received an eARC from NetGalley. I enjoyed the storyline of this book immensely. It follows Brian “Legs” Hamilton and his closest friends through an adventure following their college graduation. I struggled to really love Brain. His crassness and indelicate manner of relating his story were difficult at times to read, though I do believe in this lies the true beauty of the book. I believe this accurately captures the personality of an early 20’s post-college male out with his buddies. I’d recommend this book, but warn that there is some crassness and graphic events.

A lot going on in this book. Much discussion of politics, race and religion going on along with the characters ' frequent drug and alcohol use. Very much tongue in cheek as to the current state of affairs of our country, family dynamics and opinions of the why's and whats of the afore mentioned topics. I would have thought more the 60's setting instead of the 90's because of their choice and frequency of their drug and alcohol use/abuse. The story is a cathartic retelling of events that led to great tragedy and resolution of his inner conflict with religion. Very descriptive and great dialogue, however it was quite full of expletives, sex and bodily functions --some of which could have been glossed over or omitted altogether. Quite a bit more than I am accustomed to reading and if you can't tolerate expletives,crass behavior and over the top drug/alcohol use , don't read this book!
I received this book as a complimentary copy for an unbiased review.. The opinions expressed are my own.

None of these characters were relatable in the least and I am basically the same age as them. They are a grotesque exaggeration of Gen X members. Not worth it.

This book was written well, and I loved the storyline and characters. Very detailed and I really cannot recommend it enough! The twist and turns kept me engrossed, and I will be looking for more from this author.

“Please tell me this guy isn’t about to start preaching.” This line from the book was the funniest because the entire book was one long lecture/sermon....with the occasional bit of action, coarse language and gross locker-room humor sprinkled in. Some may find this moving. I found it it pompous.

There’s nothing wrong with having an entire book of unlikeable characters. It’s been done and done well, but not in this case. The author believes that if he is offensive to everyone, he’s not being offensive to anyone—equal access to derision—but it comes off as simply offensive. He’s striving for an edgy quality of some sort that’s hard to actually suss out—good guys acting badly? Guys working off their last bit of assholeness before departing for the real world? Hard to say exactly. But they come off as farcical—not like college grads being non-conformists, but as twenty-two-year-old seventh graders. The author can’t develop the story or characters through action and dialog, so he resorts to exposition, which is trite and proselytizing. The author wants to expose social constricts and air out modern social issues, but it’s just too hard to get past the poor writing and contrived interactions of dislikable characters acting like juvenile delinquents while romanticize substance abuse. Nothing redeemable on this one.

This was a difficult book to read - I didn't find the characters sympathetic or likeable at all. They honestly were the type of young men I would loathe. Foul mouthed and irresponsible. I would have abandoned the book after the first couple of chapters, but I continued because of the description and reviews on Goodreads - I kept thinking something was going to happen to redeem these young men. The story of the rafting trip down the river itself was interesting, but I can't say it was suspenseful, because it was obvious that this was where the "life changing" experience would happen. As was in keeping in the rest of the book, the loutish behavior, drinking and drug use continued unabated. The philosophical and religious discussions were somewhat tedious and to me, did not seem in keeping with the characters. Really did not see anything "darkly humorous" in this story at all.

The author is an excellent writer, and I would read some of his other books, if only to see what he can do with more likable characters. Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

Though the story and the conversations were fairly realistic, I still couldn't empathize with the characters nor consider their behavior anything other than reckless and irresponsible.
The last 50 pages were the best part of the book, the post-tragedy feelings and atmosphere made the read worth it.