At first, I was really invested in it. Especially in the reporter aspects of the novel and the funny articles. But once I read about a third of the novel, and it became less about reporting, I started to lose interest and skimmed. A lot. So much so that I would lose chunks of the story yet somehow still know what's going on. In the end, what started out as something really enjoyable became something I just couldn't read anymore.

As I've said before, the novel did start out interesting with Eddie's reporting and articles in The Delta Patriot, the newspaper he works for in Kusko. It was cool to see Eddie go all out for a career he loves, even though the place is less than ideal for him. Everyone tries to warn him about it, but instead of just quitting at the first sign of trouble, he sticks it out, which I had admired. I just wish he kept that resolve later on in the book.

Then there was Eddie's logic on his staying at Kusko. While I thought it was admirable that he was willing to make up for his mistakes and prove that he is serious about journalism even after his mistakes, all that resolve goes out the window because of a girl he had just met. I'd say it was on a whim except he makes decisions affecting him in the long run because of it. At the very least, Eddie could at least stick to one plan, whether it was to go or stay, and not base it off how a girl treats him. That kind of decision making gets him into all sorts of trouble that's more than it's worth...

Overall, I wasn't as invested in the story as I was in the beginning where it had shown a lot of promise. Partly because of what happens as the plot progresses and partly because of Eddie becoming less of a likeable character. Well, that's all I have to say about Sucktown, Alaska by Craig Dirkes. It wasn't the novel for me, but I'm sure that had to do with my biases more than the writing itself.

A contemporary coming-of-age novel set in a tiny-and quirky-town in Alaska, that unfortunately did not live up to my expectation.

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Eddie Ashford is eighteen, and has just managed to flunk out of his first semester of college in Anchorage, Alaska. In an attempt to get some work experience in journalism-which could possibly help him in his effort to reenroll in school by showing that he is ready to be a student again-he gets hired as a reporter by the owner of a small paper in the remote town of Kusko.
It doesn't take long for Eddie to want to go back to Anchorage, what with all the crazy Alaskan experiences and stupid situations he ends up in, but several things hold him back: the lack of money to actually get him out of Kusko, his new very chill friend Finn, and Taylor, the very smart and beautiful girl he's just started falling for.
But even with his burgeoning friendships, and the chance of a possible romance, the idea of leaving his always on his mind.
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Being an Alaskan who has lived in small-town Alaska, and currently living in Anchorage (which is the biggest city my state has to offer), I was super interested in reading a book that is set in my state. Also, I have to admit that I wanted to read it so that I could possibly find any factual errors or Alaskanisms that may have been misused, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the author knew what he was talking about, having had actually lived in bush Alaska (which is any region of the state that is not connected to the North American road system), thus helping give the story some credence.

But now for the bad. (And unfortunately, there is a lot of it.)

It's obvious Eddie is extremely immature, considering he had flunked out his first semester of college due to all the partying he did, so it's really no surprise when he says and does stupid things. A lot.
There's also the cringe-worthy way he views poor Taylor. He goes on and on about how attractive she is and also gives crude descriptions of how his body reacts to her, while mentioning the parts of her he likes...gross.
I can't even say if I actually remember him speaking of attraction that isn't physical when it comes to her. Then when his feelings aren't quite returned, he gets mad and wants to end his "friendship" with her. He's just extremely ridiculous when it comes to how he treats her; I'm surprised she's even interested in being friends with him. Sheesh.

Finally, as we're getting closer to the end of the book, big things happen, which are supposedly meant to be "life lessons" for Eddie, but by this point, I was ready for this book to be over. I wasn't interested in reading about big life lessons anymore. I was pretty much satisfied with assuming that Eddie was an idiot who'd continue on in his own stupid world. The end.

So the last 25% ended up feeling like author remembered the end was coming up and needed to wrap up the story somehow-big life lessons-type of somehow-hence all the crazy that suddenly goes down. But as I'd already said, I was ready for it to be done, so I was not impressed, nor interested.

Anyway, this book was alright in the sense of it being a coming-of-age novel, but Eddie was just so unlikable for me, that I could not really like this book.

Sorry, but not one I'll recommend.

I'm sorry I'm not able to review this galley as it wasn't available in the Kindle format.

Sucktown, Alaska by Craig Dirkes is an incredible young adult novel that follows the main character Eddie as he explores the ups and downs of becoming a man in a rural Alaskan Village. Eddie failed his first semester in college and is trying to redeem himself by taking a journalism job in a Kusko, Alaska. Kusko is one of many small bush villages. Dirkes does a wonderful job describing the life and hardships that accompany being out in the bush. This story tells of making mistakes and learning from those mistakes. When Eddie misses up he realizes that he could lose his chance at love with Taylor, a girl he met while interviewing for the paper. She is smart and as no time for trouble while she achieves her goals in life. Taylor being head strong helps Eddie see the way on the right side of the law. I feel this novel is a good read for anyone who likes to see the underdog win.

A super quick read. Interesting cast of characters and I like having a guy MC.

I really want to read this book, but can't read the file on my kindle. :( Hopefully I'll get a chance to read and review it another time.

I wanted to like it; I really did. Based on the description, I thought it sounded like a great story and it probably is. There was something about the writing that was choppy and stilted and made it really hard for me to get into the story. DNF

Enjoyable book. I liked the characters and it was a fun storyline.

I really wanted to like this book, but after reading well over a hundred pages. I just couldn't keep forcing myself to read it. While the character is in college he still can't seem to talk about human anatomy in a normal way and instead keeps making up rather childish names for them instead. On top of that he is surprised when teenage girls from small town Alaska know how to hook dogs onto a sled.. really.. really it's ALASKA they have to or in some parts of the state have no way of getting around.. ugh so frustrating.

The premise of this book sounded really good, but due to me not liking the character and the way he acted I just couldn't keep reading it.

I was unable to download this on my kindle and therefore wasn't able to read it.

Eighteen year old Eddie is looking for a new adventure and thinks that he's found it when he gets a job as a reporter in the wilds of Alaska. However, once he arrives he realizes that adventure is nowhere to be found. So of course he goes looking and gets in trouble along the way.

This is your basic coming-of-age story about a teenager looking for bigger things in this world. I really liked the setting in Alaska in a small town. The story had a lot of potential but unfortunately, I didn't like the way it was executed. The characters weren't very likeable, either completely immature or not fleshed out at all. I probably would not recommend this book.

I gave this book 50 pages before I moved on. It just wasn't working for me. I read the blurb and thought, great, a book about a place I know nothing about, a book set in the wilderness, I've got students who will like that. Unfortunately the main character didn't grab me, the conversations between the young people were dated and the conversations between the young man and his older boss felt very stilted. I really wanted to enjoy this book, but sadly it wasn't right for me.

“Figure it out.”

This is a fast-paced, coming-of-age tale about a Minnesotan boy (temporarily) living in middle-of-nowhere, Alaska. He gets himself into trouble and then he figures things out.

Okay, so maybe it’s a little more complicated than that, but you get the gist of it.

Before I get into the few issues I had with this novel, let me tell you what I enjoyed about it. I flew through it. Seriously. I can’t remember the last time I read a book so quickly. If I was reading a physical copy, I’d probably be covered in papercuts. Alas, I’m just sitting here with an index finger that’s cramping from swiping left on my e-reader too quickly.

Another thing I really liked is the general premise of the story. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book set in Alaska, let alone somewhere as anonymous as Kusko, but I liked learning about the residents and their small town life. I’ve also been looking for more diverse books to read this year, so I did appreciate the incorporation of so many indigenous people. That being said, this is where things got a little problematic for me.

I feel like a lot of the characters (aside from our MC) are very stereotypical, and not in a particularly positive way either. It seems like the only character who doesn’t do drugs, doesn’t drink, and does well in school (and has ambition), isn’t even really indigenous. At least, the only good qualities that Eddie admires about her are the European characteristics she got from her mother. What does that say about the other indigenous girls in the book? Bristy (whom Eddie initially found attractive) and Hope were basically both dismissed as potential romantic interests as soon as the “exotic” girl with blonde hair was introduced. But maybe this is just me being disappointed by my expectations. I personally would have found the story to be a bit more meaningful if the only character who had their shit together wasn’t basically white. I might be making something out of nothing though. Even though I am a POC, I am obviously not indigenous and don’t feel like I have the authority to say if this book is offensive or not. Also, I have never been to Alaska (whereas the author has spent quite a bit of time there), so I can’t really judge whether his descriptions of people are accurate or not, despite how problematic they may be.

Now that I’ve gotten all that out of the way, I’d like to remind you of what I stated earlier. I did enjoy this book (for the most part). I read it very quickly. The “crime” aspect really hooked me. It was kind of funny (if you can get over most of the gross boy humour), but I feel like some of it was almost forced. At times it felt like the author was trying too hard to be funny and “talk shit”, but that could also be due to the fact that Eddie’s character is supposed to be awkward and not very funny, despite his many efforts to be liked. Speaking of Eddie wanting to be liked… how gross is it when guys get mad if you don’t like them back? Um, hello? What makes you think you are entitled to more than friendship? But that’s a rant for another time. Obviously Eddie needs to grow up, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from an 18-year-old such as himself.

In conclusion, this was a solid read but maybe not my cup of tea. If the synopsis reels you in like it hooked me and you don’t care about the issues I stated above, I think that you’ll really enjoy this book. I hope that you do!

It's not in a format that I can read.