REVIEW: Dented Cans by Heather Walsh

Name: Dented Cans

Author: Heather Walsh

Publisher: Self

Release Date: Novemeber 2nd 2012

Pages: 148, Paperback

Source: For review (from author)
Rating: 2.5 Teacups

Sixteen-year-old Hannah Sampson knows her family is not what you would call normal. Her father compulsively buys dented cans and has a particular fondness for cans without labels, which are extremely discounted because their contents are a mystery. Her mother takes countless pictures of her family and then glues them down into the pages of her scrapbooks, but does not allow anyone to look at them. Ryan, Hannah’s mischievous fourteen-year-old brother, is headed straight for the remedial track at the local community college, if he’s lucky. Ben, her eight-year-old brother, is a walking sound effects machine, who prefers to communicate with noises rather than words. While Hannah is focused on escaping her working-class Connecticut suburb, she also finds herself being tugged back home as she worries about her brother Ben.
Hannah’s parents inflict one last family vacation on the Sampson children, a trip that goes comically wrong almost from the get-go. Hannah is forced to confront her family’s past in Disney World, of all places, when an emotional argument prompts her parents to disclose a secret they have been keeping from the children for sixteen years. Ultimately, she must decide whether to leave her hometown and not look back, or to focus on helping her family

[summary taken from Goodreads]

Beverley's Review

I feel rather conflicted, in that during reading and after finishing Dented Cans I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about this book and its characters and its plot.  On one hand, I did seem to like it.  On the other hand, when I think about it, everything just seemed a bit.. flimsy.

We are introduced to Hannah who is desperate to break free from her strange family and make her own way in the world.  She is a snarky, sarcastic character and her voice highlighted the author's writing potential and I am curious to see what Walsh will come up with next.  However, her complaining got to a point where it became rather annoying and I just didn't like her attitude towards her family.  Yes, they seemed a little out of it with her mother's hoarding addiction and her father's fetish for collecting dented cans.  As a teenager myself, I can understand the whole 'getting away from parents' thing but in the end they are the ones who are always there for you.

What attracted me to this books in the first place is that it is about family and it's set in Disney World.  Not things that are common in YA fiction so obviously I had high hopes. Unfortunately, both were not really stretched to their potential which is a real shame.  I liked the Disney World setting but it was hard to appreciate it when all Hannah and her brother, Ryan, did was ungratefully moan about how they didn't want to be there and how awful spending time as a family was for them. I realise the author wanted to create a dysfunctional family but it all just seemed a bit sloppy, to be honest.

In the blurb, I got the impression that the 'secret' would perhaps be important in terms of character development.  I was thoroughly disappointed when the secret was revealed near the very end of the book.  I had a sort of, 'Is that it?' reaction.  It just kind of deflated from there and I felt that it was all very rushed and I didn't get the character growth I was hoping for.  The family secret was just too sudden as if it was just randomly placed in a convenient position - it didn't really tie up loose ends.

Despite being just short of 150 pages, I felt the book was almost too long.  There were moments when it just seemed to drag on and on with more complaining, more moaning, more ungratefulness and I was left wondering where on earth the book was heading.  But I still kept on reading and I must admit that Walsh has great writing potential and I liked her style.

Overall, Dented Cans by Heather Walsh was a quick, light read and did have lots of potential.  If you're looking for a snarky protagonist, look no further.  Even though it wasn't really my cup of tea, there are readers out there who would enjoy it more than me.

2.5 Teacups for Dented Cans

*Thanks to the author for the review copy*

Happy reading,
Beverley xxx