B&N Reads
3/28/2016
Three friends meet at jazz camp, make musical magic, then promptly hit the road, leaving the lameness of camp behind in favor of an impromptu summer tour for their hastily formed trio. Best friends Wes and Corey (on bass and drums) are joined by female guitar player Ash, finding adventures ranging from run-ins with eccentrics to a very bad drug trip, in pursuit of a chance to get great. This sophomore novel from the author (and screenwriter) of Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl promises to be funny, offbeat, and profane. Read More
The New York Times Book Review - Marjorie Ingall
Readers who do not like human effluvia are not the right readers for The Haters. I must impress upon you how profane, vile and hilarious this book is. I laughed so hard I scared my cat off the couch multiple times, but if you have ever used the phrase "the coarsening of discourse," it is not for you.
Publishers Weekly
01/18/2016
After meeting at jazz camp, what might be the world’s worst musical trio decides to ditch the camp and go on a road trip, determined to play at any venue that will have them. Teenage best friends Wes (bass) and Corey (drums) join up with a mercurial, dynamic girl named Ash (guitar) and head out on the highway, aiming for adventure but finding wacky hijinks and weird people. There’s yelling, bad decisions, marijuana-fueled interludes, impromptu jam sessions, and way too much caffeine and junk food, and it all comes to a head when they realize it’s time to face the music. Andrews (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) loads his gonzo road trip with offbeat humor, philosophical musings, and musical references and debate, augmenting the narrative with fake Wikipedia entries, flashbacks, and screenplay-format exchanges. Wes’s narrative voice is casual and believable, and while not all of the stylistic quirks pay off (such as an extended “drug experience gone wrong,” as Wes puts it), but as a love letter to music and following one’s dreams, it’s just right. Ages 13–up. Agent: Claudia Ballard, William Morris Endeavor. (Apr.)
USA Today
"Jesse Andrews’ follow-up to Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is an extremely entertaining number that focuses on a couple of jazz-camp rejects. It’s also downright hilarious when they riff on band names, new songs or just living life."
John Corey Whaley
The Haters reads like a perfect jam session between the different voices in Jesse Andrews’s head. And thank God for that. It’s hilarious, emotionally pure without being pretentious or cliché, and it makes me want to be a teenager again so I can tell everyone in class to read it. Try to hate on this one. You’ll fail.
author of How to Say Goodbye in Robot Natalie Standiford
The Haters is punk rock in book form, with some of the funniest dialogue I’ve ever read. I laughed till tears streamed down my face. Looking for a good time? Read this book.
author of The Commitments Roddy Doyle
The Haters is terrific. Shocking and funny, unsettling and charming
Booklist
**STARRED REVIEW** “an uproariously funny addition to the teen-road-trip canon...readers will be sucked into this story, a raunchy bromance in the vein of Superbad, which celebrates friendship and adventure... Effortlessly readable, deeply enjoyable, and, given the years since Andrews’ fantastic debut, well worth the wait.”
The Horn Book
"...What follows is both a classic road trip novel and a contemporary and inventive teen adventure: they play (horribly) at a Chinese food buffet, hang at a commune, and almost get shot (twice!)... Issues of race, family, and socioeconomics (Wes was adopted from Venezuela as a baby; Ash’s mom is French and her dad is a Brazilian billionaire/serial philanderer) play subtly throughout the book."
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Fortunately for readers, Wes has a lively voice that moves smoothly betwen laugh-out-loud, self-conscious snark and candid, moving observations... The trio's road trip thus has all the requisite coming-of-age moments, with virginities and illustions lost and friendships, courage, and self-awarness found."
The New York Times
". . . hilarious. . . I laughed so hard I scared my cat off the couch multiple times. What The Haters excels at is describing music."
Booklist
**STARRED REVIEW** “an uproariously funny addition to the teen-road-trip canon...readers will be sucked into this story, a raunchy bromance in the vein of Superbad, which celebrates friendship and adventure... Effortlessly readable, deeply enjoyable, and, given the years since Andrews’ fantastic debut, well worth the wait.”
USA Today
"Jesse Andrews’ follow-up to Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is an extremely entertaining number that focuses on a couple of jazz-camp rejects. It’s also downright hilarious when they riff on band names, new songs or just living life."
The New York Times
". . . hilarious. . . I laughed so hard I scared my cat off the couch multiple times. What The Haters excels at is describing music."
School Library Journal
04/01/2016
Gr 10 Up—The author demonstrates his unique voice in his follow-up to the popular Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. Like that debut, this work features a similar trio: a narrator, his somewhat clueless friend, and a girl who changes them both. Wes and Corey are "jazz-nerd chaff" at Bill Garabedian's Jazz Giants of Tomorrow Intensive Summer Workshop. They don't know that, of course, until they discover that this highly selective camp accepted more drummers and bassists to support other, better musicians. They're not hopeful about the next two weeks until they meet Ash, a guitarist in their ensemble who seems uninterested in playing jazz. Inevitably, the three misfits form a band and escape from camp to launch their world tour. As with most road trips, tensions rise, rivalries form, and jealousy blossoms. Ash is clearly the alpha in the group, making Wes a passive narrator. This works occasionally for the story, especially in the more surreal encounters; however, it also creates a meandering feeling that may wear out some readers. Although not every journey needs a purpose, the characters are not hugely different after what would be a life-altering event for most people. Wes learns to appreciate music rather than simply hating on it; he's a better listener. It's a subtle shift, but perhaps that's Andrews's point. VERDICT Teens who are music nerds or fans of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl will appreciate this novel's sharp wit and playful style.—Joy Piedmont, LREI, New York
JULY 2016 - AudioFile
Narrator Michael Crouch portrays Wes, a teenage bassist who runs away from jazz camp with his best friend, Corey, and Ash, a girl they’ve just met. Their plan is to take the band they formed after just one jam session on tour. Crouch captures Wes’s analytical and responsible nature, capably handling every nuance of the smart, funny writing as the trio beg to play in crummy venues, evade the police, and learn more about each other than they want to. Crouch creates unique voices for the secondary characters as well, and his voice for Corey is particularly effective, revealing character and helping illuminate his relationship with Wes. This exploration of identity and friendship will make listeners groan with recognition and laugh out loud. A.F. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2016-01-09
Wes and Corey are haters. They are obsessed with music and even more obsessed with finding the reasons why everything they encounter falls short of greatness. At jazz camp they meet fellow hater Ash, an intriguing, guitar-playing, older girl. They form a band and then proceed to make a series of dumb decisions that range in severity from bad to awful as they ditch camp to search for the perfect gig. It quickly becomes clear that this tour is a pressure cooker in which everyone's ugliest traits will appear and start wreaking havoc. The banter among the three is often grating, laden with sexual frustration, dick jokes, and musical one-upmanship. Each of the three is pampered with privilege, yet something is awry. Ash is stupendously rich, the daughter of a Brazilian billionaire and a French model, both absentee. Wes was adopted from Venezuela by white, Buddhist parents who don't make him the center of their universe. Corey is white and Jewish with overattentive musician parents who sometimes can't pay all the bills. Though there are some truly hilarious scenes (such as Wes' biting observations about the awkward ways in which well-meaning white people want to talk about race or his internal, self-scathing dialogue while high), other attempts at humor, such as casual jokes about suicide bombing and rape-y behavior, while believable as adolescent banter, strike the wrong chord. A teen road trip packed with music and drama. There's plenty here to both love and hate. (Fiction. 14-17)
