Red Dirt Rocker by Jody French Review

Title: Red Dirt Rocker
Author: Jody French
Published: May 1st 2012 by Neverland Publishing Company
Book rating: 3 stars
Cover rating: 5 stars

Red Dirt Rocker is a contemporary and inspirational American dream-come-true story geared toward a Young Adult audience. Based, in part, on the true and incredible adventures of teen MTV musician Forrest French, this hip and vibrant page-turner filled with pop culture references will draw the young reader in as they see the story unfold through the eyes of this straight-edge teenager from a tiny, hick, country town, whose life is about to change forever.
His strict dad raised him to be a football jock—his free spirited mama raised him on classic rock. Small town athlete and teen musician Forrest French finds himself torn, having to decide between public high school, sports and his simple, country life in Coweta, (aka Cow-Town) Oklahoma; his deep Southern roots and strong family ties, or the jet-setting life of an MTV rock star. While dealing with the team bully and facing the fickleness of teen dating relationships, Forrest depends on his faith to keep a cool head. In this story filled with teen angst and teen hopes, Forrest holds fast to his beliefs as he hangs on for the ride of his life in the upside-down, backward and thrilling world of rock-n-roll.
Red Dirt Rocker illustrates to its Young Adult audience that they can be accepted and successful with straight-edge flair, be they athlete, band geek, cheerleader, or aspiring rock star. Experience a shotgun ride right alongside Forrest as he embarks on his rock-n-roll dream and finds that a beautiful heart and strong values may just win over superficial beauty and popularity in the end.

I feel like I've been reading a lot of dystopian and paranormal romance lately and I was in the mood for a really good contemporary, frankly I still am. Anyways, Red Dirt Rocker definitely did it for me! I admit it did have it's flaws but I really did enjoy the story and knowing it was influenced by the authors son was really neat too. 

Forrest was definitely swoon worthy and I fell in love with his character. I love band boys, he is super sweet and likable as a person, and super hot. I really enjoyed watching his dreams come true throughout this book. He had to make quiet a few really difficult decisions, worrying what his father and others would think of him just picking up and leaving to go follow his music dreams. I felt so proud of him as a character, even though he was afraid he overcame his fears and did what he believed was best for him! I found it ironic that he was dating the head cheerleader/mean girl of the school. It was just a bit unusual because usually it's the QB and the head cheerleader but I liked how it was different in Red Dirt Rocker. I felt so bad for sweet Forrest when he was having a hard time trying to shake Heather, the head cheerleader, off. It's like she was this awful hateful pest that wouldn't leave even though she obviously didn't really care for Forrest. Sophie, Forrest's other love interest, was so sweet and I could honestly see myself being friends with her in real life. I wish we could have seen more of Sophie and Forrest's relationship unfold because they were perfect for each other. I really liked Forrest's sister, she was a fun spunky back up character and I love who she ended up with in the end!! Last but definitely not least, Forrest's parents. Forrest's Mom was sweet as pie, she was the cutest thing ever and I love how close Forrest and her were. I really enjoyed seeing Forrest's relationship with his father grow in this book, it was a very sweet moment when his dad accepted all of his hobby's.

Having said that, the plot of this book was laid out well enough but I feel as if it was just cut off. Maybe it's just because I wanted to know more of what happened to all of the characters. It's like two relationships just started blooming and then the book ended. Although I had a few issues with this book I still enjoyed this fun, quick read and hope you all give it a chance and pick it up some day. 

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