Music Makes the People Come Together

How the Mistakes Were Made
Tyler McMahon
Fiction

I haven’t done an issues posts in quite awhile, so I figured it’s time for another. Especially since I have many issues with this book. The only thing I loved about it was the title. The book is about a band called The Mistakes, how they formed, how they got famous, and the downside of that fame. I really enjoy clever titles and when I caught on to this one, I smiled with pleasure, hoping it was a sign this book would be good. But alas, it wasn’t.

Issue #1: Narrative. The first chapter begins in first person. The next chapter switches to second person. Then back again to first person. Then back to second person. And so on and so on. I hate second person. No good has ever come of it and it jolts me right out of the story.

Issue #2: Characters. I did not like the main character, Laura. I probably wasn’t supposed to, and I did feel sorry for her at points, but I never warmed to her. The other two band members, Nathan and Sean, I was okay with. Nathan only sort of, and Sean more so when we got to see what his family life was like. But Laura was just a black hole of whine and sourpuss. And she didn’t seem to give a crap about the fact that she essentially destroyed a few lives to get what she wanted.

Issue #3: Perspective. Okay, I might get rotten tomatoes thrown at me for this, but this book is written in first person from a woman’s POV. And it’s written by a guy. The fact of the matter is, I couldn’t help remembering that over and over, especially when Laura did or thought or stated something that didn’t sound anything like how a female would do, think, or phrase something. Now, I’m a writer myself and I’m certainly not one of those people who believes men can only write male POVs and women can only write female POVs. I’ve read plenty of books by men about women and never given it a second thought. But not How the Mistakes Were Made. I just felt like Mr. McMahon was totally off-base in regards to Laura.

Issue #4: Ending. Bad ending. I mean, you could see it coming (there were tons of foreshadowing comments, another thing that drives me insane) but I still hated it. The book was a downer and the ending kept that theme going.

How the Mistakes Were Made has some good info about Seattle and punk and grunge and what it’s like when a small-time band blows up, so musicians will probably enjoy it. But there were just too many problems for me.