Book Review - Au Revoir Crazy European Chick

Title: Au Revoir Crazy European Chick
Author: Joe Schreiber
Series: Perry & Gobi (Book 1)
Publisher: Electric Monkey
Release Date: 5 Mar. 2012
ISBN-13: 978-1405259439
ASIN: B007QUYF0I

Synopsis
Fasten your seatbelts for a quirky, rapid-fire joyride through the streets of New York.

‘You shot him. You totally just shot that guy back there. I think I’m gonna throw up.’

One ordinary guy.
One female assassin.
When Gobi lands in Perry’s life, she rips is apart like a bombshell... 

My Review
I actually listened to this on audio book in my car. The cover for that was so much cooler, I have to admit:

I actually knew nothing about this when I ordered it, I literally wanted something to listen too so just searched for YA Spoken word and started with 'a'. this came up and I thought it sounded funny- the title was unusual and that is all we still on our library catalogue (well, title and author). I requested it because with that title I assumed it would be like Louise Rennison or Cathy Hopkins - kind of chic lit, fun. Obviously when it arrived and I saw the cover I realised I judged the book by it's title and was certainly not what I expected. But i thought I might as well give it a go anyway.
We meet Perry, a typical high school boy but one who is also very focused and goal reaching. His dad is a big shot lawyer who expects Perry to follow in his footsteps. The only outlet Perry really has is his music - he belongs to a band 'Inchworm' and he's good. He has a big show coming up soon and it could be their chance to make it.
His mum sets up a chance for a foreign exchange student to come and live with them for a year. She is Lithuanian and goes by 'Gobi', mostly she seems quite, shy and fairly unattractive. She's more of a background noise and inconvenience - not the foreign babe Perry was hoping for. But then everything changes, Perry's mum makes him take Gobi to the Prom but things don't go to plan and they end up in New York. But Perry doesn't realise that this is what Gobi planned all along, and soon Perry is caught up in something he could never imagine. He witnesses murders, fights and high speed car chases. Gobi is certainly not what she seems. Perry just hopes he'll make it home in one piece with a clear conscience.
It took me a while to get into this and for the first half hour or so I had to stop myself from giving up and turning it off, but I wanted to give it a fair chance and the further I got, the more intrigued I became. I wanted to know who Gobi was and why she was doing the things she did. It wasn't the best story I had listened to and I wasn't desperate to hear more but I did enjoy it overall. Perry is a good character, he's a typical stroppy teenager but he also has morals and he certainly develops as a character as the story progresses and I actually began to like him towards the second half. 
Gobi was a bit of a mystery and I found her rather annoying, especially her changing attitude, one minute she would be nice and friendly and the next quite psychopathic. And it took me a while to believe that she really was this assassin, it just didn't seem to fit for a while.
I think if I had been reading it I may have given up earlier but listening to it in my car meant I didn't have to give it my full focus and by the end of it I did sort of enjoy it. I wasn't quite sure how to feel about it but it was mainly positive. It was very weird overall but a different concept and  quite well written.
It isn't suitable for younger readers as it contains a lot of violence and some references to more adult content and if I remember correctly some use of swear words.
If you like a good action mystery then this is worth a go for sure.

My Rating