before this book, i loved Cory Doctorow - his work, what he stands for, how he conducts himself in the blogging and business world...
but this is trite. the writing comes off as childish, even moronic. is this because the book's voice is a teenager? the overuse of superlatives (epic, genius, magisterial) drove me crazy. that, and the squeezing in of British slang. it was over the top.
and the plot was a little too perfect. an easy and comfy squat? skips full of delicacies? a buddy with an endless supply of electronics when you need him
emotions are conveyed through a character taking a breath, or swallowing numerous times. never deeper than that. in fact everything is surface -characters as well as scenes. the women around him are labelled as 'brilliant' without back-up plot points. 'epic' feeds from the skip materialize without the use of butter and spices (things you cannot find in the garbage). begging for change is an easy afternoon and all the tramps get along...
lastly, i think he might be trying to rip off Marcus Zusak with his multipronged titles at each chapters. surely Doctorow's read him. it didn't feel like imitate, it felt like: steal.