The story is all told from his point of view and he's a charmer when he's not being an insufferable kid. Kids this age are barbarians and the damage that he inflicts on his nellie best friend makes me want to strangle the kid but the story turns out ok and there is some kharmic payback so I'll forgive him.

Not sure what audience this book was intended for. The young adults that might read this will probably be as cruel to the story as this kid seems to be to his best friend. On the other hand, the older-but-wiser readers who read this kind of fiction aren't used to a protagonist that's quite this insuffereable.

I did feel that this ended somewhat abruptly and that half the story was left untold, but still it was a quick read and not all books needs to have heavy and momentous conclusions.