A coming-of-age novel set after the early teenage years when most coming-of-age novels are set, Colin Preston Rocked and Rolled by [a:Bert Murray|4519512|Bert Murray|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1302547266p2/4519512.jpg] is a touching slice of life story during the title character's first semester of his sophomore year at Elerby University.

Colin himself is a typical nice guy who is obsessed with classic rock. He meets Jasmine, a girl who he falls head over heels for and believes she is his soul mate, despite being warned by several friends that she is going to be trouble. Of course, he doesn't listen since there would not be much of a plot to the novel if he did. When the trouble starts, Colin is baffled and unable to handle or even understand the situation as it sends ripples throughout is life like an emotional and social tsunami. Will Colin be able to deal with his sophomore slump and its causes?

The novel is a decent freshman effort, but not without its flaws. In general, the characters are recognizable and identifiable. It is something many have gone through or seen someone close to them go through, that being the story of a first love and not understanding or knowing how to deal with it or the foibles that come along with it. Among the cast of characters, aside from Colin, are Jasmine (his new age hippy girlfriend), Karl (his football-playing, womanizing best friend), Big Ty (the gentle giant), Chester (the basement-dwelling stoner, and my personal favorite among the characters), and Mrs. Vesquez (the wise but somewhat strange Spanish Literature professor who seems to have a secret of her own). There are other significant characters, but it would be difficult to describe them without spoilers. It is very easy to feel sorry for Colin, and frustrated at the situations others put him in, or to feel anger at those who betray him. Colin is a very likable character whose inexperience and misunderstanding of life and love are his biggest flaws. As the story unfolds, the reader can very easily imagine the novel unfolding on the screen, and can hear the soundtrack as well with all the musical references peppered throughout.

As I said, however, the novel is not without problems. To start, sometimes Colin wallows a little too much in self-pity and seems more like a passenger in the story rather than an active participant. In the end, that becomes part of the novel's point, but it does not make for a great story, and can ultimately lead to more frustration with the main character than is really a good idea to have. Secondly, Colin sometimes has these bursts of insight that seem out of character, especially when waxing philosophical about music and how it relates to life, especially near the end. This might have been more believable if the novel felt like it was being told by an older Colin Preston looking back on his sophomore year with the benefit of hindsight, but seems to be told from the perspective of having just gone through it. It was a minor irritation, but noticeable. The ending was mostly well done. Things are not necessarily wrapped up in a neat little package with everything resolved. As stated previously, the novel is more like a slice of life, with life continuing after and the overarching story of Colin's life not necessarily done, just this part of his life. However, the final line in the epilogue felt like a cliched and tacky ending to what could have been much better and left the reader truly thinking about it. Instead, it elicited an audible groan.

I know it seems like I'm ragging on the novel a lot, but these were basic flaws to what was overall an enjoyable read. These flaws put the novel in a category that could probably be called “I wanted to like it more.” Please note that this is NOT a young adult novel. There is a lot of drinking, drugs, and sex throughout the novel. Reader be warned. While [a:Bert Murray|4519512|Bert Murray|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1302547266p2/4519512.jpg] has recommended the novel for those 18 years old and over because of this, I would actually recommend it for those 25 years and over, because those are the ones who have probably been through those years and the characters' situations, including a first love, and have the benefit of hindsight to look back, identify with them, and say, “Yep, I've been there; I can understand this thinking and remember how inexperienced I was during that time.” While good, the novel has enough flaws to prevent it from truly being great. Still, [a:Bert Murray|4519512|Bert Murray|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1302547266p2/4519512.jpg] has a very easy writing style that makes Colin Preston Rocked and Rolled a breeze to read through and definitely shows strong talent, and I would be very interested in reading his next novel.

3.5 out of 5 stars (since we can't give half stars, Colin Preston Rocked and Rolled gets the benefit of the doubt and get 4 stars; however, the real review score is 3.5).

Note: A free copy of this novel was provided to this reviewer by the author. This in no way affected the review. ( )

I really hate that I couldn't even finish this book, but once you get a third of the way into a book and still could care less about what happens to the characters its time to move on. Colin is boring and so self conscious its ridiculous. Jasmine is just horrible. Her terrible mood swings and the way she treats Colin is outrageous. The fact that Colin continues to bow down to her and insist she is the most amazing person makes no sense what so ever. I just couldn't get myself to like these characters. I also normally like shorter chapters but these were just too short and stopped at inconvenient places in the story. It was very abrupt at times and took away from the flow of the book. It is set in the 80's which is cool but I didn't feel like they were in the 80's. In fact all the time period references were about The Beatles and Jim Morrison. Both of whom I'm not a fan of so I didn't get most of the references. It would have been nice to have learned in the synopsis of the book that Colin is a die hard Beatles fan since it is such a huge part of the book. I really hate leaving reviews like this but I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review. ( )

I have been staring at my computer screen trying to figure out what to say about this book for what feels like forever now. But the truth is, there isn't much to say because there isn't much to it.

Overall I found this book lacking. The plot itself, if you could call it a plot, was messy. This book is basically just college kids doing college kids' things. That's all well and good, but where is the substance? The intrigue? Why do I care about what Colin and his friends did during sophomore year of college? Typically, I would not. It is the author's job to make me care. But he failed at this.

The characters were all rather unlikable. Jasmine and Karl are both terrible people. Most people with a decent head on their shoulders would ditch them both fairly quickly after realizing they're totally horrible. However, Colin has the common sense of turkey. I was also slightly disturbed by just how immature he is. I brushed it off at first thinking, yeah, I wasn't that mature at 19 either. Most people are fairly immature in their college years. But as the story progresses, you quickly realize that Colin is far more immature than most. He has the emotional range of a 13 year old just starting puberty. It doesn't take long before it becomes rather annoying.

All of that being said, the book did have a few strengths as well. I thoroughly enjoyed all of The Beatles references throughout the book. The author makes several other rock and roll references that are quite enjoyable. And in a way, he did capture the college life rather well. Reading it, I found myself feeling nostalgic and wishing that I were still a sophomore myself. ( )

*Please note I won this book via Goodreads Giveaways*

This book is absolutely terrible. It's badly written, there are strange chapter breaks, there is no background given, and the language feels like that of a 13 year old boy not a college student.

I swear, I almost lost it when the word "lighted" was used incorrectly 3 times within the span of about 15 pages. And then several times after that."His eyes lighted up" "she lighted the joint" "Chester's face lighted up" Ugh.

Colin is absolutely obsessed with Jasmine and thinks he "loves" her for no reason. She is moody, and my guess is, bipolar. He loves the sex, and that's about all. They fall into a "relationship" and she breaks up with him for his best friend, Karl.

Colin hangs out with an older professor, Mrs. Vesquez after his breakup. I really don't see what her role was in the story, other than portraying a moody cat lady. He also has random sex with a few girls, and then settles for Liz.

There's a lot of heavy drinking in the book, as well as some serious mental illness in terms of Chester's character.

The most annoying thing about this book were the Beatles references.Every few pages, it was John Lennon this, John Lennon that. We get it, the MC liked The Beatles. Way overdone. There were a lot of random references to 80's TV and music, but they could have been left out entirely. The setting of this book is so blase, that the year it took place and the random pop culture were totally unneccessary.

It felt like a mental spew, with no point. And since I had no emotional investment, the attempt at seriousness and "lesson's learned" on the last page just made it worse.

It was a fast enough read to keep me slogging through it, but I really don't recommend it.

A complete waste of time. ( )

Immaturity, hormones, and unreturned love throw the main character, Colin, into a tizzy. He lacks the maturity and experience to deal with casual sex and is desperate for someone to love him. There is a deficiency of self-respect or respect of others that makes the characters appear shallow and incapability of emotional development. The technology and settings are dated but is appropriate for the period. Some young adult readers would commiserate with Colin college experience. Other would say, “Grow up”. ( )