4.5
This book has its flaws, but I can't make myself rate this any lower. The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik is an intricate, thoughtful, beautiful story. Despite this falling firmly into the camp of YA that maybe....isn't really for YA, I can still see certain teens loving and identifying with Bowie enthusiast Noah Oakman's strange fascinations - four different obsessions, all connecting some way in his mind. Anyone who knows me knows that I look for connections everywhere. I don't believe in coincidences, I find meaning in odd moments, and I am nostalgic to a fault, tracing the lines of my life that have led me to where I am. Noah is the same, and seeing this kind of belief in a story like this made me weirdly emotional in a way I can't pinpoint.

This book, despite having a very slight scifi bent

Spoiler

with Circuit's virtual reality machine and Noah's experiences being "under"

, is mostly about living on the precipice of adulthood: the fear of college decisions, understanding the meaning of your friendships, understanding yourself. It is beautifully written and deeply felt, with its dense, referential nature juxtaposed with the casual conversation of teenagehood. I loved this book.