Full Tilt

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Full Tilt Pub. Date: 6/1/2003 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers

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Overview

Sixteen-year-old Blake has always been the responsible one in his dysfunctional family — the one who drives safely, gets good grades, and looks after his wild younger brother, Quinn. Quinn is his brother's opposite — a thrill-seeker who's always chasing the next scary rush, no matter what the cost. But Quinn and Blake are in for the surprise of their lives when they're thrust into the world of a bizarre phantom carnival — and their souls are the price of admission.

In order to save his brother, and himself, Blake must survive seven different carnival rides before dawn. Seven rides...it sounds easy. But each ride is full of unexpected dangers, because each ride is a reflection of one of Blake's deepest fears. And the last ride is the worst one of all. Because that's the one that confronts Blake with a terrifying secret from his past — a secret he's been running from for years.

Full of roller-coaster twists and turns, Neal Shusterman's latest page-turner is an Orpheus-like adventure into one boy's psyche.

When sixteen-year-old Blake goes to a mysterious, by-invitation-only carnival he somehow knows that it could save his comatose brother, but soon learns that much more is at stake if he fails to meet the challenge presented there by the beautiful Cassandra.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

In a book that moves like one of the roller coasters it describes, a teenage boy must face a series of tests that represent his deepest fears in order to save his brother. Narrator Blake, a thoughtful 16-year-old student about to leave home for an early college career, follows his daredevil brother, Quinn, into a haunted amusement park. Once inside, he learns the park's sinister secret: he must finish seven rides by sunrise, or become trapped in the park forever. Ultimately, Blake is forced to confront the memory of a horrible bus accident from his early childhood, and the resulting fears and regrets that have stayed with him. Blake and Quinn are skillfully cast opposites: the former an orderly-minded, intellectual student who avoids risk, the latter an earring-studded adrenaline junkie who would rather flirt with death than be bored. Amusement parks, where chaos and order work hand in hand, make an ideal setting for coming-of-age stories (Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, to which this book bears more than slight resemblance, being the best example). Despite the escalating surrealism of the rides, Shusterman keeps the narrative in Blake's matter-of-fact voice, making the tale oddly believable. But in the colorful blur of the park's tests and challenges, there is little time for deep character development, and Blake and Quinn evolve little beyond caricature. Ages 10-up. (June) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Booklist

A surreal, scary fantasy, packed with suspenseful psychological drama. Readers will savor the page-turning thrills in this wonderfully eerie story.

More Reviews (7) Fewer Reviews

KLIATT

A roller coaster ride of a book.

School Library Journal

An unusual quest adventure.

Children's Literature

Sixteen-year-old Blake is overly cautious and responsible, still gripped by memories of a harrowing bus accident he suffered as a young child, of which he was the sole survivor. His thirteen-year-old brother, Quinn, is overly wild and self-destructive, resisting their single mom's engagement to yet another loser boyfriend. The relationship between the two is tested and ultimately deepened when they enter the bizarre world of a phantom carnival, instructed by the alluring but demonic Cassandra that they must undergo seven harrowing rides before dawn—or remain captives of the carnival forever. The dark world of the carnival is reminiscent of Pleasure Island in Disney's Pinocchio, as hordes of jaded, thrill-seeking youths, such as Quinn, proceed blithely on to their doom. The rides themselves drag on for too many pages, with too many predictable cliff-hanging moments and narrow escapes, during which the reader may find his thoughts wandering: "Blake has to make it through this one; we're only up to page 100!" But Shusterman has a good grasp of teen psychology and orchestrates a moving reconciliation between Blake and Quinn, as Blake finally faces the truth of what really happened in his childhood bus tragedy and why he should no longer let it haunt him. Readers who want a horrific, disturbing (if somewhat overly drawn out) rollercoaster ride will welcome this one. 2003, Simon & Schuster,
— Claudia Mills

KLIATT

To quote from the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, May 2003: "It began the night we died on the Kamikaze..." Blake, age 16, finds himself living a nightmare when his wild, thrill-seeking younger brother Quinn is trapped inside a supernatural carnival. Blake and his friends Russ and Maggie must go after Quinn to save him, and they learn that they must survive seven different horrific rides before dawn—or lose Quinn, and their souls. Even worse, each ride embodies one of Blake's worst fears, leading up to a reenactment of a long-suppressed terror, a deadly bus accident from his childhood, and forcing him to confront his feelings of guilt over surviving it. Part psychological thriller, part horror story, this gripping tale by the author of Downsiders and other YA novels will have readers glued to the pages. Clever dialog and lots of carnival ride action help, too, and a red-tinged cover featuring a Ferris wheel and a pair of haunted eyes will draw readers in. A roller coaster ride of a book. KLIATT Codes: JS*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2003, Simon & Schuster, Pulse, 201p., Ages 12 to 18.
—Paula Rohrlick

VOYA

Sixteen-year-old Blake is the "responsible" friend-the safe driver, the one who watches out for his brother, the one who offers to wait in line for the long carnival rides while his friends go on the rides he would just as soon miss. There is something else about Blake, however, that gains him an invitation to a roving carnival led by the strangely alluring Cassandra. When Blake's younger brother disappears inside, Blake enters with his friends-offering up his soul for admission. All they must do is survive seven rides before dawn, but these rides are not ordinary, of course. Each supernatural ride is specially designed for its rider, built on that person's deepest fears. As the night wears on, it appears that Blake is a survivor and that he might be the one to battle Cassandra to the end of her game. Shusterman, author of Downsiders (Simon & Schuster, 1999/VOYA August 1999), again pulls together a riveting thriller with interesting characters. Through horror and fantasy, he imparts a sense of how someone under pressure can find courage, a sense of what's "right," and live with decisions made. VOYA Codes: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2003, Simon & Schuster, 208p,
— Nina Lindsay

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-The myriad bits in 16-year-old Blake's brain become the stuff of an alternate universe, a nightmare amusement park in which he must experience seven wild rides before dawn in order to escape. The teen has always been the careful child in his family; at age seven, he was the only survivor of a school-bus crash. Since then, he has taken on the responsibility of saving his brother Quinn, who constantly needs to be rescued from his own impulsive behavior. Blake would certainly never accept the invitation to a midnight ride offered by the icily attractive Cassandra, a mysterious figure he encounters at Six Flags. However, when his brother steals the invitation and disappears, Blake has to follow. As he makes his way from one terrifying ride to another, Cassandra appears and disappears, challenging him, leading him on, and, finally, desperately attempting to keep him where he is, in the world she has created. His brother appears and disappears as well, and in one ride they discover that they need to work together. But at the end, Blake is on his own to face his deepest fears and survivor guilt. As the pace picks up in his surreal fantasy, readers are sucked into the nightmare, tumbling full tilt from one bizarre occurrence to another. Set in the vibrant, vivid atmosphere of theme parks and computer games, this is an unusual quest adventure. Teens will recognize both Quinn's sensation seeking and Blake's withdrawal, and celebrate the balanced conclusion.-Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

In this not-very-thrilling magical thriller, 16-year-old Blake comes to terms with old fears. Blake's younger brother Quinn is a reckless pest. Blake, on the other hand, is careful and studious: a Volvo driver who sorts his pencils. When a mysterious woman slips Blake an invitation to a theme-park rave, Blake chooses not to go-until Quinn swipes the invitation, and slips into a coma. Blake and two friends rush to the rave to save Quinn from whatever magical force has befallen him. If Blake defeats seven of the enchanted rides before dawn, he rescues Quinn; if he fails, they'll be lost forever. Blake conquers some challenges through cleverness, some through personal epiphanies, and others through dumb luck. Each success for Blake brings all of the main characters closer to self-knowledge. Since only Blake has any depth of character, it's not much of a trip. (Fiction. 10-15)

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781416997481
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date: 11/10/2009
Pages: 224
Sales rank: 254,405
Age range: 10 - 14 Years
Lexile: 700L (what's this?)
Product dimensions: 5.40 (w) x 8.20 (h) x 0.70 (d)

Meet the Author

Neal Shusterman

Neal Shusterman is the author of many novels for young adults, including Unwind, which was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and a Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Readers; The Skinjacker Trilogy; and Downsiders, which was nominated for twelve state reading awards. He also writes screenplays for motion pictures and television shows such as Animorphs and Goosebumps. The father of four children, Neal lives in southern California. Visit him at StoryMan.com.

Read an Excerpt

Chapter 1

"I Go Places Sometimes"

It began the night we died on the Kamikaze.

I should have known the night was jinxed when Quinn lost his hat on the Raptor. I wasn't sure where on the roller coaster he lost it because I didn't ride with him; my friends, Russ and Maggie, did. I had volunteered to wait in line for Icewater Rapids.

"What a nice guy," Maggie had said, giving me a peck on the cheek. Well, nice guy or not, I had my own reasons.

The loss of Quinn's hat was the first trauma of the evening, but not the first of Quinn's life. Whole galaxies of traumas revolved around my brother. I knew he wouldn't part with his hat easily; it was one of his prized possessions — a black baseball cap with a very distinctive design on its face. Not the insignia of a sports team or a designer logo — that wouldn't do for Quinn. No, his hat featured a rude cartoon of a hand with its middle finger up. He loved that hat because he could flip everyone off on a continual basis.

He was still grumbling about his loss as he, Maggie, and Russ joined me in the line for Icewater Rapids.

"There should be catch-nets beneath the ride," Quinn complained. "They're gonna pay. Russ should have caught it — he was behind me!" As if the whole world were to blame.

"Ignore him and maybe he'll go away," Russ said, waving his beefy arm dismissively. Russ is what you might call a disenfranchised jock. He muscles up regularly, lifting weights, but never lasts more than a month in any of the sports he's tried, because he loses interest too quickly. Maybe that's because so many of the other guys on teams just try to impress the girls, while Russ had no need: He and Maggie had been dating since the beginning of recorded time, with no end in sight.

As for Maggie, she couldn't have cared less about Quinn's ravings. She checked herself out in a tall mirror — one of several distractions placed in the long line to break up the monotony. "Tell me the truth, do I look fat to you?" she asked me.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No, seriously."

Russ just laughed.

"Maggie, it's a fun-house mirror. Of course you look fat. That's the point."

She sighed. "I know that, but fun-house mirrors never usually make me look this fat."

"Scootch down a bit," Russ said, "and you'll be fat in all the right places."

She poked him in the stomach for that one. Warped mirrors aside, Maggie was slim and nice looking. Smart, too. But to hear her talk, you'd think she was dumb and ugly, always comparing herself to the other girls in school.

"Congratulations," I told her, glancing once more at the mirror. "I always said you've got a distorted view of yourself. Now you really do."

She threw me a twisted grin, and Russ, thinking the grin was meant for him, clamped his muscular arm around Maggie's waist. I sometimes wondered if Maggie got bruises from the way Russ held her — like, if he let go, she might get away.

You're probably wondering how I fit into this little high school equation. Well, I suppose if the others are variables, I'm the constant. Constantly studying, constantly busy, constantly shuttling from swim team to debate team to home with the regularity of a celestial clock.

"That's what I like about you," Russ once told me. "You've got a level head — and I don't mean just the haircut."

As far as the equation went, I'd be out of it soon, on account of the way I tested out of high school. Not that I'm a genius or anything. I'm just a mix of a little bit of brains, a whole lot of studying, and a knack for multiple-choice tests. Blend that with a single parent earning minimum wage, and you get a scholarship to New York's Columbia University at sixteen. I was scheduled to leave next month, right after summer vacation, skipping my senior year of high school entirely.

"Columbia?" Russ had said. "Wow, I didn't even know you spoke Spanish!"

Maggie had told me he was kidding, but we both knew he wasn't. Let's face it, if my bulb was halogen, Russ had an energy saver. But that's okay. He had other things going for him. Like his easygoing personality. Like Maggie.

Me, I was between girlfriends. So when we took our little road trip to Six Flags, instead of a date, I ended up with Quinn.

I turned around, noticing that Quinn had stopped grumbling about his hat. That's because he was gone.

"Forget about him," Russ said. "He'll turn up eventually, and even if he doesn't, no great loss."

I shook my head. "If he gets into trouble, we'll all get ejected from the park." Which happened once before, when Quinn took an M-80 and blew up an animatronic mime.

"You know that's what he wants," Maggie said, "to make us all look for him."

"He's a waste of life," said Russ, and it annoyed me. I was the only one allowed to call Quinn a waste of life.

"Next time bring a metal detector," Maggie suggested. "Easiest way to find him."

I laughed at that. She was, of course, referring to Quinn's many facial accessories. Studs, rings, and dangling things. They weren't just in his ears, but in his eyebrows and nose. He had one in his lip, too. Call me old-fashioned, but I figure a thirteen-year-old like Quinn could get away with one, maybe two rings before maxing out the face-to-metal ratio.

I asked Russ and Maggie to wait for me when they were done with the raft ride. Then I wound my way out of the line until I came to a wide pathway that was almost as crowded as the line. In an amusement park this big, I knew if I let him get too far away, I'd never find him. And Maggie was right; he'd like that just fine. He'd ruin my night by making me worry where he was and what kind of crazy thing he was doing, then he'd show up at the car an hour after closing, with a smug grin stretched across his ring-filled face.

Fine, let him get lost, I told myself. I don't care. But the problem was, I did care, and that annoyed me even more.

For a long time everyone thought Quinn was autistic. Hard to believe that, looking at him now. Now he was just a self-centered royal pain. But when he was a baby, he would turn all his attention inward, never making eye contact with anyone. He was almost three and a half before he even spoke. It happened right before our parents split up. We went to one of those cheesy carnivals that came to town every year. Dad took us on a kiddie coaster. Quinn smiled — and back then Quinn never smiled. Then, when the little ride grinded to a halt, Quinn spoke.

"Daddy, more."

We were speechless. Until then Quinn had never put a coherent thought together. It was as if the ride had stimulated something in my brother that had always been dormant. Dad moved out a few weeks later. It was on the night of our annual viewing of The Wizard of Oz, just about the time that Almira Gulch turns into the Wicked Witch of the West. I still can't watch that movie without getting a sick feeling in my stomach, like it's my own house spinning inside of a tornado.

Our father probably would have left a few years earlier had Quinn not been born. Quinn wasn't planned. He was an "accident." Enough of an accident to keep Dad around until Quinn was three. Since he left, our lives have been a roller coaster of Mom's raging romances with men who weren't good to her, or to us.

As for Quinn, that first ride opened the door to bigger things. Stimulation and saturation. His life was a festival of excess that could not be contained. Deafening music, eye-popping bright colors, sugar added to almost everything he ate. Quinn's life was a bullet in a barrel ready to explode.

I searched the amusement park for fifteen minutes before I found him. I would have found him sooner had I been thinking like a lunatic, to whom breaking laws is a lifestyle choice.

About a dozen people stood in the middle of a wide pathway, looking up at something. I followed their gaze to some imbecile climbing the support scaffolding of a roller coaster. He was at least fifty feet high and leaned dangerously toward a piece of cloth wedged between two crossbeams. It was a hat. That's when I realized that the imbecile and I came from the same gene pool. And the law my brother was trying to break now was the law of gravity.

"Is that part of the Spider-Man show, Mommy?" I heard a little kid next to me ask. I hurried toward the roller coaster, ready to kill my brother, if he didn't do the job himself.

"Have I ever told you what a psycho you are?"

I stood on the exit stairs of the Raptor, looking out at Quinn, who clung to the support beam about six feet away from me. I looked around to see if any guards had noticed him out there, but for the moment Quinn's antics had found a security blind spot.

"Hey, defib, okay? I had to get my hat." He stretched his hand out toward it, but it was still just out of his reach.

"Did you ever consider engaging your brain?" I easily grabbed the hat from where I stood on the exit stairs.

He sneered at me, but he did seem a bit red in the face. "Oh, sure, do things the easy way." There was something else about him too. Not now, but when I'd first arrived. I'd seen the way he'd reached for his hat, as if he weren't hanging fifty feet above the asphalt. As if he didn't notice where he was until I'd brought it to his attention. There were times that he sort of slipped out of phase with reality — a holdover, I guess, from those early years when he was so locked in his own private universe. It wasn't just that he didn't see the big picture. Sometimes he saw a different picture entirely.

Now Quinn looked down, taking stock of his situation, and shrugged, swinging to another girder closer to the stairs, still using the ride's infrastructure as his own personal jungle gym.

"Isn't it enough that you drive Mom crazy?" I asked him. "Is it such a stretch for you to be normal just this once?"

He tossed his head, flinging a lock of his uneven hair out of his face. "If that's what you are, I'd rather be deviant."

Unable to reach the railing of the stairs from where he hung, he grabbed a bar above his head and let his legs swing free, as if the fifty-foot drop beneath him were nothing. A sizable crowd had gathered below, gawking and pointing.

That's when I noticed the vibration. I felt it in the staircase railing before I heard or saw it: a shuddering of metal crashing downhill. It came to me in an instant what I already knew but had forgotten until that moment.

The Raptor was a hanging roller coaster. The bars Quinn dangled from were part of the track.

Quinn realized it too, and he tried to swing himself closer to the railing but didn't have enough momentum.

All at once the train swung around an outside curve, its riders screaming with joy, completely unaware of my idiot brother directly in their path.

I leaned out as far as I could, grabbed Quinn by the waist, and wrenched him from the hanging track. I almost lost him, but I got enough of him over the rail to flip him onto the stairs. We tumbled on the steps, while just past the railing, the Raptor sliced past, a blur of green and black, gone in an instant.

I should have been relieved, but saving Quinn was such a regular pastime for me, all I could feel was anger. "I'm tired of saving your friggin' butt," I told him, although friggin' and butt weren't exactly the words I used.

Then his eyes glazed over for a second.

"I go places sometimes," he told me, his voice as thready and distant as his eyes. "Don't know why I go places...I just do."

It caught me off guard. He was around six the last time he said that. It was a whisper at bedtime, like a confession. A secret, too fragile for the light of day. I go places sometimes.

But right then I wasn't feeling too sensitive. "Next time you go, bring me back a shirt." He snapped out of whatever state he was in, and something inside him closed up like a camera shutter. He glanced defiantly at the ride that had almost turned him into roadkill, then looked back to me.

"Nice save, bro." Then he put on his hat, effectively flipping me off without lifting a finger.

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EG90

Posted July 3, 2009

more from this reviewer

I Also Recommend:

Every Kid Should Read This Book

Full Tilt is one of the most fast paced book I have ever read. As soon as the characters enter the thrilling and dangerous park it is difficult to put this book down. Although this book might not be the best for a classroom setting. It is the best for sit down and read an interesting book setting. It is not a very challenging read and is fairly short. It showed me that you need to live your life for the fullest and any book that can send that message across while keeping you on your toes is definetly a book to read.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted April 12, 2012

Amazing

I read this book right when it cameout and i still thimk of it as on of the beat books ever its up there wit the hunger games series put together

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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TJaxx246

Posted November 1, 2011

I Also Recommend:

Read it 7 times and it still amazes me!!

I read Full Tilt when I was young and remember reading this book about 7 times, it was that good. This is actually the book that got me into supernatural, suspense novels. I was drawn in from the very beginning. It felt like I was actually in the book, trying to survive the rides with Blake. I love how each ride was like its own world and it was a different experience for each person. Everything was well described and seemed so vivid. Neal Shusterman created an amazing, page turning, thriller novel that kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Full Tilt was all about facing your fears, surviving, finding yourself, and never giving in. If you love supernatural, suspense, thriller novels, pick up Full Tilt. I definitely recommend it!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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WT

Posted October 20, 2009

This book is one of the best books I have ever read!

W.T. read Full tilt and it is a book with a weird setting. This story is about a group of four friends that go to a theme park. The names of the friends are Blake, Quinn, Maggie, and Russ. Blake goes to a stand where if you throw a ball and if it knocks pins down you get a prize, but at this stand was a girl that Blake said was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She gave him a special invitation to another theme park run by her. They decide to try the park out, but what they thought would be a good night turns into what they lest expected. My favorite part of the book was when the group of friends that includes Maggie, Blake, Quinn, and Russ, were ridding the ride Kamikaze. In this part I kept wondering if they were really going to die or not. When the rollercoaster was "falling" down I thought that the characters that were introduced in the beginning were going to die and there were going to be new ones. My least favorite part of this book would have to be the ending. I don't like how it all turns up as they get in a car crash. It would have been good if the ending of the book were that the friends never rode seven rides so they were stuck in the park for all eternity. Neal Shusterman did a great job with the descriptions of the characters. I usually don't read many books fast, but this book was hard to put down.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted April 14, 2012

Great

Good, quick read. Worth 100% of the cost. It was awesome.
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Anonymous

Posted April 7, 2012

There was already a book called Full Tilt, isn't that infringeme

There was already a book called Full Tilt, isn't that infringement?
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BookL0ver4ever

Posted March 21, 2012

Amazing book!!!

This is a really great book to read! It contains so much action, and unexpected twists.You would want to keep on reading it, until you're the end!I highly recommend this book.
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Anonymous

Posted March 6, 2012

Thriller

Great book, very entertaining. Unpredictable plot, with an attention grabbing carnival feel. Loved this book!!!!!
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Anonymous

Posted May 3, 2011

Highly recommended i like action and excitement.

Full tilt is a really good book it has a lot of excitement. The characters were good and believable and the dialog made it better. The characters were like real people and reminded me of people I know. What really made the book good is that you never know what's going to happen next. The theme and the setting are original.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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-Lexa

Posted February 6, 2011

Great book!

This book was an awesome action packed thriller! I might have liked it especially because I love thrill rides! It's about a magical, (but not good magic) amusment park, that takes your soal, and leaves you in a coma. You have to ride 7 deathly rides before dawn to survive. Blake, a 16 year old who likes to live life on the safe route, has to go to rescue his younger brother, Quinn who lives for the thrill. If you don't ride all 7 rides before dawn, your stuck their forever, forgeting what the real world is like, because every ride has its own world, relating to Blakes fears. Also if you die from the ride, your stuck as senery. Many have came in, but no one has come out, will Blake change that?
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PianoMajorIan

Posted January 9, 2011

Highly Recommended-A MUST READ

Neal Shusterman's Full Tilt is an amazing book about Blake,the main character, Quinn, his younger brother, and his best friends, Russ and Maggie's adventure into a phantom carnival. Once you enter, you cannot leave until you have ridden and SURVIVED seven deadly rides. These rides push their riders to their breaking point by exploiting their greatest insecurities, their deepest darkest secrets, and their greatest fears through worlds designed for each individual rider. If thats not bad enough, if you die on a ride you are absorbed into the ride, and if you do not make it through all of the rides by dawn, well, you turn into a slave that has to work in the carnival. Either way you will be trapped in the carnival for eternity. No one has ever survived the carnival.

Throughout the course of the story, you get to know Blake and Quinn so well its as if they were your best friends.

The plot line is captivating. When I read this book it was as if I was in a trance. The suspense, the love, the hate, the horror! It was an amazing book! I highly recommend it!

-IR
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Anonymous

Posted December 29, 2010

Wonderful Display of Creativity!!!

This book was certainly one of the best books I have ever read. It was the first I had read by Neal Shusterman but not the last I will read of his. Full Tilt was really intriguing throughout the whole book. Every step kept me wanting more. Each time Maggie, Russ, Blake, and/or Quinn entered a new ride, I always thought I knew what was coming up and what was going to happen to them, but each time, I was caught off-guard and whatever I had thought was going to happen turned around and went a different way. It still was very interesting and I think the way the characters were introduced was very straight-to-the-point. Shusterman described each character clear enough so the reader could get a good mental image and then throughout the whole book, the reader was discovering new facts and fears and interests about that character. It was confusing at times and sometimes hard to follow but I think that was what the book needed, because when I wanted to learn more on something mentioned, in the end, I realized it didn't really matter. Overall, I'd say it was a very great book!-smccord
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Paris_S

Posted December 12, 2010

Full Tilt is Full of Awesome!

Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman was an awesome book and very well written. It kept me hooked the whole way through. It was full of suspense that made it hard for me to stop reading. I feel in love with the characters, especially Maggie. Her sweet, sensitive nature really spoke to me. Russ, on the other hand, was one of those characters that I was rooting against from the moment he was introduced. I really liked how story line had so many twists and turns. Just when I thought I had the next move figured out, something completely different would happen.great use of reversal. I only wish that there were a bit more to the storyline that focused on Blake's mom and her fiancé Carl. It felt a little like they were just thrown in there and without as much background as the others. Overall, I loved this book and will definitely read more books by Neal Shusterman.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Anonymous

Posted November 29, 2010

So great!

Full Tilt is one of my favorite books of all time! It's so full of suspense and action that it'll keep you on the edge of your seat throughout all the rides! An absolute MUST READ!!!
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Anonymous

Posted November 2, 2010

Loved it! A must get!

This book was amazing! I could totally relate, I love all of Neal's work!
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VictorS

Posted January 5, 2010

Full Tilt=Great Book

In Neal Shusterman's "Full Tilt" there are many great qualities that make it one of my favorite books. Right after the introduction, it leads straight into the action and suspense. I could even sometimes relate to the many life lessons about relationships with friends and family. The seven "rides" in the Carnival are triggered to bring out all your fears and to keep you from finishing all seven rides before dawn. I thought this was a really great idea for this book because it shows the many hardships in life. In "Full Tilt" the setting is in a Carnival and that is one of the things that make up a great scary story. This book truly kept me on the edge of my seat and kept me wanting to read more. I thought "Full Tilt" was an awesome, very well thought out book which is what makes it one of my favorite books.
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PatCantrell

Posted April 21, 2009

On the edge of your chair

There were many enjoyable parts in Full Tilt, but the most satisfying part of this book was when Blake and Quinn just finished the seventh ride. This element added such a thrill and a feeling of relief; knowing they both lived through such a nightmare. Although I expected this result, I was still content with them escaping the catastrophic ride. The end of the plot was predictable. (The end of the plot being when Blake completes all seven rides.) Because it was knowable, I wished for something more out of the box and surprising. Even if the end was more on the lines of disappointing, that might be better than predictability. The actual end of the novel was definitely disappointing; and quite a let down.

That brings me to the least satisfying part of the book. The end of Full Tilt was very displeasing. Towards the end of the novel, I expected a great ending, however, the end was the opposite of what I was looking forward to. It makes me wonder why the author, Shusterman, didn't close the book with this thrilling and amazing conclusion! Full Tilt could have possibly been geared towards younger readers. Even so, a pleasing ending that would just be a little better could make me more satisfied. I'm not exactly asking for one of those happy ending scenarios, but the ending definitely needs improvement.

Something I would ask for, to better this book, would be for the length to be generally longer. Something that would contribute to a lengthier story would be more chapters describing things you don't know. There seemed to be too much focus on the amusement park. Someone would wonder what's happening with Blake's family? How does Cassandra function? Many more questions come up as I read this novel, and they really were left unanswered. A sequel could perhaps update on the plot and enlighten more people. The story was very short and I wanted more to read-the end didn't do it for me.

I definitely would recommend this book to others. Full Tilt was such a great adventure story and the details were done in good taste. I think the characters were absolutely believable, and that makes a book so much better. When you can relate to what you're reading, you feel more involved and the story makes more sense. Each chapter brought such excitement and when the characters were riding the amusement park rides, it made you want to watch and be in the scene. Even though it was an easy read, I never the less enjoyed it. This is why I give this book thumbs up and would recommend it.
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Dogtownskater

Posted April 19, 2009

more from this reviewer

This book was great!

Ok I read this book in two days. That isn't normal for me. I was really absorbed by the characters and the actions. It shows that everbody has their inner demons and they have to overcome them. Blake had to accept responsibility for his actions almost a decade ago. This book is full of twists and turns that will keep your attention until the very end. Even if you don't read, you will love this book.
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Caarmenn

Posted April 9, 2009

Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman

Introduction:
Blake is always having to save his brother Quinn from dangerous situations. But can he save him one last time while facing his deepest and most personal fears on 7 different carnival rides.

Description/summary:
Sixteen-year-old Blake is your normal outcast. He's a safe driver, responsible, and not a risk taker. However his brother Quinn is the exact opposite. Quinn is fearless, thrill-seeker that gets a rush out of putting himself in dangerous situations that could cause death. However, sometimes his thrill-seeking goes too far.
When Blake gets an odd invitation to an unheard carnival, Quinn steals it and runs away to the carnival. When Blake finds out what has happened, he picks up his two friends Maggie and Russ, and heads off to the carnival to find his brother's spirit whose body is in a coma in the hospital. After arriving at the carnival he realizes that he has to ride 7 deadly rides before dawn that resemble his deepest and personal fears. He also has to try and save his brother Quinn and two friends, while trying not to get consumed by the thrills of the rides, or trapped in at the carnival!

Evaluation:
Overall, I loved reading this book. It's suspenseful, and full of creativity. I also loved it because it kept me entertained throughout the whole book.

Conclusion:
In conclusion, Full Tilt is about a boy who throughout the story conquers his fears and does things he never would've imagined himself doing.

Final Review:
This book is full of suspense and surprises. It's also a MUST-READ!!
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The_AzN

Posted March 12, 2009

more from this reviewer

really great! suspenseful from beginning to end!

this book always kept me guessing! i have never read anything like it! the author is very creative. this book is very original. it was kind of too short, but still good. i wish there was a sequel!
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Every Kid Should Read This Book

Amazing

Read it 7 times and it still amazes me!!

This book is one of the best books I have ever read!

Great

There was already a book called Full Tilt, isn't that infringeme

Amazing book!!!

Thriller

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Highly Recommended-A MUST READ

Wonderful Display of Creativity!!!

Full Tilt is Full of Awesome!

So great!

Loved it! A must get!

Full Tilt=Great Book

On the edge of your chair

This book was great!

Full Tilt by Neal Shusterman

really great! suspenseful from beginning to end!