Less Than Zero meets Catcher in the Rye in this biting bildungsroman. Written in an insightful, frenetic tone that occasionally turns surreal. Exhilarating and indicting.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Metcalfe snares readers' attention with rich, fantastic characters…A wonderful read that is hard to put down, The Tragic Age will continue to haunt readers long after the last page has been turned.” —Voya
“Metcalfe's taut prose and unique narrative choices mark him as a writer to watch.” —Booklist
“Billy makes for a mordant, smart, and angry protagonist...debut author Metcalfe, a screenwriter and playwright, amps up the melodrama with a car chase, a shooting, and a Grand Guignol ending that dooms some while reawakening Billy. ” —Publishers Weekly
“Metcalfe's rich imagination is obvious throughout this dark tale of sex, violence, and mentions of suicide...you'll be hooked on this roller-coaster ride of a story from the get-go.” —RT Book Reviews
“Metcalfe writes Billy's narration with a laconic, conversational tone that deftly combines age-appropriate nihilism with hints at the emotions behind it all... however, it's the tautly written contemporary events, with tension mounting along with the risk and the violence, that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. With the fatalism of Hassan's Crash and Burn, the chilling relentlessness of FX's series Fargo, and a touch of the wry worldview of Kurt Vonnegut, this will be an easy book talk that will absorb many young adult readers.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (Starred Review)
“The Tragic Age is not a story that promises happy times and a happy ending. It's sad. It's violent. It's messy. It's complicated. It's ugly. It's beautiful. It's heartbreaking. It's hopeful. It's real.” —fiktshun.com
“Stephen Metcalfe's The Tragic Age, is an emotionally raw, unapologetically honest, and fiercely startling coming of age story about life, death, and every amazing, terrifying, fucked up thing in between.” —Word Spelunking
