The Oh Comely Book Club is well under way, and we're celebrating its third day with Adrés Caicedo's shout-out to youth, Liveforever. Our online editor Tamara gives us her thoughts on the book:

Maria wakes up as usual, but rather than go to school she decides instead to wander into the streets of Columbia in search of fun and life. From here the plot is swept away in a never-ending current of parties, rumbas and gigs, with Maria always at their centre. Drugs and sex run rife throughout, and the prose reflects their heady, intoxicating effect through Maria's erratic stream-of-consciousness. Caicedo also carefully documents each song that the protagonist comes across, sometimes dedicating a whole page to writing out its lyrics; this reminded me of the obsessive and almost talismanic way in which my classmates and I used to devour music as teenagers. 

The book is repetitive and its narrator not very likeable, but I found myself racing through with nervous anticipation for what might come. Although not a book for those who like a strong plot and clear beginning, middle and end, Andrés Caicedo captures a certain type of youth brilliantly, leaving behind the bitter taste of stale smoke and tired eyes once the last page was over. 

Here's what some of you thought:

This wasn’t a comfortable read and the constant drug use and increasing violence wasn’t my thing at all. I admired the vision of the writer, the attempt to get inside the skin of what music can mean but ultimately found it depressing, particularly when I discovered the writer actually committed suicide on the day his book was originally published.

Rebecca Kershaw. 

The book started off well but as it continued I found it rather repetitive, rambling and difficult to follow. I didn’t connect with the narrator or care about her outcome. The back cover describes the book as “a wild celebration of youth,” but I didn’t feel this and found it more a description of Maria’s decline into drug addiction and ultimately prostitution. I had hoped it would be a reminder of the excitement of being young, but actually found it to be negative and disturbing, especially the violence.

Lynn Hall, Newcastle.

I think I'd give this 3.5 stars but I always round up.

I have to say I didn't like the narrator; I found her to be a bit of a brat. She was all "I'm so special because of my blonde hair" and "all the boys love to see me because I'm so beautiful" which was really annoying. In my head she was mid-20's but in fact she was in her late teens, which maybe makes her selfish attitude a little more understandable. An awful lot of her "friends" kill themselves and this doesn't seem to upset her or bother her in any way.  

One thing I didn't understand was Maria's attitude to sex. It seemed like she wasn't bothered by it and she talked about how having sex with her caused the men pain. I didn't get it, and I felt sad for her that she didn't experience something more loving.

Dennie White.

At the beginning I was really enjoying this book, but the pace dropped all of a sudden and I found I a bit dull.

Matt Blackstock.

Reader Photos: martarchi and kate_and_cloud. / Read more at Penguin Classics.