Breaking Point by Alex Flinn follows the life of sophomore Paul Richmond, who transfers to a rich Christian private school after his father has an affair and divorces his mother. Paul is a loner at this new school due to being poorer than his peers, with only misfit Binky willing to be his friend. At home, Paul is stuck being the man of the house for his needy mother, and is suffocated by the responsibility she puts on him, finding his escape through chat rooms online. As the school year progresses, Paul’s desire to fit in with his peers deepens as he continues to be bullied. So when the most popular guy at school, Charlie Good, invites Paul to join the Mailbox Club, involving midnight rides smashing  mailboxes, Paul is thrilled to accept. But as his relationship with Charlie deepens, Paul begins to be required to show his loyalty with increasingly suspicious acts, causing him to question Charlie’s supposedly “good” intentions.

Breaking Point is a hard book to love. The writing and the way Flinn gives insight and depth to a situation beyond what the character perceives is phenomenal, but nearly all of the characters are reprehensible is some way, or at least somewhat unlikeable. All of the events of the story are put into action due to the character flaws of the protagonist, Paul. Though I sympathized with Paul’s difficult situation with his dependant mother and bullying issues, his weak constitution, almost obsessive desire to gain popularity no matter what criminal actions he has to commit, and his naive, blind godlike worship of Charlie Good is mildly disgusting. Charlie Good is just as guilty- his blatant manipulation of others for the sake of public image and selfish gain, and his violence as he outlashes against the same society in which he is the golden child show him to be determined to get whatever he wants- and has no moral qualms with avoiding consequences by using his friends as innocent scapegoats. The teachers and other students at the school, though not described in depth, are depicted as being wealthy and privileged, and therefore being above the chaos and immoral behavior around them, making them blind to the real problems lying behind the destructive behavior going on at the school.

The corrupt characters, however, make a realistic story more honest than some possible watered down, romanticized versions. Seeing how even the characters who are good deep down are so inherently flawed makes them more relatable. I can’t say personally that I was able to connect any of these characters to myself, or the events that transpire throughout the course of the story being similar at all to the things I encounter in my daily life, but I can sympathize with Paul’s innocence, and even his naivete and was given a completely different view of the high school experience than my own. If you want to break free of the Vandegrift stereotype and really see behind it to a student body corrupted by money and power and the lengths they will go to, this book can be the first step to that changed perspective.