I take that back. His prose was, for the most part, pretty good. While everyone seems to mention Harry Potter and Narnia when commenting on Grossman's book, I feel that this is such a superficial view. Elements of those two books here are just a veneer of sorts, covering a thematic core of something else. And that something else is very much in the vein of Bret Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero.

Grossman (ab)uses characters to deliver a social commentary on those poor souls in our own world who have personalities and values which can charitably be called incondite. They're hedonists who are always on the search for the latest thrill, the newest high, or whatever it is that will keep them from being alone and in touch with their own ugly, barren inner-selves. Human beings manqué are what most of them turn out be.