When I opened this book, I expected a lot of things, but never would I have thought that it was going to receive a place among my absolute favorite books, with the definite guarantee of rereading this one day (maybe I should mention here that I hardly ever reread a book). 
 The Serpent King is Jeff Zentner's debut novel, and what a novel it is. He has been a guitarist and songwriter, having released five albums before focusing his attention on writing novels for young adults. But this novel doesn't feel like a debut novel. The writing? Yes, that's something Jeff Zentner can still improve even though it is already pretty good. But the character development in this novel was close to perfection, as much as I hate to use the word "perfect" in any context, because whatever is perfect for you, might just as well be imperfect for others. For me, The Serpent King was perfect. 
 "So when I watch trains, it makes me think about how much movement there is in the world. How every train has dozens of cars and every car has hundreds of parts, and all those parts and cars work day after day. And then there are all these other motions. People are born and die. Seasons change. Rivers flow to the sea. Earth circles the sun and the moon circles Earth. Everything whirring and spinning toward something. And I get to be part of it for a little while, the way I get to watch a train for a minute or two, and then it's gone." 
 This book introduces three young adults coming of age in a gripping tale set in a rural small town in Forrestville, Tennessee. Dillard Early, Jr., a talented musician, is the son of almost fanatically religious parents, his father being a former pastor and now a convicted criminal. His mother blames him for the imprisonment of his father, and sharing the same name with his father and grandfather, both having earned a negative reputation in their town, doesn't improve matters for Dill. Lydia Blankenship feels as if she was born into the wrong hometown; because as much as she loves her parents (and is loved in return), she never felt welcome in Forrestville and rather seeks to discover huge, adventurous metropolises like New York City. Running a famous fashion blog with thousands of followers, Lydia finds comfort in the support of virtual friends. Travis Bohannon is a gentle and caring guy who doesn't exactly have the perfect body weight and who is obsessed with an epic fantasy series called Bloodfall, which Jeff Zentner manages to characterize so well that it almost feels like a series one would like to read too. Travis struggles with finding a place in his family, especially as his abusive father has turned into a notorious drunkard after Travis' older brother's death. 
 Those three teenagers couldn't be more different from each other, yet they develop a friendship which is closer than one could imagine. Those three different voices alternate with one another in changing POV chapters, always allowing for some refreshing viewpoints to be explored. In this novel, Jeff Zentner very much relies not on usual plot elements, but rather on developing the three major characters and letting them decide how the plot is going to continue. For most parts of the story, the reader gets to spend time with those characters and grow attached to them, yet even when Zentner chooses to revert to plot twists, it feels natural in a way which brings the story forward. 
 We have a fantasy fanboy, a social media celebrity and a criminal's son caught between tradition and the modern world - a motif which continues to be visible throughout the entire novel. Religion and music are explored in very surprising ways, just as the contrast between small-town life and urban pace plays heavily into the story. And let's not forget one very important aspect: Most Contemporary YA novels try to establish their hero(in)es as conflicted and real, I accept and respect that, but a lot of those characters sound roughly the same. Not so much with Dill, Lydia and Travis. I find myself unable to compare their voices to any other character in any other YA novel I have read so far, which only adds to my personal feeling that Jeff Zentner managed to create an extraordinary novel with extraordinary characters. In the beginning of the novel, Dill, Lydia and Travis were just some random teenagers yet another author attempted to write a story about, but in the end, those three people have turned into good friends. Of course they are fictional characters, but sometimes you just wish those fictional characters could be made of flesh and blood and living in your own hometown. 
 "What's funny is that I never set out to write a YA novel. What I really wanted to do was to write for young adults. And it happens that the best way to do that is by writing a YA novel. So that's what I did. I think that's such an amazing period of life, where you're basically as intelligent as an adult, but the world and experience haven't lost their newness. I remember the immediacy of feeling and wonder that accompanied those years of my life. There's a magic there. I also love the way that young adults experience art and cling to the pieces of art that they love. I wanted to create something that would (hopefully) be loved and clung to." 
 - Jeff Zentner, quoted from his FAQ on his author's website. 
 I would happily give this book ten stars if only Goodreads allowed me to. And finally, I want to thank Shelby for pointing this one out to me in the first place.