The Rule of Won by Stefan Petrucha

Caleb Dunne is a slacker and proud of it. His goal in life is to float through it. It is only reluctantly that he agrees to join a club based on the popular but controversial book that promises anyone can get whatever they wish for, The Rule of Won, and even when he does, it’s only an attempt to get back into his girlfriend Vicky’s good graces. But the Rule starts to grow on him, and the rest of the school, as he reads it and sees “proof.” Unfortunately, the more popular the book and the blub become, the more fanatical and dangerous its members prove to be. Caleb’s doubt about the validity of the Rule’s results only increase with time, but few others are willing to believe it’s all a fraud. But what can one slacker do? Caleb realizes he’ll have to stop floating and actually make an effort if he’s going to stop the Rule—before it goes too far.

The Rule of Won is both a hilarious and thought-provoking novel I immensely enjoyed. Caleb’s character was interesting and realistic. His slacker persona wasn’t too stereotyped, as his girlfriend’s overachiever one was, thankfully, otherwise there wouldn’t be much of a story. Even when he was giving into his slacker tendencies, he was remarkably insightful. Caleb’s integrity was inspiring, as was his dedication once he decided to take a stand. The inspirational book sharing its title with this novel provided a lot of food for thought. No one can deny the importance of positive thinking, but personally, I find it doubtful that people can get absolutely anything they want just by thinking about it. The Rule of Won realistically portrays both the positive and negative effects of mass conversion to the same school of thought; on one hand, positive results are always good, but things will go wrong when selfishness and greed reign and things get out of hand. With a humorous and unique plot with an interesting though puzzling ending, The Rule of Won made for an easy and satisfying read.

The Rule of Won is the perfect novel for the skeptics and sarcastic. People of all ages, whether readers or not, will appreciate this novel’s relevancy to the world today.

Rating: 4.0

Review copy from author Stefan Petrucha