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fantasynovel's review against another edition
4.0
Since I don't have paranoid schizophrenia, I can't speak to the accuracy of this book. Some rudimentary googling told me that some people with schizophrenia found this to be a good representation, but I'm not going to say that this was a good representation when I don't have the authority to say. That said, I really like the way Zappia treats mental illness. She doesn't stigmatize it, and she writes about Alex's life with depth and humor. The mystery was weak and a little confusion, and the ending felt rushed, but overall it was a pretty enjoyable read.
jen_the_librarian13's review against another edition
4.0
This book started kind of slow, I nearly stopped reading it. However, a co-worker said "NO! The end is the best part!" So I plugged ahead until suddenly I hit the last 150 pages and I was simply thrown for a loop and hooked. By the end there were times I wanted to throw the book because I was so frustrated trying to figure out what was real and what isn't. I suppose that means the author did a good job considering the main character has schizophrenia, what I thought was real wasn't and vice versa. I literally had to sit down and be like "wait...is this real?" which is exactly what she does in the book.
tishywishy's review against another edition
5.0
Alexandria, Alex for short, has schizophrenia, she's in her last year of high school and she's met a boy. Because Alex needs to document her environment and is uncertain about what is real or simply a product of her imagination, I essentially read each paragraph like this...
It was easy to understand how confused, scared, and upset Alex was being a teenager, trying to fit in, and doing her best not to reach a critical point in her diagnosis. I've never read a book, and more specifically a YA book, where the main character has schizophrenia, a diagnosis which, sadly, is often seen as "crazy' and Alex is very very very aware of that and tries her best to be as "normal" as she could be. I really enjoyed this book and hope that I can find more YA novels with main characters who try to navigate spaces with their diagnosis (whatever they may be).
It was easy to understand how confused, scared, and upset Alex was being a teenager, trying to fit in, and doing her best not to reach a critical point in her diagnosis. I've never read a book, and more specifically a YA book, where the main character has schizophrenia, a diagnosis which, sadly, is often seen as "crazy' and Alex is very very very aware of that and tries her best to be as "normal" as she could be. I really enjoyed this book and hope that I can find more YA novels with main characters who try to navigate spaces with their diagnosis (whatever they may be).
bookdevouringmisfit's review against another edition
5.0
OMG I LOVE THIS SO MUCH <3 A hundred stars and hearts for this one. <3 <3 <3
jovanas_cloud's review against another edition
2.0
What you think is real in unreal and what is unreal is actually real. The detective/thriller part is was completely unnecessary, so that so it made me pissed because it sounded so silly. 8ball parts were boring and contributed nothing to the story. Also, at certain parts the author felt like using less words so there were random cuts where you're supposed to get some new and crucial information but instead you got a random cut and then mc telling us the so obvious information we were supposed to get from context clues. As a writer in such aspects you really shouldn't be cheap with words. The enemies to lovers wasn't really giving what it was supposed to give so the romance part felt really bland.
All in all, a lot of stuff was missing and a lot of work should have been put to make it better, but it's easy to read so you can finish it in a day or two.
All in all, a lot of stuff was missing and a lot of work should have been put to make it better, but it's easy to read so you can finish it in a day or two.
rachelps312's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
pri_t's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book. It was cute and I really enjoyed reading it. It made me smile .
henrijeticasuncokret's review against another edition
2.0
Overall, I am a fan of avantgarde stories, such as "Why we stole the car," which often portray people whom the neuronormative society deems "dysfunctional" or just plain "crazy." Unfortunately, Made you up heavily stigmatizes people with mental ilness. There are parts of the novel that seem overtly mean or just plain cruel. But, there isn't any attempt to give some depth to this cruelty- why were characters led to this point, i.e delve deeper into their mindset, etc. If you are looking for a genuinely better story, I highly recommend that you read "Why We stole the Car."
emilye3's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to this as an audiobook and I really enjoyed this story and getting to see through a schizophrenics perspective. I’ve never read a book with schizophrenia representation and I was glad to see this in a YA book. Alex is such a unique character and I loved getting to see how she saw the world and how she got through each day. The story was fast paced and easy to read the side characters were so interesting and overall I really enjoyed this book. I can’t wait to read more books by this author! So far the two novels I’ve read from her have been great! Highly recommend!