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A review by liftyourheavyeyelids
Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley
5.0
4.5 Stars
Solomon Reed hasn't been outside since he was 12 due to panic attacks. Staying inside makes things better for him, so that he is able to function. One day, a girl he went to junior high with writes him a letter asking if she can visit. What Sol doesn't know, however, is that she wants to use him and his mental illness to write her college entrance essay.
This book seemed odd to me at first. It felt very fast paced in the first 50 pages, and I thought it was going to be a cliché story about how a girl "cures" a mentally ill boy because they fall in love. But when it was revealed that Sol is gay, I started to see a bit of myself in Lisa, Sol, and Clark...and then I couldn't put the book down. The part that really got me was on page 83 of the hardcover edition because it is the first time I've read a character's experiences with realizing their sexuality that mirrored my own experience, including the part about not telling anyone because it is a "nonissue". In a way, I think this one page is making me reconsider myself a bit, because it makes me wonder if Sol's anxiety stems a bit from not coming out.
The one thing I didn't care for was that it seemed a bit queer-baitey at the end. I really wanted Sol to end up with Clark and have it be happily ever after. However, when I finished it and started thinking a bit I realized that in a way, them not ending up together IS a happy ending. It shows that things will be ok if your love is unrequited. It is especially important that it is a queer character's unrequited love, because it hits harder, I think. There are less queer people in the world, so it is harder to find love, making it a bigger deal when love is unrequited. I'm not saying it is easy for straight people to deal with unrequited love, but in the end there ARE more fish in the sea for them, so to speak.
Overall well written, an enjoyable read.
Solomon Reed hasn't been outside since he was 12 due to panic attacks. Staying inside makes things better for him, so that he is able to function. One day, a girl he went to junior high with writes him a letter asking if she can visit. What Sol doesn't know, however, is that she wants to use him and his mental illness to write her college entrance essay.
Spoiler
This book seemed odd to me at first. It felt very fast paced in the first 50 pages, and I thought it was going to be a cliché story about how a girl "cures" a mentally ill boy because they fall in love. But when it was revealed that Sol is gay, I started to see a bit of myself in Lisa, Sol, and Clark...and then I couldn't put the book down. The part that really got me was on page 83 of the hardcover edition because it is the first time I've read a character's experiences with realizing their sexuality that mirrored my own experience, including the part about not telling anyone because it is a "nonissue". In a way, I think this one page is making me reconsider myself a bit, because it makes me wonder if Sol's anxiety stems a bit from not coming out.
The one thing I didn't care for was that it seemed a bit queer-baitey at the end. I really wanted Sol to end up with Clark and have it be happily ever after. However, when I finished it and started thinking a bit I realized that in a way, them not ending up together IS a happy ending. It shows that things will be ok if your love is unrequited. It is especially important that it is a queer character's unrequited love, because it hits harder, I think. There are less queer people in the world, so it is harder to find love, making it a bigger deal when love is unrequited. I'm not saying it is easy for straight people to deal with unrequited love, but in the end there ARE more fish in the sea for them, so to speak.
Overall well written, an enjoyable read.