A review by celevstial
Crazy Lady! by Jane Leslie Conly

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

for a while crazy lady! was looking like a 4 or 4.5 star read for me. i was pleasantly surprised at how heavy and deep some of the topics were, i was really invested in the characters, both main and side ones, and i felt like there was the perfect balance of tension and wholesomeness to keep the story going. then the last 30 or so pages rolled around and sort of tanked everything. 

while i understand that the author was probably going for a more realistic, not-so-neat-and-tidy ending, it seemed open in all the wrong ways. it felt rushed and incomplete, and i didn’t really feel much of a sense of security about any of the characters’ futures or what i had just read. i checked my copy to make sure that the last sentence was actually the last sentence and the book wasn’t missing pages, lol.

aside from that, the book was great! i kept wondering why it wasn’t more of a modern classic (although some aspects were definitely outdated), and i felt like i could learn about vernon, ronald, and especially maxine forever. the setting was fantastic, i was able to picture everything so vividly, and it all felt very real. even though i’m not a fan of the ending, crazy lady! grabbed my attention and didn’t let go.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings