Author: Francesca Zappia
Series: Standalone
Edition: Kindle
Publication: May 19th 2015 by Greenwillow Books
Source: eARC provided by the publisher via Edelweiss
Pages: 448
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Mental Health, Contemporary
Synopsis:
Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. This is a compelling and provoking literary debut that will appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Silver Linings Playbook and Liar.
Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? Before she knows it, Alex is making friends, going to parties, falling in love, and experiencing all the usual rites of passage for teenagers. But Alex is used to being crazy. She’s not prepared for normal.
Funny, provoking, and ultimately moving, this debut novel featuring the quintessential unreliable narrator will have readers turning the pages and trying to figure out what is real and what is made up.
PURCHASE THE BOOK HERE:
Noooooo this did not happen in one paragraph 😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/AzZki1CKrF— Kate Mason-McNulty ▲ (@BookishBlurber) December 26, 2016
On to the nice things. This book took me by surprise I couldn't make up my mind if this isn't really paranormal or what because daaaaaaamn it felt like it and I felt I was being haunted the whole time.
Made You Up is definitely the first book I read focusing on schizophrenia. Damn, this is scary af. Scary in a horror/ghost-ish way and accurately dangerous (in a way that dangers the schizophrenic's life). Alex let us see how her mind works and I adore her strength and courage to fight her illness. She tries so hard to distinguish what's real and what is not though sometimes, it's really hard. I mean, fuck her fucked up parent but Alex is so strong to face this on her own. Even though photos still betray her grasp of reality, her effort in taking photos just to be sure of real things is something so striking. I wouldn't be able to handle it as gracefully as she did if it were me.
I jumped into this book knowing absolutely nothing so I initially thought it was paranormal. SERIOUSLY. A lot of aspects of it speak paranormal. I thought Miles was some sort of an immortal or something but then Alex let me in to her head so I understood. At the end of the book, I thought it would all be in Alex's head - like I though she had imagined everything - the Inception-ish vibe is such a strong game in this story. Schizophrenia blends well with reality you couldn't identify which is which and that made me scared and amused all at the same time. Example? Charlie. FUCK THAT. AS IN FUCK THAT, IT BROKE ME. There is no part of this book I find light, for me and for the way it made me react, it's all heavy on the heart and in the mind.
Made You Up is such an intense read there is no way to put it down. Mind-boggling and hypnotic, this debut novel is worth picking up!
Thank you HarperCollins International for the eARC!
"Intelligence is not measured by how much you know, but by how much you have the capacity to learn."
"I didn't have the luxury of taking reality for granted. And I wouldn't say I hated people who did, because that's just about everyone. I didn't hate them. They didn't live in my world. But that never stopped me from wishing I lived in theirs."
No comments:
Post a Comment