Page Count: 428
Published on: May 19th 2015
Published by: Greenwillow Books
Source: Purchased on a Half Price book adventure
Age Rating: TW sexual assault is briefly mentioned & domestic violence
Where to Find It: Amazon // Book Depository
My Rating: 4.75 stars
Goodreads 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.
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.
~~~
"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."
If you know me, you know that books that contain themes revolving around mental health hold a very special place in my heart. I believe, when written correctly, they are a window into the people who suffer from these illnesses every day. I believe it is a way for us to put ourselves in other people's shoes. With that being said, Made You Up has made its way to my top ten list of 2018. The book held me at its grasp and I was unable to put it down. The book takes you on a journey where you do not know what is real and what is not because of Alex's schizophrenia and paranoia. She may be the most unreliable narrator I've read. She is unable to trust herself; however, the way that the story unfolds held me captive until the very last page.
Our main characters world is filled with hallucinations, people, and noises that may or may not be really there. She takes pictures of the world around her knowing that reality will be there for her later in her photographs. She does perimeter checks of all the places she goes and she checks her food for poison.
This story also includes a romantic route, but surprisingly, I still fell in love with it even though romances are typically not my thing. This was not your typical romance. Their weird relationship was so interesting to follow because of the way that they interacted and attempted to understand each other. Their relationship had me hooked until the very end. I think the reason the relationship and love story didn't throw me off was because it was not your typical insta-love situation that usually drives me up a wall.
In the end, Alex is able to come to terms with her mental illness. She starts the book with schizophrenia and she ends the book with it. She is not cured but that's okay. Zappia didn't romanticise going off your meds either and making it seem like everything is a walk in the park as long as the character stays on them. Because its not. Zappia also did an amazing job of treating Alex like an actual human being. There have been to many books where authors take too much from their characters and make it seem that just because they are mentally ill they must be wrong or they must not be able to make their own decisions all the time. And as someone who has struggled with her own mental health issues, it was really refreshing to see her being treated like an actual human being and not dehumanized for circumstances that are out of her control.
The only reason this book did not get a complete five stars was because of the ending. There was so much build up and it fell flat leaving me wanting more. It is still an amazing book that I recommend checking out and it will be one that I re-read in the near future.
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