Blkosiner's Book Blog

Crazy deal with important and sensitive material, and as usual I think that Amy Reed writes about it with class, while still fleshing out the characters, making them realistic. This book is gritty at times, definitely keeping it real. One important thing that I didn't know before reading--Crazy is written in emails and instant messages. Honestly, I don't know if I would have picked it up if I knew that, but I would have missed out. It isn't like prose, which doesn't do it for me, but it is still a different experience than reading a novel written with narration. I think that something is lost when the emails are so detailed. I am not sure that the characters would have actually written emails like that. Parts of it felt authentic, but others seem like it is there just to give readers insight into what's happened. Connor is such a good friend, I wish that he were mine. There are times though that I wish he'd stood up for himself and stuck by it, rather than automatically apologizing and having to worry if Izzy has gotten mad enough to abandon their relationship. I really felt for Izzy, what she subjected herself to, and also what her illness did to her. I think that the mood swings and the descent into mental illness was well-written, and I could see where Connor would've written things off when he did, and why he was concerned. These characters were hard to pin down in that I wasn't sure if I liked or hated them. They made me feel though, so they did their job. I was never bored, and never wanted to put it down, even when I wanted to smack some sense into the characters, whether Izzy or Connor or Izzy's family. The end is like a train-wreck, I could see it coming, couldn't do anything to stop it, and couldn't look away. (Not saying the end is bad, just using the analogy. It was a beautifully written train wreck, lol)For more of my reviews, check out Blkosiner’s YA and Teen Book Blog: http://blkosiner.blogspot.com