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.
I really, really liked this book! And I was so glad because so often in the past I've built a book up in my head to be absolutely amazeballs and then I've been sorely disappointed when it doesn't reinvent the wheel.
“My first-ever friend was a hallucination: a sparkling entry on my new resume as a crazy person."
Alex was the ultimate unreliable narrator - she literally couldn't tell the difference between her hallucinations and reality - but she was so funny and cool and keen to get on with her life. I loved her. I thought the portrayal of her illness was thought-provoking and although I've read reviews that claim it's not a terribly accurate representation of paranoid schizophrenia, I do feel that it shines an important light on a mental illness that can be horribly stigmatized.
The whole book was packed with broken, quirky characters - the triplets, Mr Gunthrie - and I loved Miles too - they were so MFEO, even though they're both such socially awkward characters.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. Definitely recommended.
4.5 stars