Review: Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You – Todd Hasak-Lowy

Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You – Todd Hasak-Lowy

A heartfelt, humorous story of a teen boy’s impulsive road trip after the shock of his lifetime—told entirely in lists! 

Darren hasn't had an easy year. 

There was his parents’ divorce, which just so happened to come at the same time his older brother Nate left for college and his longtime best friend moved away. And of course there’s the whole not having a girlfriend thing. 

Then one Thursday morning Darren's dad shows up at his house at 6 a.m. with a glazed chocolate doughnut and a revelation that turns Darren’s world inside out. In full freakout mode, Darren, in a totally un-Darren move, ditches school to go visit Nate. Barely twenty-four hours at Nate’s school makes everything much better or much worse—Darren has no idea. It might somehow be both. All he knows for sure is that in addition to trying to figure out why none of his family members are who they used to be, he’s now obsessed with a strangely amazing girl who showed up out of nowhere but then totally disappeared. 

Told entirely in lists, Todd Hasak-Lowy's debut YA novel perfectly captures why having anything to do with anyone, including yourself, is: 

1. painful 2. unavoidable 3. ridiculously complicated 4. possibly, hopefully the right thing after all.

Review: Fifteen-year-old Darren is having trouble coping with his parents’ divorce and his brother going away to college. One day, while visiting his brother, Darren meets Zoey, a strange girl who changes his life. But, Zoey disappears before Darren can learn anything about her.

Since this novel is written entirely in lists, I thought it should be reviewed in lists.

5 Reasons that this Book is Awesome

1. It’s a story told in lists. How cool is that?

2. Darren is a fairly realistic teenager. He’s a little depressed, very average, not always likeable.

3. Darren’s brother is funny. Nate is my favorite character, even though he’s also not very likeable.

4. Darren’s father is loving and patient. I wish Darren was nicer to him.

5. The book is over 600 pages, but it doesn’t take very long to read. Because it’s written in lists.

5 Reasons that I Struggled to Finish this Book

1. It’s bloated. Many of the lists are pointless. They don’t advance the plot or develop the characters. Sometimes the lists even seem to hinder the storytelling.

2. The story is bland and lacks suspense. I had a hard time staying interested in the plot because there isn’t really a plot.

3. I didn’t love any of the characters. They’re okay, but not particularly memorable.

4. Why is this story told in lists? There has to be a reason. The author tries to give one at the end, but it’s not enough of a reason for me.

5. I didn’t completely understand Darren’s reactions to anything. Why is he so obsessed with Zoey? Why is he so angry at his father?

2 Additional Thoughts

1. The execution is interesting and original, but the story and characters aren’t.

2. I’m slightly disappointed.

The Sunday Post #18

The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, and share news.

On The Blog Last Week

• On Monday I reviewed Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley.
• On Tuesday I listed ten characters I didn’t click with.
• On Wednesday I reviewed The Silent Boy by Lois Lowry.
• On Thursday I wrapped up August.

On The Blog This Week

• On Monday I review Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You by Todd Hasak-Lowy.
• On Tuesday I list finished series that I haven’t finished yet.
• On Wednesday I review The Wrath & The Dawn by Renée Ahdieh.
• On Thursday I might discuss something. I’m so exhausted that I haven’t given it much thought yet.

In My Reading Life

I was so busy with school that I barely got any reading (or blogging) done. I finished The Wrath & The Dawn by Renée Ahdieh and started The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly by Stephanie Oakes.

In The Rest Of My Life

This week was brutal, so coming up with 5 things that made me happy was surprisingly difficult, but I did it:

1. Chinese take-out food. (Lol, #1 always seems to be food).
2. The dogs got baths. They smell slightly less horrendous now.
3. I might be going on a hiking trip to Death Valley next month.
4. The used bookstore. I traded some books for other books. That’s always awesome.
5. Re-watching Mean Girls. I love that movie.

I hope you had a great week. I’ll see you around the blogosphere!

August Wrap-Up

August Overview

Welcome to my August 2015 Wrap-Up. Last month, I read some books; totally redesigned the blog; stressed out about everything; and saw many, many snakes, including this one. He had to be relocated to a bucket and moved out of the yard so that the dogs wouldn’t mess with him.

Books I Read

Here are the 8 books I read in August. I’ll have a review up for the last one soon.

The Silver Linings Playbook – Matthew Quick

5 To 1 – Holly Bodger

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender – Leslye Walton

Places I Never Meant To Be: Original Stories by Censored Writers – Judy Blume (editor)

Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda – Becky Albertalli

Magonia – Maria Dahvana Headley

The Silent Boy – Lois Lowry

Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You – Todd Hasak-Lowy

I also finished my Goodreads reading challenge! My goal was to read 60 books this year. I accomplished that last month, so I upped the goal to 80. I know that some people are curious about my star ratings (because I don’t put them on the blog), so here they are.

Best Books of August

These are my top three favorite books I read in August. I read so many good books that it was hard to pick favorites.

3. The Silent Boy – Lois Lowry

2. Simon vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda – Becky Albertalli

1. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender – Leslye Walton

Most Popular Reviews

Here are the most-loved reviews I posted in August:

1. Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail – Cheryl Strayed

2. The Dark Tower Series Wrap-Up Review – Stephen King

3. The Silver Linings Playbook – Matthew Quick

Most Popular Posts

The most-viewed non-reviews:

1. Discussion: Following Back—Why I Do It (And Occasionally Wish I Didn’t)

2. July Wrap-Up

3. The Sunday Post #15 (In Which I Explain Why Everything Suddenly Looks Different)

Tentative September TBR

Here’s what I plan to read in September. Let me know if you’ve read any of these.

The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly – Stephanie Oakes

The Sound and the Fury – William Faulkner

The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman

The Enchanted – Rene Denefeld

Tilt – Ellen Hopkins

Reality Boy – A.S. King

White Dog Fell From The Sky – Eleanor Morse

Strange Things People Google

Cait @ Paper Fury does this thing where she lists the Google search results that bring up her blog. Some of them are hilarious. My blog also tracks Google keywords, but most of them are extraordinarily boring. For some reason, that wasn’t the case last month. I got a few odd ones, so I’m totally stealing Cait’s idea and posting them here.

“Spaldf University MFA.” I think you mean Spalding University MFA, but close enough.

“good things about homo sapiens.” Opposable thumbs? Consciousness? The ability to walk upright? Color vision? Not using feces-throwing as a communication method?

“Blog Content.” Yeah, I struggle in that department, too.

The strangest Google keywords I’ve ever gotten happened a few years ago. It was “Gay boys in captivity.” . . . Um . . . *awkward silence.*

All The Things

All The Things = 27 books.

I’m currently reading The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner.

Review: The Silent Boy – Lois Lowry

The Silent Boy – Lois Lowry

Precocious Katy Thatcher comes to realize what a gentle, silent boy did for his family. He meant to help, not harm. It didn’t turn out that way.

Review: One of the reasons that I hated reading as a child was because the books that I had access to were cutesy. They didn’t deal with real-life issues. I think I would have loved this book when I was a preteen. It’s definitely a mature and realistic middlegrade novel.

The Silent Boy is a historical fiction story set in the early 1900s. Nine-year-old Katy befriends a teenager, Jacob, who is unable to speak, make eye contact, or attend school. Everyone assumes that Jacob is stupid, but Katy knows that he’s just different. One night, something goes horribly wrong, and Jacob gets the blame. Only Katy understands that he didn’t mean to hurt anyone. He was just trying to help.

This book provides an unflinching look at how mentally disabled people used to be treated. Jacob probably has autism, but nobody knows that. The characters aren’t sure how to react to him and his unusual behaviors. I love that Katy tries so hard to empathize with Jacob. She treats him like a friend and wants to know what is going on inside his head.

I also really like the scenes of Katy with her family. I know that big happy families are fashionable in YA/MG literature right now, but I think the “happy family” scenes in books often feel forced and unrealistic. Katy’s relationships with her parents and the hired staff in her house are very natural. I especially like Katy’s strong bond with her father. He encourages her to be kind to Jacob and helps her understand his odd behaviors.

My biggest criticism of this book is its pacing. It’s extremely slow. Some young readers would probably get bored with it. All of the action happens in the last 20 pages. I wish the ending had happened much earlier and we got to see more of the aftermath.

This book does not have a happy ending because mentally disabled people were not treated well during this period of history, but I think this would be a great book for a parent and mature child to read together. It would provide a lot of topics for discussion.