Made You Up

I start 2017 with a review of a book that’s been on my Kindle for a few months. Because I have a Goodreads account, I get periodic notifications when there are special deals on the books on my to-read list. When I got that notification, I immediately snagged myself a digital copy. I’ve wanted to check this book out ever since I learned of it. A YA contemporary about a girl trying to navigate senior year at a new high school and dealing with schizophrenia? What’s not to be intrigued about there? I could use a story with a good unreliable narrator, so here we go.Narrator Alex starts the story ten years earlier, with an adorable anecdote about wanting to set lobsters free from a supermarket tank. I smirked, thinking about many times my daughters said hello to the lobsters at such tanks. While there, she encounters a little boy with big blue eyes, but he disappears. Since the way Alex tells the story versus how her mother recalls it is very different, we’re left to question what is real. And that’s the way Alex lives her life.She had to leave a school after her junior year for—without giving away too much detail—defacing school property to express her paranoia. The present-day part of the story takes place at the start of her senior year at another school. Due to her outsider status and her naturally ketchup red hair, she’s already an outcast as soon as she arrives. Or maybe that’s her own paranoia; she does “perimeter checks” to make sure there aren’t any shady characters out to get her, and she takes photos of people to verify later whether they were really there or not.Because of the incident at her previous school, she’s required to perform community service, which takes the form of an after-school athletic support club, who is responsible for setting up the gym and/or fields for school sports practices and games. This group is led by valedictorian-to-be Miles Richter, who has quite the imposing reputation in school somewhat for his intelligence but more so for the mafia-like “jobs” he gets paid to do by students on other students.The plot of the book occurs over the full span of senior year, and it contains with the usual things you’d expect to find in a high school. There’s a big, buff, bully guy. He’s dating the attractive popular girl that other boys lust for. There’s also a bitchy cheerleader not living up to her mother’s standards. There’s a battle—academically, socially, and romantically (as two corners in a well-drawn love triangle kind of thing)—between the top two kids in the class. Some of it’s predictable, but most of it isn’t. It was definitely enjoyable, but nothing really wowed me. And then there’s the school principal’s bizarre obsession with the gymnasium scoreboard, but I’ll save that for you to experience.I don’t know if this book correctly portrays people with schizophrenia. I’m not a mental health specialist, and I only know what I know on the topic based on my own research and/or learning from other sources. Someone more versed on the subject—or experiencing the affliction—will have a better handle on the accuracy, kind of the same way I read books and watch TV shows and movies set in high schools that don’t portray teachers correctly. Or the way my father used to gripe at shows set in Boston about not being able to get from one location to another that quickly.I’m digressing.I can only judge Alex’s schizophrenia within the confines of the story. At times it felt like a real facet of a real character, but at other times, it felt more like a plot device. The titular thing/person that Alex made up didn’t come as much of a surprise to me as I think the author intended. Some of the others that were revealed were better hidden. But in those cases, it was more exciting to watch Alex discovering what was/wasn’t real than it wasDon’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Alex as a narrator—she’s smart, sarcastic, sensitive, stubborn, and seriously wanting to do the right thing. The supporting cast is quirky and charming, and what I took most from this book isn’t a lesson about schizophrenia, but a lesson in human nature. We’re all battling with something (most of the characters in this book are), and we need to understand that about people when interacting with them. And if we truly care about those people, we need to support them.Made You Up is an enjoyable read with a protagonist that’s worth supporting because she deals with her affliction with caution and bravery. I’m not making it up when I say it deserves FOUR STARS.

Could you imagine wondering if what you were seeing or perceiving was real? That was a challenge Alex faced on a daily basis. Add to that, the desire for all the things average teens want - college, friends, an after school job, and you can see that Alex didn't have it easy. Made You Up was an interesting and thought provoking look at one young schizophrenics life, which I really enjoyed.I have a relative, who is schizophrenic, and it can be a very difficult disorder to manage. I thought Zappia did a nice job conveying that challenge in this story. There was medication to keep her symptoms at bay, therapy to help her cope with those the medication could not curb, and the disequilibrium of constantly having to wonder if something was real or a delusion/hallucination. These were all things that Alex had to work around on a daily basis, and I appreciated that she dealt with all these things, while still trying to reach her goals of college.I loved Alex, and I was so elated, when she found her tribe. Zappia assembled an interesting group to support her in her new school. This merry band of misfits showed their friendship many times during this story, and I was so glad Alex's punishment brought them into her orbit. I was even more happy, that it reunited her with Miles.Miles was a really complicated character, who I couldn't help but love. He had many things in his life, that were working against him. He had a mission to "rescue" his mother and escape his father, and he was willing to go to great lengths to make this happen. He was wounded, but kept on going, regardless. His fortitude was overlooked by many, but not Alex. It was something they both had in common, even if they didn't recognize it in themselves.But, what they really had in common with each other was a love for history. Miles loved to play a sort of twenty questions game, where he would challenge someone to make him guess a mystery person's identity via yes or no questions. I think it was love at first game for Alex, when she played with Miles. The surprise and admiration he elicited from her was precious, and I saw he valued her intelligence as well. This admiration turned to friendship, and once trust between them was established, it took a romantic turn, which I really was happy about.Alex took the unreliable narrator role to a new level for me. There were many times I wasn't sure what was real and what was delusion, but there were a few reveals that left me reeling. One of them actually made me cry. I swear, it broke my heart, and it brought out the idea of what responsibilities the loved ones of a schizophrenic have to them.I won't lie about the ending either. I would love a little follow up there, because I honestly was questioning what was reality and what was fantasy. So, kudos to Zappia, for planting so much doubt in my mind.Overall: I was extremely happy I had the chance to meet Alex, and I thought that Zappia did a wonderful job helping me understand her and bringing me into her world via a story, that was difficult at times, but also funny, joyful, and smile inducing.

After initially reading this book I did give a higher rating before downgrading it as a result of doing some research about schizophrenia. Whilst the book is an easy read I felt that there were several issues with the portrayal of the mental illness and the two main plot twists.Alex is a seventeen-year-old senior with paranoid schizophrenia in high school who has just arrived at a new school after being kicked out of her old school after having an “episode” where she spray painted the gym floor as a result of her delusions that the communists are out to get her. Alex now has a chance to make a fresh start where no one knows her history.Alex’s symptoms have been present since she was seven, which in reality is extremely rare – but not impossible which results in her schizophrenia diagnosis. However, at the time this book was written (2015) the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental disorders (DSM-5) which was published in 2013 had dropped the paranoid classification as all schizophrenia has an aspect of paranoia.The description of Alex’s symptoms seems to glamourise the impact that schizophrenia has on the person with the condition. A lot of focus is placed on the aspects of delusions and hallucinations but I believe it fails to describe the true impact that they would have on an individual. There is an issue where the author confuses delusions and hallucinations which is extremely disappointing.I also felt that the two plot twists that occur are extremely unsettling. Her parents appear to be supportive of their daughter, however, due to their own issues they continue to perpetuate one of Alex’s hallucinations which would then make it more difficult for anyone to notice if her symptoms were increasing.The second issue is Alex’s belief that there is something going on between the School Principal and the horrible cheerleader (which unfortunately turns out to be true) and I think would have been better served as an illustration of the impact of delusions on the individual’s reality.It is fantastic that a book with a young adult protagonist is dealing with such an important mental health topic but I don’t feel that this book provides any kind of an accurate portrayal.

This was recommended to me a while back. It’s been sitting on my shelf for ages. It’s not the usual kind of writing I enjoy however, because it was recommended over Mental Health week some time ago (which I’m a supporter of) I bought it.I am slowly trying to get to my own purchased books bit by bit and decided to choose this one.Like a lot of clinical psychotic mental health illnesses it edges on hallucinations, paranoia, grandious ideas and more.schizophrenia is of no exception and we see this in the main character.It was interesting how the author wrote this book as it’s not as straight forward as I would have thought.I didn’t know what was fact sometimes and what was her hallucinations, that kept me interested.The love interest made it even more overwhelming and decidedly complicated with someone with such an illness.Medication may keep the psychosis at bay, the break through may be short or horrendously inhibiting.What a very good read once I got the angle of the way the author writes.

This book was amazing. From start until finish I was sucked up by the life of Alex. The words flew off the page and created a story in my mind that was both, enticing and sad. Not knowing what is real and what isn't, was encaptured by the perfect pot twists and perfectly timed moments.I read the book in a night, once finished I sat there and thought about the plot and realized despite knowing what happened, I wanted to read it all over again.

This book is so good that I didn't want to put it down. I kept going angry going until I was at the end and I love books like that.The fact that this book is written in first person makes it even more amazing, because it allows you to wonder if what is happening is actually real or not; it causes you to question literally everything.I can't get over this book. Amazing. Definitely worth the read. You won't regret it.

Just finished reading this book to my best friend, since we are long-distance, and we enjoy talking to each other and sharing the things we love. Just become my favourite book, can’t explain how much I love it, and how informative it is about Schizophrenia, especially in the fictional formatting.