REVIEW: Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

Synopsis (from Dial Books):

Sixteen-year-old Solomon is agoraphobic. He hasn’t left the house in three years, which is fine by him.

Ambitious Lisa desperately wants to get into the second-best psychology program for college (she’s being realistic). But is ambition alone enough to get her in?

Enter Lisa.

Determined to “fix” Sol, Lisa steps into his world, along with her charming boyfriend, Clark, and soon the three form an unexpected bond. But, as Lisa learns more about Sol and he and Clark grow closer and closer, the walls they’ve built around themselves start to collapse and their friendships threaten to do the same.

Review:

3/5 stars 

This book first caught my eye because of the cover. The words "Highly Illogical Behavior" sounds like it should be the title of my autobiography. The cover art is weird enough that you can't help but want to know what it's about. Then once I read the synopsis and I knew I had to buy it. A book about a teenage agoraphobe? You don't come across those every day! Not to mention, the author, John Corey Whaley is a National Book Award Finalist and a winner of The Printz Award. This book fulfilled all the requirements for me to impulse buy it; it had cool cover, a unique synopsis, and a critically acclaimed author.

First off, I thought the author did a great job handling mental illness. Solomon, the agoraphobic main character, didn't magically get cured of his anxiety disorder by the end of the book but you feel hopeful that he can overcome his issues some day. 

I did get annoyed with Lisa, the teenage girl who wants to "fix" Solomon so she can write an essay about him that can get her into one of the top psychology degree programs in the country. In other words, she's using him. Doesn't she sound like the kind of person you would want to keep away from someone with mental health issues?

The story is told through the alternating dual perspectives of Solomon and Lisa. Reading the chapters told from Lisa's point of view explains why Lisa behaves the way that she does. Although it's not an excuse, I could understand where she was coming from. Plus, I suppose not every YA main character can be likeable.

Another issue I had was how much info dumping Whaley did at the beginning of the story. There were paragraphs and paragraphs explaining things we needed to know about Solomon and Lisa's personalities, families, and backstory in order to understand the ensuing plot. The author only does this for a few chapters and I think it works in the context of the story to do some info dumping. However, I think he could have done more showing and less telling with some of the details. 

One of the perks of reading a contemporary YA novel is that sometimes there's some life lessons you can take from it. Highly Illogical Behavior has a few gems in there that are pretty applicable to teenagers and people who are coming of age. 

Overall, I enjoyed reading this. If you've never read a mental health contemporary about agoraphobia I encourage you to check this one out and since it's 249 pages it only takes a few hours to read. It may not be your favorite book that you've ever read but it's worth picking up!