Ned VizziniReseñas

Most of it was well-done, but there were some major plot points that really didn't sit well with me.

1) Jennifer is a perfect example of how not to write a trans character. Trans women DO NOT want to "fool" you into having sex with them. Medical staff shouldn't out their trans patients (although God knows many of them probably do), and outing them isn't likely to produce a nonchalant laugh. It's an unbelievably shitty thing to do. Her name isn't "Jennifer/Charles," it's JENNIFER. And similarly, she's a SHE, not a "he/she/it." (Even if you don't agree with me, what kind of human being calls another human being "it"?)

2) When Craig maliciously tells Nia's boyfriend she's taking antidepressants, Vizzini treats it like you're supposed to be cheering for Craig as he alienates people who are not good for him. Er... no. That's a nasty, manipulative, and just plain shitty thing to do to a person. From then on the text treats Nia with total disdain, which is also weird and feels icky.

Other than that? Cute, ridiculously indie, with a few nicely written bits and a few cliche ones. I'm curious if the movie will be better or worse. I really hope they cut the Jennifer bit, because it's unlikely to get better in the retelling.

Recommended: NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
This book was insulting to women for the way they are treated and viewed, and insulting to men for the idiotic and disgusting way they are portrayed as acting. I believe "vile" or "foul" would be a great way to sum this book up.

Beyond the outright misogyny and objectification here, it was genuinely idiotic. The magic liquid needed is Mountain Dew? Was this written by a horny fourteen year old? Because that is exactly what it felt like. This seems like something a lonely, horny fourteen year old boy might write.

The fact that it gets praise and has been adapted into a musical is vaguely terrifying to me. I don't understand if those reading this are just also misogynistic idiots, and so love it because it reflects them, or if they are somehow desperately blind to that entirely, which is possibly worse.

For an adult, this is just OK. It's fun but I had to force myself to finish it.

For a kid, I think it would be awesome! There is more action in this book than in a summer blockbuster movie! Pirates, giants, skeletons, mid evil soldiers, witches and warlocks...I'm sure I'm leaving some things out.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cto51OhLGM0/

Ned Vizzini - It’s Kind of a Funny Story: Immensely talented writer, and his death leaves me feeling rather conflicted about this book. #cursorybookreviews #cursoryreviews½

I picked up this book because it was a monthly selection at our library, and I just grabbed it off a table in the front. It wasn't until I was halfway through that I realized I had already seen the movie (yeah, I know... that's kind of pathetic!). The story was really not funny at all (I didn't necessarily expect it to be). The beginning of the story left me with such angst, though it did end on a hopeful note. It probably didn't help that I learned 3/4 of the way through that the author of this "semi-autobiographical" book had just killed himself. Some of the scenes in the hospital were enlightening/eye-opening to read. In some ways, I was reminded of _A Million Little Pieces_ as I read these parts. Maybe 2.5 stars.

Quick read. It was ok, takes place in 2004 however, Siri & Alexa weren’t around then, right? The lesson learned is to be careful with technology. It may help you with some things, but not with the heart. That’s why we have free will. Technology cannot determine who will be the person you will end up with. I’d be interested in reading the original book. The illustrations were good, the colors discerning between Jeremy & the Squib.

Loved the action, adventure, and fast-moving pace of this book. However, the characters were rather stereotypical and the plot cliched. Still, I'd read book two to see where the reader is transported next :)

I like the concept of the book - uncool high school boy eats (installs?) computer chip which teaches him how to be cool.

Had trouble connecting with the characters which did some unlikable stuff throughout the book. And maybe it's just an editing part ...but I hated the f__k__ up way that they edited out the adult words.

This book helped me put a lot of things in perspective for me during a rather difficult time personally. I read it on a whim and was not despointed in the slightness. I will always recommend reading it to anyone who wants to understand how it feels to struggle with deep chronic depression.

This author really nailed the idea of mental illness and depression and how it can happen to people who - on the surface - have such easy lives. I loved his descriptions of Tentacles and Anchors. It all felt very real. I wish I had read this in high school, it might have helped me out of my own darkness. Great read.

This book was too long. That really was my main problem with it. What the author wrote in the first 200 pages could have easily been condensed into about 50, 70 pages tops. I almost gave up. I actually did stop twice, but my friend who recommended it to me kept asking how I liked it and I got bored so I picked it up again. I'm glad I did because it did in fact get better once Craig actually gets into the mental hospital.

Don't be fooled, while its a relatively good novel this is a sort of typical teen angst novel. It first i just thought Craig was a pussy. There really was nothing wrong with the kid, he was just depressed and stressed out because of his fancy school. I get it, depression just happens, I am not trying to belittle it, but in Craig's specific case I kinda just wanted to say "fucking be a man, tell your parents the school is too much and switch to a normal one. You're fine, chill the fuck out."

At other times I liked him, I felt his depression, and it felt valid. And I understood him and what he was going through.

I liked the characters, I liked that it was not a happy little well I'm all better now! kind of thing. It ended realistically. Craig, while at times annoying, was a good character, so were the others in the hospital. I also really liked the parents, which in teen novels is pretty rare.

All in all, I am glad I read it, and I saw the movie and enjoyed that too, but its not one I will read again. And I doubt I'll pick up any of the other books by the author.

The afterword mentions that Vizzini wrote this when he was a teenager, which makes sense: the emotions and interactions and confusions feel incredibly real, but it doesn't quite live up to it's potential. It feels thin and underdeveloped, and the ending is unsatisfying (the fact that Rich went literally insane because of his Squip isn't mentioned again, even though that's a HUGE concern! And the squip just decides to deactivate itself rather than try to force the host to buy a new version? And there's no accountability for Jeremy because he just writes a letter?).

This book is gonna teach me a lesson about grabbing a book on display in the library without looking it up. Text on the front reads New York Times best-selling author, text on the back says inspired a Tony Nominated Broadway Musical. I generally enjoy coming of age stories, and I loved “Fun Home” by Alison Bechdel. Let it be known, just because the general accolades are the same, the substance is far from the same.

First mistake – I missed that this graphic novel is an adaptation from a book. That’s a warning sign. Always go for the source.
Second mistake – Believing all the hype on the front and back covers.
Third mistake – Should have browsed through the artwork a bit more and decide if I like the style. (Not really)

Ultimately, the worst is the book’s premise that a person can pop a pill that will then tell the person how to “be more chill”, i.e. be popular, be accepted, to date the hot chicks, etc. Insert ‘eye roll’. The science in me rebels against such a theme. Plot is something like dumb stuff, stupid move, are-you-for-real, why-would-you-believe-that, and close with why-would-that-fix-everything. My mockery is now complete. For a moment there, I thought, “Did I age out of the ‘coming of age’ genre?” Then I watched “Sex Education” on Netflix and laughed my head off. Nope, I did not. The book is just that stupid.

So why not a much lower star rating? Because they tried to address teen angst and teen depression. That stuff is no joke, and books need to continue to address them, even if I don’t agree with the approach.

From the library½

For me, the best mark of a fantasy book is whether I’d want to live in the world.

It began with Narnia, as it almost always does. Who wouldn't want to adventure in a world where nothing ever seems to go *super* wrong, and even if you're responsible for the death of the creator of the world you still win the consolation prize of being the freaking King.

It's a bit easy, though, isn't it? That's why with books that were clear descendants of Narnia but had more bits of realism stuck in the way (to a point), like The Phantom Tollbooth or, more recently, The Magicians. Obviously Tollbooth isn't quite realism, but the consequences seemed much more logical and directly resulting from the character's actions more than the "Well, you tried your best" aesthetic employed by Aslan.

This is all by way of explaining my ambivalence toward The Other Normals. It's a nice idea but I feel like it's been much better and to better effect elsewhere. It's a pretty standard postmodern fantasy draw-in: Boy obsessed with a particular media series (in this case, a D&D stand-in) gets magically whisked away to the world that media was based on, goes on quests, etc. Only this one involves a lot more "intentional indecent exposure at a high school dance" than the Pevensies ever dealt with.

I had troubles with the narrator. On the one hand you can say he was more realistic because of his many flaws, but his actions seemed more random and spastic than indications of character facets to be overcome. The mystical connection between the worlds, which serves to alter events and realities, only seemed to work when absolutely necessary and seemed woefully inadequate to explain what actually happened.

I don't want to seem too negative — it's a nice introduction to fantasy, particularly the kind of fantasy that seems more real because kids like you can get drawn into it, and probably would serve as a good bridge for the tween/teen who's familiar with Narnia but not really ready for Lev Grossman's The Magicians Trilogy. For the rest of us, though, there are better places to get the same fix.

David Levithan takes a chainsaw to the most offensive sexist crap from the awful novel and sands off sharp corners to deliver a thin and bland, PG or PG-13 adaptation that is probably intended to appeal to fans of the musical (though it keeps the book's original ending). Frankly, I wish I had just stuck to listening to the album and not bothered with any of the books.

I've been listening to the Be More Chill original musical cast recording and enjoying the sound of the music while not necessarily understanding all the words yet. (Living with me is a hellish experience of hearing songs sung with the lyrics I think I heard or improving the lyrics to what I think they should be.) Since I probably won't have a chance to see the actual show for quite a while yet, I thought I'd read the original book to help me understand the plot. Also, there's a graphic novel adaptation I want to read next.

So, yeah, this book is sexist crap. A nerdy, lustful teen boy swallows a mind-reading micro quantum computer to teach him to become a cool womanizer. This plot was old when Jerry Lewis swallowed a serum to become Buddy Love. It's Cyrano de Bergerac tossing his heart and wandering into John Hughes' Weird Science.

For a bit of shock value, Keanu Reeves and Eminem are referenced in bizarre ways.

From what I can glean from my first listen of the album, the plot of the musical was tweaked in several ways. I'm going to read the CD booklet to find out exactly what I've not been hearing. Regardless, some of the songs are catchy, and I can always fix them when I sing along in the future.

Was so freaked out by the idea that the author would eventually succumb to his illness and commit suicide, I skimmed. Couldn't read it linearly. Reviewers at the time found it 'uplifting' and it appears on lots of recommended for teens lists. But the opening chapters, which take place after the protagonist of the book has been released from the hospital, clearly show the author's struggle to function.½

For a story about teenage depression and suicide this novel is quite like the title says; it's kind of a funny story. The protagonis is brutally honest in telling his own story, which gives the whole narrative a believable tone. Not all cases on teenagers who want to kill themselves are wrapped up quite this easily, but it seems to be aimed at giving hope to those who suffer from mental illness through the carefully hidden "steps" to recovery/management. What the novel assumes though - in a rather unrealistic way - is that people who suffer from depression would be able to initiate the recovery process. Not being able to reach out (even through removed mediums such as the internet or phone) is a dominant theme in depression from what I understand, so it would have been slightly more realistic to have built this theme in as well.

A couple of years ago, my daughter read Ned Vizzini's "It's Kind of a Funny Story" in school, and enjoyed it immensely. Although it didn't sound like my kind of reading, this book did, so with her recommendation of him as a good writer, I thought I would give it a try. She was right; he's an excellent writer.

About halfway through, I began to worry that the author (knowing, as I did, that he was more a mainstream writer) was going to cop out at the end of the book and play the "it was all a dream" card, or something similar. I should not have doubted him! The end was wonderful and stayed true to the promises the book made all the way through.

Fun, engaging, and fast-paced. Highly recommended for YA readers and anyone who lived through being an "other" at school. ;)

Such a good book about mental health issues and a great read for an independent study in a classroom library

An enjoyable read about a part of life that most YA readers will hopefully never have to experience.

As someone who has dealt with depression for years, Vizzini's descriptions of the feelings attached to mental illness and Craig's fears and concerns really hit home for me. I enjoyed and appreciated seeing how realistically things like talk therapy and psychopharmacology were handled.

What took this away from being a four- or five-star book, however, was the ending. Everything seemed to fit together so neatly and so well; Craig gets the girl, makes friends with everyone there, manages to change everyone's life, and regain his will to live all in five days. It felt forced, and somewhat cliched.

All in all, though, still a good read on a tough subject. Recommended!

This book teaches you to treat people like shit, do drugs, steal from your parents, and suck on infected nipples.

A teen dork gets a computer in his head that tells him what to do and how to be cool. Kind of like “Upgrade” without the body control or “Venom” without the symbiote. The computer is a huge asshole, which is pretty much what I expected. Its only purpose is to get our hero to climb the social ladder, with no regard for the little people or whose feelings get hurt along the way. You’ve seen this in sitcoms all the time. It’s like “pick-up artistry for kids”.

All girls are sluts, all guys are horndogs, all adults are useless. Even the dad calls everything “gay”. Aren’t we passed that already? I can’t believe this book got so many awards for being “realistic teen fiction”. There are way more parties and drugs than there should be. All this book does is encourage the “I have to dress the way everyone does, I have to talk the way everyone does” groupthink mentality that turns everyone into Abercrombie zombies.

The worst part is the ending. I can’t talk about it without spoiling so stop reading this paragraph. The computer advises him to break character in the middle of the play, a play that’s been going on since the beginning of the novel, and announce his love for this girl he’s been pining for all the time (basically the high school equivalent of a marriage proposal). Also this takes place a day after two students were burned in a house fire. And the computer thinks it’s a good idea to, at this exact time, announce himself to everyone in the audience and take all the attention away from grief for the burn victims, the people who’ve been working on the play, the audience who came to see it, and make it all about him. It’s the dumbest plot point I ever saw. No one in their right mind would advise that kind of move. ELIZA has more intelligence than that.

I don’t think the author hates women, but he doesn’t know how to write women. All he knows is what he thought women were in high school, or what is gleaned from “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Sixteen Candles“. Checkout “Booksmart” for a better example of nerds trying to party that isn’t so misogynistic. This is what we talk about when we say “the author’s responsibility”.

Depressed high school freshman Craig Gilmer checks himself in to the local psychiatric facility for a short stay and implausibly gets put into a very unstructured program on the adult floor. There he meets a variety of colorful characters and seems to forget he is depressed. In five days everything turns around for him.

This book got a lot of publicity when its author committed suicide after its publication. As sad as that was, I don’t think this book lives up to the hype as either a profound portrait of depression or a realistic depiction of psychiatric hospitalization.

Nothing substantial really happened to the main character even after getting the squip? I mean a few characters were nicer to him but the biggest turning point was him embarrassing himself at the play. I was surprised at the lack of thrust the introduction of the squip had on the narrative

A fascinating insight into mental illness and what can and cannot help. A lovely realistic story.