Made You Up

I've always been a fan of psychological books, and this one has got to be one of my all time favorite YA books that fall under that category. There's just something about unreliable narrators that I really love.

Alex and Miles and everyone else were such likeable characters, and she definitely grew and changed as the story progressed.

What I really love about this book is how it intertwines external and internal factors, rather than focusing on just one. But it was done in a way where you could really put yourself in the main character's shoes and imagine what it had to be like to not be able to tell the difference between reality and fiction.

Throughout the entire story, there were moments where I would be so scared that a character that I had grown to love would actually just be a figment of Alex's imagination - which, when you think about it, is what this book is all about.

This was such a fantastic book, I don’t even know where to begin. I picked up Made You Up because of the cover, and honestly, the title. I’m a bit of a sucker for any book that has to do with imaginary friends, so it sounded promising to me. Then I wasn’t able to get an actual summary from the dust jacket, so I wasn’t entirely sure what sort of ride I was in for, but it sounded like it probably had to do with imaginary friends like I suspected, so I bit.

I definitely was not expecting the book to be such an in depth and real look at living with Schizophrenia, though! I get a little nervous with books that cover topics like that, because they can tend to fall into the trend of misrepresenting a mental illness because they think it adds “grittiness” to the book. That’s not the case with Zappia’s writing at all, however. The way this book is written is almost poetic, and she does such a job of fully immersing the readers in the protagonist’s head. It got to the point at the end of the book where I was so fully immersed that I couldn’t tell what of the plot was real and what wasn’t. That kind of immersion is just pure art.

Even better, the book takes some very satisfying twists and turns, and it left me with not just an amazing look into another person’s head, but also a full and rich story to go with it. I loved the little touch of wondering whether there was just a bit of paranormal involved or not, because in my experience, that’s exactly what dealing with mental illness is like.

A simply breathtaking debut from Zappia. Beautifully written, and also adds a much needed diverse outlook to our shelves. I can’t believe this is her first book, and I’ll be eagerly looking forward to what else she has in store for us!

When people think of disabilities, they tend to think of someone in a wheelchair, or someone so mentally handicapped they need a caretaker. They don't realize that there are many disabilities that are all but invisible, and that there are people who struggle with disorders and conditions that aren't obvious at first glance. Too often these people get written off as simply "crazy" or "psycho," and little effort is made to understand them. Fiction, while not perfect, is a good tool for exploring many of these disabilities, and can help us better empathize with those who suffer from unseen psychological disorders. And though I don't suffer from schizophrenia myself or know anyone who does, I found "Made You Up" to be a powerful, emotionally resonant book about one teen's struggle to survive in the face of her own incredible obstacles.

"Made You Up" follows Alex, a high school senior who lives every day trying to sort out what is real and what is hallucination. She's developed rituals to combat her paranoia, carries a camera to determine what's real and what's not, and keeps her head down as much as possible to survive in her new school. But her life is turned upside-down when she meets Miles -- a boy she swears she hallucinated almost ten years ago. Can Miles really be the boy she met by the lobster tank in the grocery store so many years ago? Is he real or just another delusion? And as she struggles to figure this out -- as well as unravel a mystery involving the school's scoreboard -- she finds her already-abnormal life swiftly unraveling. In Alex's world where even she isn't sure what's reality and what's fantasy, who and what can she trust?

This is Francesca Zappia's first novel, but you wouldn't know it from reading it. She gives Alex a sharply funny but deeply emotional voice, and her writing flows well, with just enough description to paint vivid mental pictures without cluttering up the story. And she deftly weaves the story to juggle multiple plots, no mean feat for a first-time author. Her characters are all flawed but believable, and though she falls into a bit of cliche with the typical jock bullies and catty cheerleaders, Alex's main rival in the book is made unexpectedly sympathetic.

Some reviewers have complained that the depiction of schizophrenia in this book isn't accurate. Not having studied the disorder at length, I can't agree or disagree with that statement. But Zappia has clearly given us a heroine who is struggling with SOME kind of mental condition, and she makes it a driving force in the story, not just a "cute" character quirk. And the nature of her schizophrenia means there are some VERY shocking twists in the book, ones that genuinely broke my heart when they came up in the text. More I won't say...

An unexpectedly powerful and resonant read, "Made You Up" depicts one girl's struggle with an invisible disability in such a way that I'm sure many teen and adult readers can identify with her. It's a heartbreaking but brave book, one that I heartily recommend to teen readers and adults alike.

This was one of my favourite YA novels that I've read this year - in fact, that I've read in a very long time. The synopsis alone made me buy it on the spot, no questions asked. I knew I was going to like it, I just didn't know how much. I must hand it to Francesca Zappia, she succeeded in subtly creating a complex world for a complex character, while adding mystery and romance and made it work seamlessly.

A schizophrenic girl, Alex, who lives in constant paranoia as she attempts to lead a relatively normal life, finds it extremely challenging when she can't seem to distinguish between what's real and what's not. She walks around with her camera, taking pictures of everything in order to keep track of what's real and what's a hallucination, making her unreliable in her storytelling, but that's what kept things interesting. You never know when everything was going to go the other way and you suddenly realize that everything you thought you knew or learned about this character is void.

I really enjoyed the interactions between Miles and Alex, I loved their chemistry, and their strange yet fated attraction to one another. It's worth noting that despite Alex's condition, she is one bada** chick. I admired how she stood up for herself, how she was a match for Miles' attempts at bullying her and how real and relatable she was.

What really keeps you hooked is how unpredictable this book is. You think you know something, and then, just like that, Zappia takes it away from you. Some things you could see coming, but others took me completely off-guard that reading it from Alex's point of view, I could completely understand and relate to how she was feeling. I was left bereft and grieving and shocked and breathless, and all those emotions combined made me want to read this book forever. It has been a while since I've really felt attached to characters in this way.

I was saddened that it ended the way it did, but I respect the way Alex dealt with it all. I don't want to give any more away, I will say, this is a book worth reading. There's something for everyone in there.

My favorite thing about Made You Up is the main character, Alex, who I found very endearing. Alex has schizophrenia. She takes pictures to help her know what’s real and what’s not.

“Sometimes I think people take reality for granted.”

- Francesca Zappia, Made You Up pg 1

Her reality is full of things that could not be real. It was amazing to go through her thought process of questioning everything and how she copes with that. It would be so hard to live like that all the time.

Made You Up is hopeful and shows how it’s okay to get help sometimes.

There are funny moments, unexpected twists and turns, a few heartbreaking moments, and some feel good moments too.

And oh the romance.

“You smell like lemons” is my new favorite romantic line in a novel. It’s the first thing this boy says to her when he meets her and it takes her by surprise.

“I felt a strange flurry of delirious joy because he’d said, “You smell like lemons” instead of “Your hair is red.” I knew my hair was red. Everyone could see my hair was red. I did not, however, know that I smelled like fruit.”

-Francesca Zappia, Made You Up pg iii

The love story is very cute. You can’t quite tell who’s real and who isn’t and you spend a lot of time wondering if this cute boy is real. They are both awkward and lovable.

In addition to awkward and lovable, I found Alex so relatable.

“I wasn’t sure if the pictures would help anymore, but doing it made me feel better. Like I was doing something to help myself. Like that was still possible.”

-Francesca Zappia, Made You Up pg 137

I think we all do that. Things that give us the illusion of control but don’t really do anything. We had a great book club discussion about things we do to give us comfort that we don’t really need to do like making lists etc.

Alex gets advice from a Magic 8 ball which is adorable. She doesn’t take it seriously, but it was fun to read the responses to her questions.

I liked the ending for the most part, but there was one tiny thing that bugged me. It's a detail I wished I got to know. Oh well.

A darling story. An underrated gem. A teenage version of A Beautiful Mind. I loved it.

This book was a frustrating read. It started strong - the beginning with the "lobster incident" grabbed me. Her fascination with the lobsters and urge to free them is relatable. It's easy to tell the lobsters talking to her is imagined. And it's shocking when she reveals she never freed them, never touched them, that she isn't sure the child helping her even existed.

But after that, it went downhill. She claims her paranoia and hallucinations are impossible to tell from reality. It's weaved so thoroughly into her perception that she even sees lobsters the wrong color. I expected the entire book to be like this - her entire reality so permanently twisted that she can't trust even basic facts. But the rest of the book tries to confuse us by making her hallucinations actually exist. She sees a snake hanging from the ceiling at school and dismisses it, but discovers there actually is one living in the ceiling. Miles can win 20 Questions in two questions, and I expected it to be her mind exaggerating him to the point of seeming psychic, but no, he really can do that. People have quirks that are so unbelievably over-the-top (she even admits it!), but it doesn't ever seem to be imagined. Except for the dramatic reveal - but honestly, even that wasn't that shocking, because this character's quirk was kind of ridiculous. I honestly was more shocked that only ONE person wasn't real.

My main issue with this book is it seems based off the movie stereotype of schizophrenia. I read this book directly after All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. That book (Bright Places) shows the intriguing depths of mental illness while also showing the terrifying, inespcable aspects of it. This book forgets Alex's mental illness when convenient. It doesn't paint a picture of schizophrenia because it never fully clarifies what actually IS the picture and what is a weird high school romance. Not to mention, despite her insistence of suffering from paranoia, most of her (really out there) theories prove to be true!

In the end, this was frustrating because it tried to be a (poorly researched) story about mental illness, a high school romance, and a story about corruption in authority all in one. With weird dangling plot points and a happy ending that comes out of nowhere, I was left saying, "what? That's it?"

Francesca Zappia tackles the difficult subject of schizophrenia in this young adult book, MADE YOU UP. Told from Alex, the 17-year-old’s deep point of view, the reader is brought so completely into her thoughts and emotions that occasionally you can’t figure out what is real and what isn’t—which is exactly Alex’s problem. She uses a camera to record what she sees to help her figure out what if something is real or a delusion.

Alex has started in a new school in her senior year because of problems in her previous school. The reader doesn’t find out until ¾ of the way through what these problems were—all we know is that Alex desperately doesn’t want students in her new school to discover her diagnosis, she wants to be perceived as normal and not crazy, and she wants to get into college. (Note to self and other writers: backstory doesn’t need to be spelled out in the beginning. Just enough details to make the story plausible.) Because of last year’s issues, she’s has to provide service hours in a committee led by Miles, a senior she thinks she met as a nine-year-old. Since she had believed their encounter was a delusion, it takes her awhile to realize he is the same boy. Their love/hate relationship serve each other’s needs as they both tackle the specter and stigma of craziness in their lives.

The book is masterfully written, interweaving Alex’s delusions with real events and characters. But although it’s clear that the phoenix Alex imagines is not real, it’s a surprise to find out that a significant secondary character lives in her imagination and died several year ago. Another time she dismisses the appearance of a boa constrictor as a delusion, but is startled to discover that it is real. (Which is a great way for the author to demonstrate that her delusional fears about Nazi spies are nothing compared to the reality of a snake almost killing her.) The fact that Alex figures out a complicated school mystery is a testimony to her intelligence and persistence.

I would give this book five stars except for the language and sexual content. I know I represent a small minority in this regard and that MADE YOU UP probably reflects how many high school students talk and act, but I don’t agree that authors should feed that system. This could have been an equally powerful book with toned down language and without the sexual references. That being said, teen readers who choose to read this book will get an intimate view of mental illness including psychotic episodes, hallucinations, and paranoia.

In the end, Alex forgoes graduation—what she really wanted—and signs herself into a mental health hospital. Although I was sad not to see her obtain her goals, I was glad to see her face her fears and take control of her life by getting the help she needed. As she and Miles agree in the end, “The real thing is always better.”

The narrator, Amanda Ronconi, read the book clearly and I had no difficulty following her rendition. Here is a link to an audio snippet of the book. I am giving away the audio CD courtesy of Tantor Media. Leave me a comment by July 14, 2017 for a chance to win.

Terrific first novel, maybe on the edge of brilliant, told from the point of view of a teenage girl with paranoid schizophrenia. Alex has moved to a new high school for her senior year, after having spray-painted “Communists” on the gym floor of the old school. Her parents are both history nuts and Alex is also smart in history because of that. She links up with a group of outsiders, including Miles, a young man she thinks she remembers from an incident when she was seven. She also unwittingly becomes the enemy of a school leader, a young woman who seems to have her own emotional problems, including an obsessive mother.
And here is a key to the book: “thinks” and “seems”. Alex knows she is schizophrenic; the reader knows she is schizophrenic. But neither Alex nor the reader knows when Alex is seeing reality or when her mind has made things up. Talk about an “unreliable narrator”! Alex takes photographs of everything so she can compare reality against her hallucinations. Pictures stay the same; hallucinations soon disappear from the pictures. She wants to go to college; but she needs to keep track of reality to do that – at least match HER reality with that of the students and teachers around her. She is taking medication for her illness, but that may also be unreliable.
Zappia is a college student in Indianapolis; but she has an instinct for dialogue, a sure hand at characterization, and a perfect sense of timing for revealing secrets. Her writing is so good that we believe what Alex is seeing, even as we grow to suspect that we don’t know what is real either. This is a GREAT teen novel, even more stunning when you realize the writer was writing this as a teenager herself. I don’t want her to get a big head; but Zappia might be the next great writer to come out of Indianapolis. Her writing already has a lot of the thoughtfulness and control of John Green. I think she will be a very big deal.

“To be ill adjusted to a deranged world is not a breakdown.”

----Jeanette Winterson

Francesca Zappia, an American bestselling author, has penned an extremely soul stirring, debut young adult contemporary fiction, Made You Up that revolves around a female high school teenager, suffering from acute mental illness, who manages to hide her hallucinations real well despite of the fact that she is reeling towards a bunch of teenagers who too are facing the wrath of their past and among that group, one boy surprisingly steals the heart of this mentally wrecked teenager, but she is anxious to lead a normal life, as crazy has been her middle name since her own inception.

Synopsis:

Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. This is a compelling and provoking literary debut that will appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Silver Linings Playbook and Liar.

Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? 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.

Funny, provoking, and ultimately moving, this debut novel featuring the quintessential unreliable narrator will have readers turning the pages and trying to figure out what is real and what is made up.

After getting expelled from her private school due to a serious mischief compelled due to her schizophrenic mind, Alex desperately wants that she doesn't mess it up in her new public high school where she will be a senior. She needs to keep her schizophrenia under check with her prescribed pills and get through just this one year of school before going for college. Although her plans seems to come undone when her crazy life begins to follow a normal teenage lifestyle, when she meets a group of misfits who too are suffering because of their past mistakes, and who saves her from the constant bullying. Among that group, there is another mentally wrecked guy with an Einstein-like brain named Miles, who makes Alex fall for her and takes her to the parties and tells her stories using big words. But can Alex save herself as well as Miles and keep calm without wrecking it up like the last time? And why the hell loving someone is making her so anxious?

This is a brilliant and eye-opening portrayal of a teenager suffering from mental diseases like schizophrenia , autism etc. Although the readers aren't actually aware how a schizophrenic human precepts the world through his/her mind's eyes, but the author has depicted the story line with a realistic flair. Even though the ending failed to intrigue me or made me feel like all those plot twists went to waste and all those time spent anticipating for the climax became good for nothing, yet somehow, the characters stole the show as well as my heart and mind, thereby making this book a truly captivating one.

The author's writing style is quite beautiful, laced perfectly not only with some deep, evocative emotions that will only make the readers feel but also with taught suspense that will keep the readers on their edges till the very climax. The narrative begins with an alluring way and sways smoothly with the course of the story line, yet eventually somewhere in the heart of this story, the dialogues fail to beguile anymore, finally falling flat, and that somehow made me distracted and restless to turn away from it, yet the characters simply held my gaze till the turn of the very last page. The pacing is bit slow, as there is so much happening around the story, an underlying mystery and with Alex constantly panicking to mess things up and with Miles' usage of bombastic words, this story has a lot of elements that ultimately making this one an intriguing contemporary read for many.

This is that rare kind of story where the fine line between reality and fantasy often overlaps and that will beg the readers to discover such a beautiful coalition despite of the confusion. Only because of Alex, who cannot perceive whether the things that she is seeing are real or not and that's the main reason behind carrying her camera to wherever she goes, and gradually with the help of Miles, she also finds out the mystery behind a childhood mischief. Alex is painted with flaws in big bold letters, yet her cheery side will keep the readers glued to the story line. Even though the readers learn to sympathize with the main characters, yet somehow, they are projected as someone who are brave enough to fight off the evils in this world despite of their mental illness. Alex's mind is beautiful and confusing and that will turn out to make the readers feel good about her demeanor. Yes Alex's psychological grip upon the readers' minds is the key that makes this story so brilliant.

Although the cliched cast of diverse characters make things a bit predictable in the end, yet if it is for Alex, then I would say that she has made this story amazing with her antisocial yet bright ways of perceiving the world.

In the hands of a less-talented writer, this could have been a trippy hot mess. Instead, it's both memorable and even haunting.

Alex is a high-school senior who has difficulty figuring out what's real. She's the kind of person you'd want to both protect and have glorious adventures with. She's easily one of my favorite young-adult characters in a great while. Alex has a solid shot at some good colleges if she can push back her schizophrenia and keep a grasp on what's real. That's not easy, but she has her digital camera, a magic 8-ball, and her much-beloved little sister to keep her grounded and on track.

When she was seven, she had a little incident at a supermarket that involved extracting lobsters from a tank with the help of a little boy whose blue eyes were memorable to her years later. Now she's a senior, and to her amazement and consternation, that blue-eyed little boy is in her life again, this time all grown up and a senior like her. But is he real?

If you thought the girl on the train was an unreliable narrator or Amy in Gone Girl, you'll read this and realize that, compared to Alex, those women are rank amateurs. That's part of the excellence of this book. About the time you think you're rather well grounded in reality as the reader, something happens in the book that rocks your reality and makes you doubt your ability to make a good judgment call. There are parts of the plotline that will break your heart, be it ever so jaded. You'll cheer for this bright, capable teenager who must constantly weigh the evidence of reality in her world to ensure she can determine the difference between reality and delusions. She confronts her schizophrenia with a matter-of-fact bravery that leaves you asking whether you could do so well. I know nothing about the mental illness described here, but my hunch is that Franchesca Zappia did a beyond-incredible job of describing Alex and her circumstance. So well written is this that you'll question nearly everything you think you know about Alex and her family and friends before you finish the book. I'm pretty sure there were times here when my own grasp of reality was called into question. As an aside, I found myself wondering whether Alex's hair really was the color described. I hope so. It would add to her already vivid memorable nature. There's nothing delusional about the talent that went into the writing of this. That part is most decidedly real and worthy of celebration of anyone who reads this.

I really really enjoyed this. I think the main character, her love interest and even the "bad guys" were compelling and there wasn't a point in the book where I wanted to put it down:
-On my bike rides to class or work I would listen to it.
-I really had to try hard not to listen to it at work(though I was able to read bits and pieces of the ebook when it was slow.
- Listened to it while in my drawing naked people figure drawing class

I personally cannot say yes or no to how well it represents schizophrenia or mental illnesses but it did remind me of a friend who for many years was diagnosed schizophrenic in that they both saw a phoenix.
I don't know if anyone would say it's the best representation but I don't think it intentionally or unintentionally glamorizes the disorder.

Really sad I didn't know well enough to annotate or take notes while listening/reading because I feel like this is a book I could pationately discuss though have a hard time keeping spoiler free.

"nothing you can see that isn't shown...nothing is real and nothing to get hung about..." -- Beatles, 1967 from "Strawberry Fields

"It's all in the mind, y'know!" -- George Harrison in the 1968 movie "Yellow Submarine"

This is an excellent book whose protagonist has schizophrenia. Alexandra Victoria, 17 gives 4/15/1993 as her date of birth which sets the story in 2010. She was named for two Queens. She suffers from hallucinations and is never sure what is real. (She takes endless photographs and chronicles them so she can see whether or not the things in her world are real or not. Her younger sister Charlemagne, some 10 years her junior is part of the picture.

Alex teeters on the precipice of reality and hallucinations. She is not the most reliable narrator, but by the same token, her illness does not mean she is NEVER reliable in her accounts. The paranoia component of her mental illness is her fear of communists (she once acted a fool at a local library by accusing the head librarian of being one) and her need to do routine perimeter checks. She also believes she sees men on the roof of her school and thinks they might be shooting people.

Alex's first awareness of her mental illness took place a decade earlier in her life when she believed she freed the lobsters from a tank in a grocery store. She sees a boy with the bluest eyes she's ever seen and wonders if he, too might be a hallucination. This begins the rounds of medications, sentences in hospitals and therapy that would become a routine part of her life.

Once in high school, Alex contends with a drill sarge English teacher Mr. Gunthrie who shouts out orders and runs the tightest ship in the school. He is one of the good teachers. The principal, a weird man named Mr. McCoy may or may not have reason to alert Alex's suspicions. So does a boy named Miles with ultra blue eyes. Alex wonders if perhaps he was the boy she saw (or hallucinated) a decade earlier when she was worried about the lobsters in the tank.

Miles and Tucker, a nice boy with whom Alex works in a greasy spoon after school is a delightful character. Miles, DOB 5/29/1993 is brilliant; bilingual and most likely an Aspie. Miles was even described as possibly being autistic by another character and in the reading and telling, he probably does have Asperger's. He drives a battered 1982 pick up truck that looks like ass and lives in a house to match. His home life is anything but idyllic and he has some very interesting and very unusual plans about exacting revenge on others for pay. Tucker does not like Miles and warns Alex away from him, for all the good that does.

The Miles-Alex courtship was delightful, not unlike the Sam-Diane sparks of the show Cheers. They didn't start out liking each other and were at sword's points. In time that changed when they discovered a mutual interest in history. Both have encyclopediac knowledge of history, particularly WWII and ancient history. Alex even named her bicycle "Erwin" after Erwin Rommel. Alex' dad is an archeologist who travels around the world and brings back many artifacts, which Alex has to check to be sure they are not part of her hallucinations.

Alex is forced to do community service her school due to an unfortunate incident at her previous school. Her fellow community service students, Jetta, a kind multilingual French girl and triplets Evan, Ian and their sister as well as a strong boy named Art and .... Miles! I loved the community service parts and the way the students bonded.

No spoilers here, but there are mysteries brewing. The central mystery surrounds the school principal Mr. McCoy. It was such a bizarre mystery that started in 1997 that there were times I wondered if the mystery was taking place or if it was part of Alex' hallucinations. Even so, Miles is a reliable reporter and he was able to join Alex in her bloodhoundery.

The one character I actively disliked in addition to McCoy was Alex' mother. I didn't like the way she threatened Alex with hospital sentences and the way she threatened to call Alex' therapist. There was a dearth of communication between them and that was a damn shame because the mother COULD have been helpful to Alex in sorting out her uncertainty in what was real and what was not. I just loved the way Miles told her off and not a moment too soon. I felt she deserved it tenfold.

Miles turned out to be a real friend. This was an excellent book that made you want to hang onto your hat and glasses because it was a very bumpy ride around some hairpin curves. Overall, an A plus book!

The Beatles' 1967 classic "Strawberry Fields" could well underscore this book.

Before I even started reading Made You Up, it sounded interesting to me and I knew I had to read it. My initial emotional response to the work of the book was pure amazement, I loved how it was written in a way that made every aspect of it relative and that you felt emotionally connected to it by the second chapter.

The transformation of the prologue and the first two chapters is a little confusing because the details of the memory are very vague and you kind of really have to think about the characteristics of Miles since the prologue is a memory and the details are harder to understand.

As you go on through the book, the characters become more real each chapter and I truly became emotionally attached to all of these characters especially Alex and Miles because I could relate to both of them during different situations. I’ve never really read a book about a person with a mental illness so this was definitely a book out of my territory and comfort zone, but i’m so glad I did because I loved every second of it. Alex interested me so much that I realized that the only thing that I don’t relate to with her is her mental illness.

This book made me very happy when I was reading it because I loved that Miles and Alex were so infatuated with each other, but they both expressed their feelings so immensely differently. Miles was obviously more standoffish and concealing of his feelings while Alex secretly wanted to experience everything there was to experience about being in love.

Although I can relate very well with Alex, Miles interested me the most. I’ve read a lot of books where the main character who is a guy, is very stereotypical and cliche, but Miles is no where near a stereotype or cliche. He’s definitely not likable or popular and he doesn’t care that he isn’t, because that’s the way he likes it. His home life is very violent and dangerous, but Miles isn’t violent or dangerous due to it. But he does odd jobs for fellow students because he wants to help his mom get out of the hospital as fast as he can, so that’s why he does these crazy things for people. He doesn’t do it to get attention or get people to like him, he does it for his mom.

I recommend this story to everyone! It’s mysterious and completely jaw dropping. Make sure to have a roll of tissues because this will not only have your head spinning but will have you crying in complete shock, but no matter you will love this book and hope you get now!

While it wasn't completely accurate to the symptoms and problems that go along with having schizophrenia, it was a pleasant read. Nothing too difficult to understand, the storyline was great and it had plenty of character development as the book went on. The supporting characters were nice and rounded characters, displaying quirks and various qualities in themselves, and you can see the closeness of the friendships made. The romance was good, but I believe the book would've been great with or without it.
I couldn't put it down, thank you for the literary masterpiece, Francesca Zappia.
Overall rating: A-

As someone that suffers from OCD and a sister that has a different mental illness, when this was released I wasn't running off to read it. I guess you could say I related to it too much to a point. But after reading another book that dealt with mental illness, I finally felt ok enough to read it. And I'm so glad I didn't miss out on this one.
"Sometimes I think people take reality for granted."
pg. 1
Alex is a high school senior that's just a normal teen, but with a few more quirks: She has schizophrenia. She's not able to tell the difference between what's real and what's make believe. She uses everyday items to help her decide what reality and what she's made up. When she meets Miles, everything changes. She meets people, falls for someone, and more.
"Everyone's interesting if you stare at them long enough."
pg. 53
First things first, I was not prepared for the plot twist. Like not one bit. It made me a little uncomfortable. Why? Because I was so sure that it was something else. I felt confused. I can only imagine what Alex felt like. And thinking that she felt like that all the time. Zappia made me really feel like the main character. And that's the best part of the book. Realizing that this book is so much more.
"I was the scariest thing out there tonight."
pg. 62
As for the characters, I loved Alex. She was unrealistic and it made me want to know everything about her. I really wanted to be inside her head. I know it was written in a way that I was, but I'd really like to know more. This is one of those books that will leave me thinking about the characters and how they're doing for a long time.
"If nothing's real, then what does it matter?"
pg. 364
The main thing I loved about this was the diversity. I haven't read too many books centered around mental illness for certain reasons, but now I know they're not all bad. I know now after reading this one that I just have to choose carefully. And I have to say I'm so glad I chose this one. This debut novel from Zappia has helped open my mind (pun intended) to other books in this same area of diversity.
"My imagination- well what little imagination I have- doesn't quite live up to the real thing."
pg. 412
This book was a definite surprise. From the plot twist to the characters, I was addicted to it. I wanted to know what was real and what wasn't just as much as Alex. I can't wait to see what else Zappia brings to life with her words.

At a very young age Alex was diagnosed with schizophrenia and has a battle with herself constantly by reassuring herself what is real and what isn't. She looks forward to a new year in a new school and will try everything the can not to get sent to a mental house.

This is one of those books that I can honestly say I loved and really enjoyed. I thought that it was interesting getting the perspective of a person with schizophrenia and constantly seeing that battle that faces when shes trying to figure out whats real. I loved that she followed her gut for most situations. I loved that she founds people who can understand and help her. I for the most part wasn't sure how to feel about her parents and younger sibling and and surprised toward the ending. I guess in the back of my mind I suspected something off but didn't really stick to it and was surprised my guess was correct. This is a character that'll keep you on your toes wondering if what shes seeing is real and I find that interesting getting to see a unreliable narrator feeling and being confused just as she was. Overall a great story, I'm not sure how I came across it but I'm sure glad I did and recommend you lovely readers to check it out.

This relatable ya book caused me to pull an all nighter. The usual boy-girl relationship with a lot of spins made me laugh and cry. The struggles of the teens in the book broke my heart, even the cliche cheerleading mean girl made me fell bad all the while engaging me to keep on reading.
The club built for ghe misfits of the teen world caused me to relate. The leeder of the club miles griped me the whole way through. Whatching the shut of misuderstood boy go through his first love with schizophrenic alex caused me keep turning the page.
Alexs story made my heart die and my emotions to change with her. dislike for characters blossomed as i learnt more of her story but so did love. As i read i caught myself considering if things were real or not causing the very relatable thought of confusion.
i wish there were more books about Alex and Mile as i would love to continue on there rolecoster lives

well wort reading an amazing relatable ya book ghag i would recomend to anyone.

Made You Up is easily one of my favorite contemporary that I have ever read (and I am VERY picky with my contemporaries). Francesca is a talented writer who created a thought provoking story about a young girl who refuses to let her mental disorder get in the way of her dreams.

When she was seven, Alex freed the lobsters at a supermarket. She received help from mysterious boy with blue eyes, who told her she smelled like lemons and himself smelled of pond water. She asked him to be her friend and he accepted, then disappeared. Shortly later Alex learned she was schizophrenic and was convinced that he was nothing but a delusion made up by her mind. Only ten years later she never expected to see this boy again.

What makes this whole book is Alex, who is a paranoid schizophrenic who takes pictures to help her know what is real or a delusion. She is terrified that the communists are coming for her, doing 360 degree perimeter checks when she walks into a room and checks her food for tracking devices that could be used by the communist to get her. Her character is so complex. The story is about her, not a romance, or a mystery (well a little bit) but about the struggle of her mental disorder and knowing what is actually real, or what her mind has made up. Besides Alex, Miles is well written with some issues of his own. He hires himself out to do weird tasks and has general assholish tendencies. But underneath all that Miles is vulnerable. Made You Up could have easily been your typical flawed girl meets flawed guy and they fall in love. Though there is romance, that wasn't the main focous. Francesca managed to branch this story off in different ways to give us a clear view into the life of Alex and her daily struggles.

Most of the story focuses on Alex's struggles but there is also the struggle that is facing both Alex and Miles. Their principle has an unhealthy obsession with the score board, dedicating a day to give it offerings and such. Alex soon uncovers that he made the board a memorial for the girl he was in love with who was crushed by it nearly twenty years earlier at their high school reunion. Now Scarlett's daughter, attends the school and the principle is forcing her to be just like her dead mother. Even if it means getting rid of anyone who is in they way. But who is going to beleive the delusional girl?

Made You Up is equally parts funny, heart breaking and thought provoking. It leaves you wondering what is real or what is fake. I am honestly going to say I wish we could get more of Alex's story. I loved her character, and getting to be in her head. She is one of my favorite characters I have read about.

I fell in love with Made You Up from the time lobsters were first mentioned. That first lobster scene is so cute, so precious, so full of feels. I never questioned if it was real or not. But then . . . .

Made You Up is a novel that will make you question everything that you see. I would think that Alex perceives reality only to later question it only to later question my doubts. Made You Up is a mind boggling read.

Alex's unreliable narration is both the charm and the major flaw of this novel. On the one hand, I love the complexity that Zappia creates by intertwining reality and delusions so that we, the readers, finds ourselves questioning everything that we're told. In the process, we come a little closer to understanding what it would be like to be unable to discern what's real and what isn't real. That said, I do want to acknowledge that Zappia wraps up the novel rather cleanly. By the end, we learn what's real and what existed only in Alex's mind down to the smallest details we wouldn't have thought to question. This means that Alex also learns the truth. While it's nice as a reader to get the closure, I doubt events will always wrap up so nicely in reality, and I encourage readers to keep this in mind while reading Made You Up.

The major flaw of having an unreliable narrator is that we cannot ever completely trust the narrator. Yes, we shouldn't ever completely trust the narrator of any book we read because any narrator is going to have his or her biases, and some narrators may even have a reason to lie. (Ever study Jane Eyre or The Marquise of O in a college class?) In the case of Made You Up, however, you can't trust that everything you see actually happens. For example, Tucker so rarely appears after Miles is introduced that, even though I saw him interact with people other than Alex, I began to doubt that he really existed. I began to think that maybe Alex made up those interactions. You can see what a headache I was beginning to develop by the time Zappia began to clear things up for me. (Yes, Tucker really exists . . . rather, this other thing you thought was real isn't real at all . . . and so forth.) Though I began to question my sanity, I actually enjoyed the "big reveals" at the end (except for that one tragic one . . . how could "that" not be real???? Whhhyyyyyyyy?????). Made You Up is like a puzzle. Once the pieces begin to click into place, you begin to recognize the discrepancies that have taken place, and everything begins to make more sense. I believe that Made You Up is a novel that will be fun to reread for clues that you didn't pick up at first read.

Family is not entirely absent from the novel. Longtime readers of the blog know how much I value family. I believe that family is integral to our identities. Even if we're at a stage of our life where we don't particularly like certain members of our family, that's also a part of who we are. In Alex's case, her family influences her through how her parents react to her seeing things that exist only in her imagination and to her paranoia. While I don't particularly like how Alex treats her mom or how Miles talks to her mom in one scene, I can understand how she feels. Back in high school, there were many many times when I felt like my mom couldn't understand me, and those feelings led to resentment and feelings that I lacked control of my life. I appreciate how Alex comes to realize the love that her parents feel for her and decides to seek the treatment that her parents were considering. Her love for her sister is especially touching. While she does treat Charlie as The Annoying Younger Sibling at times, it's clear that she deeply cares for her young sister and treasures her existence.

What I really love about Made You Up is that, while Alex may have schizophrenia, Made You Up is not a story about schizophrenia. It is the story about a girl (and a boy) dealing with the insanity of high school life, and our narrator just so happens to have schizophrenia, which makes it just a little more difficult to work through the insanity of high school. I recommend this for readers who enjoy reading a (somewhat) lighthearted coming-of-age story with some crazy high school adventures and a little dose of mystery.

Literary Value:
I believe that it is important to have different kinds of books out there that show different people living different kinds of lives. Alex's story gives us a place where we can get a glimpse of what it may be like to live with paranoid schizophrenia. I do emphasize the "may" given that Zappia was never diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia or hay personal ties to schizophrenia. At the same time, she does try to portray the real deal. In an interview at Bettgeschichten, Zappia says, "I read books on it, I watched documentaries, and I went online to forums where people who have schizophrenia were discussing the illness." Most importantly, Made You Up shows how, while Alex may have schizophrenia, it doesn't take over her life. She is a normal high school girl who is just having a little more trouble than most working through the insanities of high school life.

Alexandra Ridgway was named for Alexander the Great, and yes, her parents are two crazy history buffs. Don't feel too bad for her, though: her younger sister got it much worse, her name is Charlemagne. A paranoid schizophrenic, Alex is just trying to survive high school in a non-descript Central Indiana town, or, well, her second high school. After a terrible public breakdown at her old school, Alex transfers to East Shoal High to try and get through the last semester before graduation; if she can just complete her college applications and community service, maybe she can manage to get accepted somewhere and be semi-normal. With the help of her prescious camera - for weeding out fact from visual fiction - and her employer's plastic Magic 8-Ball, Alex is just doing her best to take it one day at a time. Unfortunately, it's only the first day at East Shoal and there are already men in black suits patrolling the parking lot from the roof of the school. Communists? Possibly. Nazis? Perhaps.

Miles is the valedictorian who suffers from alexithymia or an "inability to identify and describe emotions in the self", causing a marked dysfunction in emotional awareness, social attachment, and interpersonal relating. Non-clinically speaking, Miles can be kind of a jerk. As with many high school boys, however, he is a cute jerk.

When Alex discovers that the beautiful idiot is the boss of "The Club" - where she is sentenced to serve her community service collecting dirty towels, keeping stats and scores, and running the refreshment stand at school sporting events - can she tolerate his ridiculous brand of criminal mischief mixed with outright disregard for others, or is this all just a figment of her overly-active, clinically damaged subconscious? Is Miles real or has she simply made him up?

In this wonderfully witty and young, insightful and intelligent, emotional debut, Francesca "Chessie" Zappia introduces a cast of everyday characters who remind us that we are all human and we all have our issues to work through. From the eccentric salutatorian to a set of welcoming but quirky triplets, to the horrid popular kids with their mommy issues, Zappia has captured high school perfectly. Of course, she should: she is merely a college student, herself. In this tale of romance and breakdown, love and chaos, we are reminded of the importance of friendships and love, and the ability to admit when we need help.

"Made You Up" might not read like a textbook on schizophrenia, but it's certainly one YA novel that opens up the dialogue on mental illness while providing a positive outlook for teenagers struggling to survive the dog-eat-dog world of high school. Whether suffering from a clinical diagnosis or simply suffering from the doldrums of the teenage years, Zappia reminds us that is is okay to reach for our Magic 8-Ball, avoid the men in black, and have hope. You've gotta have hope!

OH MY HEART! Why didn’t I read this sooner? I’m so stupid really. Okay, so I’m going to keep this short and sweet, because it doesn’t matter how much I say about this book. It matters what I say and if you haven’t read this book yet, I hope that what I said convinced you.

Made You Up is a wonderfully diverse book that touches upon mental health issues. This is something particularly hard to write about because it’s very easy to get it wrong. And if you get it wrong, the whole book falls apart. Luckily this one didn’t fail. Everything was handled so perfectly that it’s hard for me to believe that this is a debut novel. I mean, let that sink in for a moment. This wonderful and amazing book is a debut. Really now. To say I’m eager to see what this author brings us next is an understatement.

My favorite part about this novel is not its diversity however. It’s the characters. They were so very real and I loved them all so very much! Alex was an amazing protagonist and I loved her so much. She brought so much humor to this book, which I didn’t expect going into it. I can’t even describe how awesome she is, really. Of course I loved the side characters too. Art, Jetta, the triplets, Tucker,… All of them. So much love! But my favorite character, next to Alex, is Miles. I loved him from the start. So freaking much. And I get why some would hate him, but I didn’t. It’s because of these characters that I got so many feels. SO MANY FEELS. And the romance. THE ROMANCE. Ahh it’s a ship for the ages, people.

Oops, not very short… Oh well. If you haven’t read this book yet… WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING WITH YOUR LIFE? Go read it. NOW. Don’t look at me like that. Go read it.

“Believing something existed and then finding out it didn’t was like reaching the top of the stairs and thinking there was one more step.”

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING. Yay for books that talk about mental disease, especially when they get it so right.

What I loved about this book the most was Alex. She was the most unreliable of narrators, so trying to sort out what was real from what wasn’t was really interesting. She’s just as lost as the reader is, so there’s never an inequality in information. I loved Alex not because she’s schizophrenic, but because she’s so real. She has her fair share of problems like we all do, it’s just that she has more on her plate. I liked that the author never tried to set Alex apart from everyone else; the author made us see that yes, she has schizophrenia, but she’s just like any other person.

“I was a schizophrenic, not a damn invalid."

Alex’s family also play a huge part in this book, and it was wonderful to see that while they didn’t necessarily understand her condition all the time, they were still there for her and tried their best to cope with the situation they were handled.

The romance here was just so…. ASDFGHJLHGFKALKDHGOFIL. Miles is an unconventional romantic lead. He comes off as a closed off jerk at first. Once you get to meet him he’s snobby and rude. But once you really know him… *dreamy sigh* Miles is incredible. He wasn’t just a romantic interest, but an amazing friend and human being to Alex. Their interactions are always all over the place, since Alex has such a strong and sassy personality, and Miles just always throwing it back at Alex. They were completely amazing together and I wish I could’ve seen more of their romance in the book.

Now, this book isn’t all cheery and funny and swoony. It completely breaks your heart as well. You get to feel so much for Alex and her situation. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ll just say that there are some twists that you won’t see coming that are going to completely shatter your heart.

My absolute favorite part of the book? It doesn’t romanticize or undermine schizophrenia. It’s not the kind of story where the girl falls in love and is magically cured. It’s the kind of story where the girl falls in love and finds support and understanding from both her significant other and her family. This book shows us how serious schizophrenia is. It tells us how important it is to get help. And most importantly, it doesn’t put a negative connotation on actually wanting to get it.

“You’re allowed to ask for help.”
“Why doesn’t anyone tell us that?”
“Because… maybe no one told them.”

Overall, this book really wins in every single thing it tried to accomplish. Honestly, my review doesn’t even mention the amazing side characters, or the wonderful and supporting friendships, or even the surprising yet entertaining paranormal twist. This book is an incredibly written and sincere portrayal of schizophrenia that you should definitely read! It’s definitely one of my favorites of 2015!

Alex just wants to free the lobsters. When Alex was seven, she freed the lobsters at the supermarket with the help of a boy with blue eyes, who disappeared almost as quickly as he appeared. Her mother never mentioned him, and it was soon after that Alex found out she has paranoid schizophrenia. But when Alex is 17, she meets the boy again at school and he is definitely real. Right?

This book was brilliant, you guys. It’s the perfect kind of unreliable narrator – Alex has hallucinations and delusions and she never quite knows if what she is seeing is real, so how are we meant to? Alex takes pictures of her life to prove to herself later that what she saw was real and if it doesn’t disappear from the photo, it really was there. Alex is the heart of this story and she is fascinating. She deals with what life’s given her as best as she can, and she’s tough and sarcastic because of it. I think she felt even more real because she isn’t always likable. There were times I wanted to shake her and that made her so realistic. I have always been fascinated with the brain and mental illness, and I was totally absorbed in learning about Alex’s paranoid schizophrenia.

And then there’s Miles, the boy with the blue eyes. He’s got his own issues; he sells himself out to complete sometimes stupid and sometimes dangerous tasks for people at their high school. He’s a bit arrogant and a bit of a jerk sometimes, but he’s also vulnerable and it’s easy to fall a bit in love with him, but I appreciated the fact that the romance doesn’t take a front seat to Alex and her struggle with mental illness. Plus, he’s not exactly your typical love interest.

All of the characters in Made You Up felt fully fleshed, not just Alex and Miles – the principle who has a weird obsession with the school’s scoreboard, mean girl Celia whose mother seems to be forcing her to be that way, Miles’ friends and Alex’s little sister and parents. Zappia does an amazing job with her characters and none of them felt pointless or two-dimensional.

I won’t give it away, but OH MY GOODNESS, the twist! I was NOT expecting that. Zappia is definitely really good with misdirection, which is why her unreliable narrator is so freaking well-done. One thing that kind of bothered me was the end, which felt a little rushed, but it didn’t really change my feelings toward this book.

The bottom line: Made You Up is an addictive, compelling story that is both wonderfully written and absolutely fascinating. I could give you a whole bunch of other adjectives to describe how much I liked this book, or I could just say this: READ THIS NOW.

YA contemporaries have really not sat well with me lately. Maybe I’m getting old. I don’t know. The premise behind this book was so intriguing to me that I just had to give it a shot. I haven’t heard any hype about it, but it has a good rating.

Alex is a senior in high school. What’s makes her different? She suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. She’s determined to stay aware of what is real and what is a delusion. She has to get in to college. After an incident at her previous high school, she’s very aware of not letting her classmates know her ailments. Armed with a camera to take photos of anything suspicious, Alex begins to experience for the first time what she believes to be normal.

I was really worried going in to this that I wasn’t going to like how her illness was portrayed. It seems that a lot of teen books are trying to tackle mental illnesses, but they are doing a very poor job of it. The kids in those books don’t get accurate help from those around them. They preach about how horrible and bad their medication is and that is so damaging to others who may be in that situation. For once, I needed a book that didn’t demonize medicine. It didn’t romanticize having this horrible mental problem.

Made You Up didn’t do any of those things. Even the use of the word “crazy” was used appropriately. Clearly Zappia did her research well when writing this book. Alex is an unreliable narrator, but not in that post-modern, maybe I’m lying, maybe I’m not sort of way.

I really felt like I was in Alex’s shoes. Was what she seeing really there, or not? There were times that she was very clearly hallucinating, but other times, I wasn’t so sure. All of the characters were so fleshed out and I felt like I really wanted them for my own friends. Even Miles.
I LOVE that Miles was a complete jerk. I LOVE that he looked like your average joe. I’m so incredibly turned off by books that mention how gorgeous the love interest is. And on that note, why is it mandatory in YA lit to mention how other-worldly his eyes are?

The relationship between Alex and Miles was so slow and real. There was no insta-love that makes you roll your eyes. It felt like a real progression. The way that a relationship would actually happen. I was grinning like an idiot during some of their scenes. Miles has his own baggage, and his own set of emotional problems, but it doesn’t stop them from clicking together. They are both huge history buffs and I just thought, “Wow. Wouldn’t that be just the best thing ever to meet someone else like that?” Their banter is super dry and sarcastic, but also insightful. It doesn’t try too hard, like John Green does. The teens in this book were super smart, but not in the way that they needed to talk like an 80 year old man with a doctorate.

It’s such a different story than what’s out there and I LOVE it. I’ve used LOVE a lot. There’s why you should read it. I could go on and on but I’ll spare you. Just read it

Originally reviewed at http://www.shaelit.com/2015/06/review-made-you-up-by-francesca-zappia/

I’ve never read a book from the point of view of a paranoid schizophrenic before. The whole experience was completely new and disorienting, not to mention claustrophobic. It’s one thing to read a completely tense yet fanciful work of fiction. It’s another to read a story that (as far as I can tell) accurately depicts what life is like for people with altered perception, because there is no walking away. This is REAL.

I literally can’t imagine. Perception is a tricky enough thing to begin with, but add in vivid hallucinations and brain chemistry-induced convictions that people are spying on you, tracking you, trying to poison you, etc.? Oof. Alex copes by taking pictures of things she finds odd. Over time, delusions fade from the photos, leaving only what other people see, but she still has to grapple with reacting (or not reacting) to the delusions in real-time. And since her eyes are our eyes, it’s a very fine line to walk throughout the story. What (and who) is real? What’s only a byproduct of her brain? Is the danger she sees stalking the school hallways real and something that needs to be stopped or just a fantasy that will ruin her life? What real dangers does she ignore thinking they’re all in her own head?

As the reader, it was terrifying to watch as Alex grew close to her new friends at school, because what if they aren’t real? What if her best friend was an illusion? What if the boy she just kissed was someone no one else could see? In the beginning, Alex’s mother comes across as a fairly awful individual. She’s a nagging, overbearing, unsympathetic failure of a parent who is a breath away from shipping Alex off to a mental institution. And while both Alex’s mother and father make some pretty ghastly choices, by the time the story wraps, I… understood. Alex’s mind is the one on the trip, but her parents have to watch her condition worsen and worry whether the next episode will be the one that gets her hurt or even killed.

Alex. Oh man, Alex. Alex is amazing. Alex is smart and tough and funny. She’s a good friend, a great big sister, and tender-hearted as all get-out. She’s also very much a stubborn teenager. She has a temper. She doesn’t always listen. She thinks she knows what’s best even if she doesn’t. As stressful as it was being in her head, it was also a very interesting place to be, especially as it pertained to Miles, not gonna lie. I didn’t always understand or agree with Miles, and he wasn’t exactly the cuddliest character, but he was just as interesting with Alex, and together they were totally shippy. I felt for him. With his background and own disorder, he had a challenging road to walk, just like Alex.

This book is funny, romantic, tense, heartbreaking, and, in parts, terrifying. As someone labeled as neurotypical, Alex’s story really helped me gain a better understanding of what living with her particular strand of neurodiversity might be like. It’s beautifully written and profoundly important. Go. Go now.

Points Added For: Alex, stunning portrayals of paranoid schizophrenia and alexithymia, making me cry, Charlie, an ultimately positive portrayal of medication, counseling, and mental institutions.

Points Subtracted For: The mystery was really, really confusing; Tucker’s lack of depth.

Good For Fans Of: Contemporary issue books, laughing/crying, neurodiverse stories.

Notes For Parents: Language, heavy making out, bullying, physical abuse against a minor, implied sexual abuse against a minor.

Note: I received a review copy of this title from the publisher for review consideration.

Contemporary YA is really impressing me this year! It’s so strange to think that a few years ago I avoided the genre and now I can’t get enough. MADE YOU UP is no exception, I thoroughly enjoyed Zappia’s debut novel.

The strongest aspect of the novel, in my opinion, is in the character of Alex. Although we know going in Alex is going to be an unreliable narrator, I do not think I’ve seen the concept done so well, especially in YA. She is super easy to relate to, feel for, and even understand, despite everything.

Alex’s voice is so fresh and fun, making her feel like a friend rather than a character in a book because once you get inside her mind you too begin to not know what’s real either, leading to being just as shocked as she is when she realizes. You get to really experience her struggle and the feeling of hopelessness during certain events.

Alex and Miles are great together, and I’m not sure if I have ever seen a character dynamic quite like theirs. It’s seriously awesome to see how their connection develops and grows and how they compliment each other. Speaking of Miles, there are some other good supporting characters as well, though none of them come close to Alex and Miles.

There were some subplots that were a little odd and could have probably have been left out but I can see why they are there and they don’t take away anything major from the main story.

The writing flowed really well, it is simple and easily readable and there are still great quotes! The writing combined with the characters made for great pacing and this never felt like a 450 page book.

Overall a great read mixed with humor, sadness, happiness and feels – definitely recommended.

(This review was originally posted at Readers in Wonderland)

17661416
Made You Up
Francesca Zappia

the store / Goodreads

Reality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. This is a compelling and provoking literary debut that will appeal to fans of Wes Anderson, Silver Linings Playbook, and Liar.

Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion. Armed with a take-no-prisoners attitude, her camera, a Magic 8-Ball, and her only ally (her little sister), Alex wages a war against her schizophrenia, determined to stay sane long enough to get into college. She’s pretty optimistic about her chances until classes begin, and she runs into Miles. Didn't she imagine him? 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.

Funny, provoking, and ultimately moving, this debut novel featuring the quintessential unreliable narrator will have readers turning the pages and trying to figure out what is real and what is made up.

_______________________________________________________________

Here Be the Players
The characters were amazing.
Alex was the cool sort of crazy. She did a lot of weird things. The Freeing of the Lobsters. Crimson Falls. Many different things. And her mental illness didn't overpower her personality. It complemented her person. The paranoia. Checking for tracers in her food. These were common place with Alex. And it highlighted the caution she took. I thought her mental illness made her special. Different. Not all characters have melded their problems into their life as seamlessly as Alex has. And her voice. Sassy and quick. She was clever. But also very...closed. She was reluctant to like Miles. Alex had a good voice. And I liked her character. She relied on people. And people relied on her. The question that lingers is whether the world you read is reality or not. For her, I mean. Is Miles real? Tucker? Who is real? Who is just a figment?
Miles was mysterious. He reminded me of a friend. His personality was different. The good kind, though. He was dark. Closed off. Standoffish. I thought that was amazing. I am a huge fan of dark and mysterious. And Miles fit the bill. People were scared of him. (And I'm not sure I would rather be loved or hated.) He wasn't good with emotions. (I can relate to that. I found out recently through careful self-examination that I'm not very strong in the empathy area. Woohoo! People who don't work well with others. People who can't comprehend emotions! FTW! WE RULE! But yes. That's true. I'm not perfect, never said I was.) There was just something about him. His past. His present. It lured me in. His personality did the rest.

The Adventure Begins (And Ends)
The plot was interesting. It seemed to follow the pattern of nothing happens, reveal, and reaction. Like with Alex's sister. And McCoy. And the snake. You felt like nothing else was coming. Then wham! Everything is there. It seemed like the story was tricking you in every way. Deceiving you. Making YOU, as the reader wonder what was real. This was a story you had to keep reading. It drew you in. Kept you wanting for more. The reveals shocked you. You were clinging to the pages. Every word captivating. That was this story. The plot was fascinating. So many things happened. You had to know how Alex would react. Would she be surprised? Smug? Happy? Depressed?
I started wondering what WAS real. Or is nothing real? Is this ALL a dream? I had to read more carefully. I had to focus. The story made you do that. Questioning reality in general.
The question is...what is reality?

The Swoon-Gasp-Swoon Factor
There was a lot of drama. But not a lot of action. Not that I didn't enjoy the drama. It was great. Edge of your seat. I had to continue reading. There was so much happening. You needed to know. What happened? What now? The urge to know overtook anything else. If I could, I would read the entire thing in one fell swoop. (School sucks. It gets in my way.) There could have been some action scenes. Or something. A fight scene? Cat fight! Doesn't that seem...interesting? I would be glued to the page.

Ka-Pow Power
N/A

Kiss Kiss Fall in Love
The romance was a bit unexpected. I didn't expect it. Why? The two didn't need to be romancing. Each other or someone else. They were troubled. Troubled plus romance? Hell. It doesn't always work.
I will say this. These two were good for each other. It seemed to work. They could help each other. They lost themselves in each other. It was crazy. Wild. I wasn't sure. These two could work in the end. Somehow. Someway. They were two puzzle pieces they didn't fit with anyone else. They had something.
Alex did change. I thought it was a good change. A crazy change. It wasn't bad for her, though. She seemed happier. Better. She had someone to rely on. Perhaps that's what she needed.

Special Effects
N/A

The End

The ending was satisfying. I felt like it worked. Alex got what she wanted. Miles and a better future. I thought that was good. It suited the book. It made me happy to see her happy. Kissing and loving. In love. Crazy in love. It was odd. But the romance...worked. Somehow. I'm not sure how. There were no more questions. Nothing I wanted to ask.
She got her happy ending. In an odd way.

Rating:
5/5

"Made You Up" is the debut novel by author Francesca Zappia and for the most part, I applaud her efforts and found that I enjoyed the book more than I did not. Based off of this book, I will definitely add Ms. Zappia as an author to read and I look forward to see what other books she releases to mess with my mind, because mess with my mind she did.

Alex is a teenage girl with normal teenage girl problems, but those problems are the least of Alex’s worries and are only the beginning of Alex’s daily struggles. Classified as a paranoid schizophrenic, nothing about Alex or her life can be trusted, because there is a good possibility that none of it is real. Armed with a camera and determined not to let her illness get the best of her, Alex starts a new school with a clean slate. No one at this school knows her secret, no one at this school knows the details of why she had to leave her last school and no one at this school calls her crazy. No one yet anyway. Trying hard to keep a solid grip on reality, we journey with Alex as she faces her challenges head on, but when a sinister plot at her new school slowly becomes apparent, Alex must become the most unlikely hero in her own story. Filled with mystery, intrigue, truths, half-truths and delusion, "Made You Up" will have you questioning your own grasp on reality while trying to discern truth from fiction.

I love books that challenge me as a reader. The ones that make me think I know what's going on, only to throw some twist my way that have me rethinking about the storyline and what I think is actually going on and "Made You Up" absolutely did that to me, several times in fact. We are given an unreliable narrator as the main character in this story and with that comes the obstacle of trying to make heads or tails of everything that is said and happening. I was doing the proverbial "scratching my head in confusion" the whole time I was reading this book. It was great and exhausting at the same time.

This book does take on the issues that come with mental illness and it can be a touchy subject for some, so heads up before reading it. I am not schizophrenic (clinically), nor do I know anyone that has clinically been declared schizophrenic, but if the depiction of this illness in this book is to be believed and portrayed correctly, then damn…just DAMN. Storyline and plot aside, this book was a huge eye opener for me when it comes to the daily struggles and life of a schizophrenic. Life is hard enough to navigate on its own, I can’t imagine how hard it would be adding not being able to trust your own mind into the mix. It would be one thing if all schizophrenic illusions were easily identified based on the doubtful actuality and physical existence of the forms/situations encountered, but to be probable and likely forms/situations, it really was grueling! For example, if Alex was to walk down the street and see a hot pink unicorn, eating a cupcake, wearing a tutu and reciting the alphabet, I could more easily view that as a delusion caused by the schizophrenia, but when normal (I use this term loosely) people, situations and conversations occur that turn out to be delusions, I found myself quickly weary of everyone and everything in this book and didn't trust a thing until the very end and even then I still found myself a little skeptical of it all.

Overall, yes, I recommend this book to read. It’s weird, it’s compelling, it’s different and mostly, it’s nothing like anything I have ever read before. I have taken on my share of “weird” reads, but this one ranks right up there close to the top and I think it should be experienced by everyone. It may not be one that you mark as one of your favorites and you may hate it, but I don’t think that anyone that reads it will be sorry that they did. If anything, it’s one of those books that makes you think and sometimes those are the best kind.

I wanted to read Made You Up because I deal with mental health issues myself, and I love books that handle it well, and give readers a view into a world view and problems that they might not otherwise experience or understand. I don't deal with schizophrenia personally, but I have other issues, and can relate in some ways, but also have a lot to learn myself.

Alex is an easy character to like. The way that she describes the world is so real, but that's the thing for her, sometimes she has a hard time distinguishing what is real and what is a delusion. I can't help but feel for her, especially as she is describing her experience with doctors and finding the right medicines. It can be such a challenge to find a doctor that you trust, and then finding the right meds, ones that don't have huge side effects, and actually help more than hurt is a journey and experience all on its own. I think that it stays pretty realistic to what could easily be a real life medical experience.

Having an unreliable narrator is always an experience but this one surprised me more than most. There were certain aspects that I never even imagined could be a delusion but it was and it threaded throughout the whole book. There was also a scene that I would've bet my bottom dollar was a delusion that turned out to be real life. So it was surprising and it made me feel even more deeply for her because her lines of reality and hallucination are always so blurred.

I enjoyed the relationships that she formed in this one. They were complex and unique. Miles is a trouble maker, and he pulls some pranks on her and she dishes it right back out, earning her a spot in his closed off friendship bubble. They really complemented each other, and he wasn't easy to shake, and he ended up being a rock for her. He had his own back story that was fascinating as well as reasons to be more accepting of Alex and understanding of her illness.

The other secondary characters were well done too. There were some absolute jerks, and some others who also liked Alex regardless of her problems. She had forced community service with a club that helped with the snack bar, and setting up and breaking down equipment for after school sports. They were an eclectic bunch and it was interesting seeing their reactions.

The whole side story with presumed cheerleading mean girl was an interesting touch as well as the whole fascination of the principal with the scoreboard. It fell on a girl and killed her, and since their principal has been obsessed with it. It adds another dimension to the story, but at times it seemed a bit forced, but still a decent enough mystery and yet another place where we aren't sure where the line of Alex's perceptions are spot on or if she is paranoid.

There was a romance in this one, and it was sweet enough. I like that it began as friendship, and that always stayed a priority instead of head over heels, nothing else matters like it can be with teens at times.

I did enjoy how they ended the story. Alex had to accept a lot about herself and her disease, but I was proud of her determination and her strength.

Bottom Line: Look at a teen dealing with schizophrenia, and her getting past that to make friends and even try her hand at romance.

A book that totally caught me by surprise, I knew I had to read Made You Up after all the praising reviews started rolling in. So why should you read this book?

1. Made You Up portrays mental illness in a different light. So often in books, mental illness is displayed in a crazy and violent person who ends up killing people or partaking in nefarious acts. Most people who have mental illnesses such as paranoid schizophrenia live relatively normal lives and aren't the evil people they're portrayed as in some novels. Made You Up is an honest portrayal of a paranoid schizophrenic's everyday life that brings both emotion and knowledge to readers.

2. We never know what's real. We feel firsthand how difficult it must be for Alex to distinguish between what's real and what is made up in her mind. This allows us to see Alex's colorful life filled with funny and sometimes scary visions of things that aren't really there. Some crazy revelations happen, and it's an emotional ride.

3. The cast is charming. The characters in this book have such diverse personalities. They aren't your typical YA characters. Each has his/her own quirks and mannerisms. Alex is likable and easy to relate to. Miles is complex and harder to grasp at first, but eventually you see the best in him. The secondary characters don't have as much of a role, yet they still shine through.

4. There's a mystery! Amid conspiracies, freaky accidents, spooky histories, and crazy discoveries, this book will keep you guessing until the end. I love how this book meshes such diverse ideas together. This is not merely a book about love or mental illness or a strange mystery, it's a story of life that blends it all together.

5. Made You Up has John Green's seal of approval. Contemporary King approves! Enough said. Even though I'm not a much a fan of his...

A sincere portrayal of schizophrenia with a complex and endearing cast, this book is definitely one that's heartfelt and eye-opening and should be on your to-read list.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This book has to be one of the most emotional, real, and entertaining books that I have read in a very, very long time. As soon as I finished reading it, I was sad, and instantly wanted to go back to page one and read Alex's story all over again. It was heartbreaking, it was funny, it was touching, and it was just so real. It grabbed at me and drew me in, and made me want to keep reading even after I finished the last page.

Alex is a high school senior who has schizophrenia. She has hallucinations and sometimes cannot decipher reality from things her mind makes up. To help her, she carries around a digital camera and takes pictures of everything, since when she is taking her medications she has an easier time telling reality from things that aren't real. She was expelled from her old school, and is attending a new school where she is trying to keep her condition a secret from her peers so that she can try and fit in a little bit better. There she meets Miles, the little boy she had an encounter with at the lobster tank at the grocery store when she was seven, but since no one ever mentioned him to her, she grew up completely unsure as to whether or not Miles is real.

Miles is the school jerk and genius, and no one wants anything to do with him. Miles is battling his own personal demons when Alex meets him again, and the two of them eventually develop a friendship that stretches beyond anything Alex has ever felt about anyone else.

This book is truly an amazing novel of hope, love, and loss, and what it really means to find where you belong.

4.5/5 stars

MADE YOU UP has to be one of the most unique contemporary YAs I've read in quite a while. From the very start it had me questioning what was real and what was a delusion (I've heard MADE YOU UP marketed as "the ultimate unreliable narrator" and it is so true!). While I can't speak about how well or not represented the schizophrenia was, as I don't have the expertise to do so, I can say as a story it was totally fascinating and I loved how it made me think the whole time I was reading.

Initially, I found the pacing a teensie bit slower than I usually like, but I was still absolutely interested in the characters and what was going on. Alex's struggle made me connect to her immediately, and the cast of characters from Miles, to Tucker, to the triplets, and everyone else just felt very true to everyday high school experience (minus, you know, the out of the ordinary stuff going on).

Overall, I definitely recommend MADE YOU UP to those looking for a fresh, unique contemporary YA and anyone looking for a brilliant example of an unreliable narrator in YA. As a bonus, I was happy to see mental illness handled respectfully, and very I'm curious to see what those with a better understanding and experience with schizophrenia think about the representation.

Great story with great characters and really wonderful writing. MADE YOU UP lives up to the hype for sure.

Diversity note: MADE YOU UP's protagonist has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.)

“My first-ever friend was a hallucination: a sparkling entry on my new resume as a crazy person.”

This was a quirky story about a girl suffering from schizophrenia, and her doubts over what was real, and what was a hallucination.

Alex was a sweet girl, and I felt quite sorry for her and what she was going through; being diagnosed with schizophrenia at such a young age, being unable to know what was really happening and what she was hallucinating, and the bullying she went through from other kids was just a lot for her to deal with. I found Miles to be a bit of an odd character, but he seemed to be good for Alex, which was important as she needed someone to support her.

“I didn’t hate them. They didn’t live in my world.
But that never stopped me from wishing I lived in theirs.”

The storyline in this was about Alex starting at a new school, meeting Miles, and getting up to some mischief, and we also got a few twists thrown in when we would discover that something was in fact a hallucination rather than really happening to poor Alex!
We did get a bit of romance, but it didn’t really appeal to me all that much.

“That is Miles Richter,” I said to Lil. “And he is not imaginary, thank you very much.”

The ending to this was pretty good, but my favourite part of the story was definitely the twists we got thrown at the end!
7 out of 10

This was quite emotional. I was so entranced by the writing, I struggled to resolve disclosures and truths.

Alex was a fierce character! Witty and determined and thoughtful. Her wonderful musings made me laugh out loud and capture my daughters' attention in the explanation.

Miles the enigma. A perfect counterpart to support and challenge Alex. His reputation garnered "bad boy" status, but his heart ruled above all else. He was a lethal combination of swoon-worthy and defiance.

Falling in love was a healing factor for our MCs. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and look forward to a new journey by Francesca Zappia.

Made You Up, Francesca Zappia’s first and only published book, tells the story of a high school senior who struggles with deciphering reality from delusion. The unpredictable protagonist, Alexandria Ridgemont, who shows the realistic side of schizophrenia, narrates this fictional account. Like most other teens in a modern day era, Alex is looking forward to college life. While good grades come easily, pretending that you’re normal, is a huge challenge to Alex. After transferring to a new school, she becomes close with the school-known jerk, Miles Richter. Round character, Miles, has a complicated past and home life but generally keeps to himself. Throughout the story he is able to open up to Alex. They work together by helping each other cope with different issues. When Alex suspects a serious issue that could change both she and Miles’s lives, even she is unsure if she is being sucked into a delusion or if she should immediately call 911.
One of the most distinct themes in Made You Up is finding the good in reality and embracing it. Miles and Alex become each other’s “good” throughout the story. “‘I think you’re an improvement on my imaginations’ I said, flipping back through the pages. ‘You too’ he said ‘My imagination- well what little imagination I have- doesn’t quite live up to the real thing.’ ‘Agreed,’ I said. ‘The real thing is much better.’” This can be relatable for all readers considering, good can sometimes seem hard to find but once we recognize it, it can strengthen both others and ourselves.
The author does a great job developing the setting by describing the small town interactions that take place. The characters are vivid, complex, and flawed, all in one, which inevitably connects the reader to each of them. Since Alex narrates the story, the reader gets to decide what is real and what is imagined. It is definitely unpredictable but that’s what makes it so interesting. The prologue is very significant to the plot and connects the characters in a meaningful way. When compared to a biography about schizophrenia, A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar, it becomes evident that Zappia did a noteworthy amount of research on the subject. There are many similarities in these two accounts. There’s something nice about a credible fiction book.
Since this book contains a bit of mature content, a good age to read it would be throughout the teen years and would be enjoyable for adults just the same. If you’re interested in a unique fiction book that also includes some quirky romance, this is definitely the book for you. Overall, Made You Up receives 5 out of 5 stars from me because of the unpredictable plot and rich characters. It is truly unlike any other book I have ever read.

I have been really intrigued by this title for a while, so I was really glad to have received it from Harper. I’m always intrigued by books about mental illness and this one did not let me down. I really loved all the characters and being inside Alex’s head really brought this story alive. Since Alex can’t tell from reality and her delusions on a daily basis this story really kept me guessing on trying to figure out what was real and what wasn’t. But even though Alex couldn’t always tell what was real and what wasn’t she was such a strong character and she was funny. I really liked the relationships that she made at her school, I especially liked her and Miles dynamic. I definitely, DEFINITELY think everyone should have this on their shelves!

4.5 Stars

This book was fantastic. Alex was such an unreliable narrator because of her Schizophrenia but the unreliableness is what made the story all the more interesting. You never quite knew what was real and what was imaginary. I had a feeling from the beginning about whether a certain part of the story was imaginary or not and I was right. I found it very easy to empathize with Alex and what she was going through. This story definitely makes you think about how tough it must be for real people who go through this. I would definitely recommend this!

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia. Greenwillow/Harper Collins, 2015

Alexandra Richmond is one of the gutsiest characters in YA Lit. She names her bike Erwin, rides it to school, and hides it in the bushes, as hers is the only bike there. All other students drive their own cars. Besides being the new kid in this public school filled with all the usual had core suspects, Alex is also trying to deal with her life and her delusions—she is schizophrenic.

There aren’t any weak teen characters and their stores are hard-core. The adults are basically milk toast or violent shadows. As for the teens many are heroes without knowing it. Miles, the valedictorian, carries out disgusting and sometimes horrific jobs for money, has a gentleness only Alex can see; Tucker, the salutatorian, is rich but assigned to the outcasts; and many others, including Charlie, Alex’s brilliant younger sister and anchor. A fascinating read. I anxiously await Zappia’s next novel.

An Open Letter To Made You Up,

You were a weird one. On some levels I really liked you a lot. It was interesting to be in someone's head that didn't know what was real and what was made up. You had a couple really cool moments where I didn't even know what was going on, and I liked that feeling. Though I will say that some of you was very predictable for me. I liked you, even if I didn't love you!

-The White Unicorn

I love unreliable narrators, and that's just what Alex is. I thought that this book was refreshing, though I also thought that the story got a bit out of hand at moments. Zappia is obviously an author who is willing to think outside of the box, and I think that even though every element of the story didn't work for me, she has a really interesting voice. Needless to say, I was impressed with her debut.

Alex has schizophrenia, and she's learned how to make sense of the world around her. No one in her new school knows that, and she plans on keeping it that way. She has so many little quirks, like taking pictures of things that might or might not be there, asking deep questions and looking for answers in a Magic 8 Ball, and questioning everything. So she's basically a regular teenager, but it's her carefully created voice that makes you feel like something is a bit off. I have to admit that I loved living in her head for the duration of the novel.

Zappia's way of writing characters fit the book perfectly. I liked that we got to know each one of them really well, while also questioning every single motive that they had. Were they really Alex's friends? Was she making them up? Were the people she was surrounding herself with even there in reality? I had all of these thoughts rolling around in my head as I read, but I still found myself liking the people in Alex's life. Real or not.

I did have some issues with the story. While it worked well for the book, I found that the high school setting was odd. I found the scenes that took place outside of the school worked much better for me. Meaning that a good portion of the novel felt a little forced for me. I wish that wasn't the case, but it totally was.

In the end, the good outweighed the not as good for me. If you like books that leave you guessing and are told through the eyes of an untrustworthy narrator, give this one a shot!

You can read this and many other reviews on my YA book blog <a href="http://thewhiteunicornfiction.blogspot.com/">The White Unicorn!</a>

4.5 Stars

This book was fantastic. Alex was such an unreliable narrator because of her Schizophrenia but the unreliableness is what made the story all the more interesting. You never quite knew what was real and what was imaginary. I had a feeling from the beginning about whether a certain part of the story was imaginary or not and I was right. I found it very easy to empathize with Alex and what she was going through. This story definitely makes you think about how tough it must be for real people who go through this. I would definitely recommend this!

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia. Greenwillow/Harper Collins, 2015

Alexandra Richmond is one of the gutsiest characters in YA Lit. She names her bike Erwin, rides it to school, and hides it in the bushes, as hers is the only bike there. All other students drive their own cars. Besides being the new kid in this public school filled with all the usual had core suspects, Alex is also trying to deal with her life and her delusions—she is schizophrenic.

There aren’t any weak teen characters and their stores are hard-core. The adults are basically milk toast or violent shadows. As for the teens many are heroes without knowing it. Miles, the valedictorian, carries out disgusting and sometimes horrific jobs for money, has a gentleness only Alex can see; Tucker, the salutatorian, is rich but assigned to the outcasts; and many others, including Charlie, Alex’s brilliant younger sister and anchor. A fascinating read. I anxiously await Zappia’s next novel.

An Open Letter To Made You Up,

You were a weird one. On some levels I really liked you a lot. It was interesting to be in someone's head that didn't know what was real and what was made up. You had a couple really cool moments where I didn't even know what was going on, and I liked that feeling. Though I will say that some of you was very predictable for me. I liked you, even if I didn't love you!

-The White Unicorn

I love unreliable narrators, and that's just what Alex is. I thought that this book was refreshing, though I also thought that the story got a bit out of hand at moments. Zappia is obviously an author who is willing to think outside of the box, and I think that even though every element of the story didn't work for me, she has a really interesting voice. Needless to say, I was impressed with her debut.

Alex has schizophrenia, and she's learned how to make sense of the world around her. No one in her new school knows that, and she plans on keeping it that way. She has so many little quirks, like taking pictures of things that might or might not be there, asking deep questions and looking for answers in a Magic 8 Ball, and questioning everything. So she's basically a regular teenager, but it's her carefully created voice that makes you feel like something is a bit off. I have to admit that I loved living in her head for the duration of the novel.

Zappia's way of writing characters fit the book perfectly. I liked that we got to know each one of them really well, while also questioning every single motive that they had. Were they really Alex's friends? Was she making them up? Were the people she was surrounding herself with even there in reality? I had all of these thoughts rolling around in my head as I read, but I still found myself liking the people in Alex's life. Real or not.

I did have some issues with the story. While it worked well for the book, I found that the high school setting was odd. I found the scenes that took place outside of the school worked much better for me. Meaning that a good portion of the novel felt a little forced for me. I wish that wasn't the case, but it totally was.

In the end, the good outweighed the not as good for me. If you like books that leave you guessing and are told through the eyes of an untrustworthy narrator, give this one a shot!

You can read this and many other reviews on my YA book blog <a href="http://thewhiteunicornfiction.blogspot.com/">The White Unicorn!</a>

I don't think I have ever read a book with such an unreliable narrator who was constantly blurring the lines of reality and I have to admit I absolutely enjoyed every minute of it. Made You Up dealt with mental illness. Alex suffers from Schizophrenia and Paranoia, she doesn't know what is real and what isn't and since she is narrating the entire novel neither do we the readers know what is real, it was a constant guessing game. Alex does take pictures of things that help her determine what is real, but even that isn't completely reliable.

Alex was such an interesting and likable character, she is getting ready to start senior year at a new high school after being kicked out of her previous one, she wants to be as normal as possible but due to her illness it can be hard for. She checks for poison in her food that her mother cooks, she is scared of Nazis, she does perimeter checks everywhere she goes and she is terrified that Communists are after her, and now on top of everything at her new school she bumps into a boy from her past who she thought was nothing but a figment of her imagination and she is unsure if he is real or not.

Alex and Miles were both very easy to connect with. They both were complex characters and just so different from the ones I'm used to reading about. I also liked that the focus just wasn't on Alex at school but also her home life. As for Miles, he is a genius, literally. He was a total jerk at first and everyone at school actually fears him and at first I did not like him but as you learn more about him you will definitely feel for him and his situation and eventually he became a favorite of mine, I loved how understanding he was with Alex, she couldn't have found anyone better.

Overall Made You Look is an unforgettable emotional read that I highly recommend everyone picks up.

I loved this one so much. It was breathtaking, moving, and powerful. Books about mental illness are tricky because you have to pull them off well, portray it and the people with it correctly, and I think Zappia did a great job. This was an amazing debut and I will definitely be checking out her future books.

Alex has schizophrenia. She has just transferred schools, thanks to an "incident" at her old one, and is just trying to hold it together long enough to get into college. Her biggest goal is just to keep others from finding out about her illness. That is, until she meets Miles. I loved Alex. She's strong, and spunky, and honestly just fun. She refuses to bow to this "problem", doing whatever she can to manage her day to day life. She relies on so many things to help her distinguish reality. Her unreliability as a narrator made it that much more interesting because sometimes she doesn't know what's real and what isn't which means we don't either.

Miles is an interesting character. At the beginning, he isn't really the most likable character, and that's how he's supposed to be. But he's definitely interesting. Sure, he's kind of a jerk, but he also has his issues. Miles and Alex actually fit really well together, and I loved seeing them together. Both of them have things they're hiding from everyone, but slowly they learn to trust each other.

I think some people might argue that her parents were terrible, but I'm not sure I saw them that way. Yeah, some of the things her mother did (or didn't do) were, frankly, awful. However, this book really shows how hard schizophrenia is on everyone involved. And I think this helps open eyes to how important it is to talk about things like this, so that people will know how to deal with it, how to help.

This book also had me captivated the whole way through. There were definitely some twists in there that I didn't see coming. Not knowing reality from the non-reality made this that much more powerful. I think this is such a needed, powerful story and I loved every bit of it.

Book #101 Read in 2015
Made You Up by Francesca Zappia (YA)

Alex has schizophrenia. This has caused her to be ostracized by her fellow classmates. Her actions have caused her to be put into a different school, where she decides to not say anything about her illness. She thinks things are going well until she is outed by a vicious classmate. Then people begin to avoid her again. Alex struggles to live like a normal teen and have a normal relationship with her friends and boyfriends. But her illness makes that very difficult to do. This was a honest and powerful look at a mentally ill teen. It was a great read that I would recommend for both high school students and adults. I borrowed this book from the town library.

http://melissasbookpicks.blogspot.com

really enjoyed this one. It follows Alex, a paranoid schizophrenic, as she navigates high school, friendships, and a new relationship. But don't think that this book is anything but extraordinary: Alex is 100% unique, and so is her boyfriend, Miles. Both have quirks that make them unlikable to others, which is a refreshing twist. But both Alex and Miles have heartbreaking secrets that make their journey all the more intriguing. This isn't a sunshine and rainbows kind of book, and I absolutely loved that it wasn't. It did drag a bit in places, but the writing and the characters more then made up for it.

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: What a fantastically amazing read! This story of a schizophrenic girl struggling with reality is not one to be missed.

Opening Sentence: Sometimes I think people take reality for granted.

The Review:

Made You Up is officially one of my favourite reads from 2015. Call me morbid but I’ve read more books about mental illnesses in the past five months than I probably have in my entire life. Made You Up tops that list.

Alex is schizophrenic and incredibly paranoid. She performs a perimeter check wherever she goes, searches for poison in the food her mother feeds her and takes photographs of everything to help distinguish between reality and her hallucinations. I sympathised with her because although she’s trying to take control of her life, her biggest fear is students from her new school discovering her illness and bullying her. That, and being sent to the mental asylum.

Schizophrenia isn’t supposed to manifest until a person’s late teens, at the earliest, but I’d gotten a shot of it at just seven years old. I was diagnosed at thirteen. Paranoid got tacked on about a year later, after I verbally attacked a librarian for trying to hand me propaganda pamphlets for an underground communist force operating out of the basement of the public library. (She’d always been a very suspect type of librarian – I refuse to believe donning rubber gloves to handle books is a normal and accepted practice, and I don’t care what anyone says.)

I adored Miles because he’s so different from the standard book boyfriend. Miles is a genius but everyone’s terrified of him for one reason or another. No one really knows him, all they know is that he does odd jobs for money, be that stealing someone’s beloved dog or breaking into a house and playing a prank. He distances himself from everyone and is ultimately the Moody guy no one dares approach for fear of angering him.

“Why do you hate him so much?” I asked Tucker.
“I don’t know if ‘hate’ is the right word,” he replied. “’Am afraid of him,’ ‘wish he’d stop staring,’ and ‘think he’s a lunatic’ are more accurate.”
“Afraid of him?”
“The whole school is.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s impossible to know what’s going on in his head.” Tucker looked back to me. “Have you ever seen a person completely change? Like, completely completely? So much that they don’t even have the same facial expressions they used to? That’s what happened to him.”

When Alex arrives at school, for a minute she thinks Miles is the boy she met as a little girl when she tried to free the lobsters. But, he can’t be the same kind boy with blue eyes because her family forced her to believe that the lobster incident was one of her hallucinations. Not to mention, this older blue-eyed boy is cold, mean and plays horrible pranks on Alex. Not one to cower away, Alex retaliates with her version of revenge and I loved the argumentative banter between the two.

What I loved most is that the story isn’t just about Alex and her illness, it’s also about Miles and his struggles at home. They complemented each other perfectly and I thought their relationship was beyond cute. Neither is perfect but they make the other better, and I loved that aspect of their romance. Plus they’re both the ultimate historian nerds, which made me chuckle.

This is a beautifully written, touching read with plenty of humour, I highly suggest you read it immediately! (Or as soon as you can)

Notable Scene:

“Are you real?” I asked.

“Yes, I am,” he said resolutely. He pressed my hand harder to his chest. His heart beat like a drum.

“I am real. This”-he put his other hand over the first-“is real. You see me interacting with other people all day long, don’t you? I talk to people; I affect things in the world. I cause things to happen. I am real.”

“But-but what if this whole place”-I had to suck in air again-“what if everything is inside my head? East Shoal and Scarlet and this bridge and you-what if you’re not real because nothing is real?”

“If nothing’s real, then what does it matter?” he said. “You live her. Doesn’t that make it real enough?”

FTC Advisory: Greenwillow/HarperTeen provided me with a copy of Made You Up. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

“Believing something existed and then finding out it didn’t was like reaching the top of the stairs and thinking there was one more step.”

Alex is a schizophrenic teen that just wants to pass high school as a normal teenager with friends and a part-time job. She uses her camera to capture what she sees on film and check the picture for anything that might change- telling her reality was effected by her schizophrenia.

Alex isn’t the only unstable teen at her new school, though. Miles is an anti-hero and the love interest of the story. At first is a jerk, but you get to know him and his situation through the story and he kind of grows on you. He’s not good with emotions. Not that he’s a sociopath- he’s just slow to understand emotions. He also kind of has a mafia boss vibe feel to him since he uses his high intelligence to run a high-dollar “revenge” posse. There’s some harmless pranks pulled, but also some that are quite scary and I can see why other students warn Alex to keep away from Miles. The biggest thing about Miles is he does have his own backstory and hardships that both hinder and help his and Alex’s relationship.

I do wish we could have gotten to know more about the community service crew, especially the triplets. They’re all mischievous and fun but very loyal to Miles and eventually Alex.

Alex’s mother is overprotective, which is expected considering the situation but it also put extra stress on Alex. She has a closer relationship with her dad who works as an archeologist and isn’t home as much, but her closest relationship is with her little sister, Charlie who is a musical protege.

The main story line centers around a mystery at the school involving a cheerleader, the principal, and the school’s infamous scoreboard. Alex tries to help solve the mystery, but has a hard time differentiating what is part of her paranoia, what’s real, and what’s her hallucinations. It works out really well because the stories are outrageous enough to be paranoia, but still believable so it keeps you guessing.

The part of the plot that really sets this book apart? Alex can’t always tell her made-up world from reality and since she’s the narrator, neither can the reader. She points out some things that are fake but all of reality is thrown up in the air for this book.

Overall, Made You Up is a great young adult novel with a strong, determined female character and a sweet teenage romance.

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It took me a little while to get into it because when you're reading from the perspective of someone who has delusions you're constantly trying to determine what's real and what isn't. But it was still a quick read and once I was in it and was fully invested.

I don't know anyone who is paranoid schizophrenic but this felt like a very realistic portrayal into the mind of one and exactly why I wish everyone read. We have a fear of mental illness in this country and I don't think I'm immune. Books like this demystify mental illness - help up understand what we can and hopefully give us empathy and compassion to make up for what we can't.

Alex wants a normal life so bad, but her brain just won't let her have one. She has coping strategies, but those fail, her parents fear FOR her so much that they don't help as much as they probably should.

I loved the friends she made with her community service group and I definitely loved Miles

4.5 stars

Oh, man. Where do I even begin with MADE YOU UP? This would not have been a book I would have picked up, but after going to a YA book fest and seeing the array of story categories out there, I realized I was doing myself an injustice by not exploring more contemporaries and their sub genres. After reading Neal Shusterman's CHALLENGER DEEP, MYU called to me.

This book about a teenage girl trying to survive her senior year of high school, figure out her family and the intense boy who has somehow worked his way into her heart, all while dealing with schizophrenia manages to be funny, charming, honest, and tear-jerking at the same time. Francesca Zappia's writing sings off the pages; it's straight forward and hard hitting when it counts. I could not turn the pages fast enough and I inhaled the world she created.

Alex feels real. She's a history buff. She wants to go to college. She adores her little sister and has a strained relationship with her parents, especially her mom. She has a crush on a boy named Miles, the school enigma who keeps his head high above everyone else, who can be a jerk but who I ship with Alex 100%. She is more than her illness, which I love. Being with her as she tries to understand "normal" things like high school, and trying to differentiate between her delusions and what's really happening is well done. What I also appreciate is that you never see her sitting in a therapist's office like you do in other books regarding mental illness. Everything she experiences is beyond the restraints of an office. Witnessing the truths is not always pretty. My heart broke several times throughout this novel.

There is a subplot concerning Celia, a Mean Girl in Alex's class, that went where I was not expecting it to go. This was one of the most interesting bully vs. bullied I had seen before. I had so many questions at the end of the book about this that are left unanswered. There were also a few other questions I had about some of Alex's classmates (who were a little stereotypical: ie. jocks and cheerleaders are popular and mean). Also, some of the other subplots in the book are wrapped up a little too neatly for my liking. But these are minor compared to the overall power of MYU.

Highly recommended!

This book is excellent! I couldn’t put it down. I think it is more for a younger age group - high school age -, but I really enjoyed it. The characters are wonderful. As you are reading you aren’t sure what/who is real and what/who isn’t. At all comes to a very nice conclusion.

Alex, who was diagnosed at a very young age with schizophrenia, faces a daily battle to keep track of what's real and what isn't. As a reader, one of the best things about this book is doing the same thing—thanks to Alex's first-person narration, it's often hard to tell what's real and what's a symptom of Alex's illness, bringing a hint of mystery to even seemingly innocuous details. Plus, Zappia writes about schizophrenia with compassion and care, creating a wonderful portrayal of something I haven't seen in YA before.

Sigh. I had such high hopes for this book. Sadly, I was left disappointed.

There's so many things that point to this being a winner for me. I love unreliable narrators. I like not being able to see twists and turns and being kept on my toes throughout a book. Mental illness fascinates me. Even if it's an illness I can't directly relate to (as is the case here), I'm always intrigued by books about mental illness. The human mind is a beautiful and crazy thing. The writing was really good. I definitely think it shows promise for Ms. Zappia.

However, there was a lot that didn't work for me. The biggest thing feels like such a contradiction, so it might be hard for me to explain. Things felt so unfocused. Yes, I understand we're working with an unreliable narrator that has paranoid schizophrenia. I understand that not being sure of what's real is part of the story. Trust me, I understand these things. BUT I feel like, at some point, some clarity should come around. And because of the lack of clarity, the entire book feels sort of pointless and disappointing. It just left me saying, "That's it? That's the ending?" I really don't enjoy when a book leaves me feeling so dissatisfied.

Overall, I just don't know how I really feel about this book. There was both good and bad in Made You Up. I do know, though, that I wanted to enjoy this book so much more than I actually did.

An addictive and irresistible read with an unreliable narrator, because she cannot distinguish what is real and what isn't.

Alex was diagnosed with schizophrenia at thirteen years old and a year later was added paranoia to her diagnosis, so Alex is not sure if what she sees is real or not, so she carries a camera ans constantly takes pictures of all the things to help her discover if it's real. And she's about to enter her senior year at a new school, so she'll be the new girl, which is a good thing for her because nobody knows about her.

At her new school she meets Miles, a quirky guy whom may or may not be someone she knew as a child and leave an impression. But Miles is not an easy person to deal with, he's little anti-social and extremely intelligent. But somehow they work together and have a very good chemistry between them (is not instant love). I really loved them together!

Made You Up is a book that surprised me, because I didn't expect to liked it so much, I LOVED IT !, why? because the whole time I was reading it, I was questioning everything, not knowing what was real and what was imagined by Alex and that was great. The plot is fresh and unique (at least for me). I recommend this book to those that like contemporary novels with a little of mystery.

This is the best book I have read in a long time. It's everything I didn't know I'd been looking for in a book. A coming of age story, a story about reality and mental illness, a story about friendship, love, lies, trust, forgiveness, the misunderstood and the abused. All of that rolled into a compelling narrative held together by beautifully layered and complex characters so that getting to know them feels like unwrapping one of those prank gifts where each layer reveals another puzzle, another mystery, another fascinating facet of character to explore.
And even knowing that you're going to be surprised, the surprise still comes.
I can't wait to read this book again.

This book...

You'll smile.
You'll cry.
You'll get transported back to high schoo—Well, maybe not exactly, haha. I mean, it is about a girl that suffers from delusions.

I'd describe this as an ensemble, slice of life type of piece even with the serious turns it takes. The club members make me say that.

This was one of the best books I've read this year (Technically in 2015). I have never met someone with this disease and I literally fell in love with the main character because of how she approached her demons. She was so tough for someone with the world constantly crushing down on her. Everything that happened is realistic, yet almost imaginary for those, like myself, who have never experienced her view of the world. Honestly I could read this book hundreds of times and it would still have the same inpact. Absolutely recommend this to everyone.

This is the first book that I asked for a refund for. The description of schizophrenia here is so off and so wrong that I just couldn't make it past 10% of it. The writer made schizophrenia into a quirky little character trait.