Book Review: Highly Illogical Behaviour by John Corey Whaley

If you know me, you know that  I LOVE  reading Young Adult contemporary books, and if the main character has a mental illness I will gobble that book up in a matter of days.

   ... and if it is good I will buy the paperback, hardcover, and ebook version ( exactly what I have done with Finding Audrey, which is a book about a girl's battle with social anxiety, only letting people borrow my charcoal covered-paperback copy)

Partially if the main character suffers from an anxiety disorder, I find myself instantly gripping onto the book analysing every single word and relating  to the characters troubles portrayed throughout  the book.  There is something really therapeutic about reading through a characters journey, even if it is entirely fictional.

((( Is there such thing as book theropy? because I think I'm doing it??? )))

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Highly Illogical Behaviour GoodReads Description: 

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

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

Enter Lisa.

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


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The brilliantly-written, YA  book  is written in  third person narrative point of view, alternating between the two main characters: Lisa and Solomon,.

“We’re just floating in space trying to figure out what it means to be human.”

Solomon. 
Solomon suffers from severe  agoraphobia,  to the point where he has not left his house in three years. The only people he talks to are his Mum, Dad, and groovy grandmother who occasionally comes over and visits.  (P.s: The grandmother is my 2nd fav character)



  "And if all he had to do was close his eyes and take a step to make everything better, then why couldn't he just do it? just rip it like a Band-Aid. Why did the thought of walking out that front door still make him feel like his heart was imploding?"




Every time Solomon even thinks about leaving his house he starts to have a panic attack, which is exactly why he has confined himself into his house for three years.  Ever since he had a massive panic attack that lead him embarrassing himself in front of the whole school and being known as "fountain boy".

And then there is Lisa.

 Lisa  is a future psychology  student, who wants to escape her small-minded town and get into the second best psychology program in the state: hoping  one day  to become a psychiatrist.

She needs to write an essay on her "experience with mental illness" for the administration office in order to enter the collage of her dreams. She wants to make her essay unique and stand out, so she makes it her "project" to write about Solomon  with the aim of "curing" him and showing  how valuable she would be in the psychology department.
Simple, right?
Wrongggg..

“There was no denying it. Now he knew it to be absolutely true: He had a friend. And he was terrified of her."

I'm not going to give away any spoilers because I want you to READ THE BOOK!

-- BUT all I am going to say about Lisa's ambition to "fix" Solomon are ... well... Lisa learns a very valuable lesson.  (here I am thinking very carefully about my words because I want you all to read. the. book! )


What I LOVE about Highly Illogical Behaviour. 

 IT'S RELATABLE!!
 ... IT'S SOOO RETALATBLE!

I love Solomon, although I think my love for him is highly bias. I understand why he would avoid the whole world for three years just to avoid having a panic attack.

Whaley's depiction of Sol's anxiety is both highly accurate and honest. I love the scenes where his panic attacks are described, in fact they had me gripping the book going: "OH MY GOD, THIS IS ACTUALLY SO ACCURATE".

Not to mention that  at the end of the novel, (**ONLY SPOILER I AM GOING TO GIVE!!**) Solomon's anxiety is not "cured". The outside word still terrifies him, which really highlights the reality of having an anxiety disorder, despite how much you want it to, it doesn't magically go away overnight.

Also the comments that comes from  Solomon's Dad adds a  bit of black humour, which I loved!

"What Sol has is a very complicated disorder that is unpredictable by it's very nature..... but nothing we can do is going to cure him. That's what I am saying. He needs years of therapy. Maybe decades. Staying inside is one thing, beating the shit out of yourself is another" 

 And the end of the book I still don't know if I like Lisa (who  reminds me of Becky Baker from Degrassi) but I love the supporting character, Clark and I really love Solomon, honestly the characterisation is just brilliant.  And so is the writing: it's one of those types of books that are impossible to put down.

 All up is it an AMAZING book and I highly recommend it!
 


Rating:

5 stars! 

Themes: 

• Mental illness: Agoraphobia -Social Anxiety- Panic Disorder- Self harm 
• LGBTQI+
• Friendships