book review: highly illogical behavior

Rating: 5 stars

Goodreads Blurb:

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.

MY REVIEW

So where to start..I mean, don’t get me wrong, this book was incredible and it left me with ALL THE FEELS. I found myself laughing and crying and even smirking. And by the time I was finished with “Highly Illogical Behavior,” I felt like I was best friends with Lisa, Solomon and Clark. 

So first let’s talk about Lisa. Lisa drove me crazy because she was so obsessed with “fixing” Solomon. She came off as manipulative and I was a bit skeptical about whether approaching befriending Solomon with that kind of mindset would really ‘help’ him. But in the end, she does befriend him and I really enjoyed reading the lighthearted banter that follows. There are a lot of nerdy references to Star Trek (which I didn’t necessarily understand) and some drama at the end of the book. All I’m going to say about that drama is that once again, I wanted to jump in the book and shake Lisa!  She was being really irrational and jumping to assumptions without even checking in with her friends. But all of Lisa’s flaws only served to make her a more realistic character and I couldn’t help sympathizing with her sometimes. 

I think the best part about the book is that it’s written from both Lisa and Solomon’s POV so you can kind of see the ‘two sides of the coin.’ And Solomon was of course my favorite character. I still think Lisa’s POV was essential but Solomon was so sweet and funny, I couldn’t help liking him (more). 

And through Solomon, this book explores mental illness (more specifically: agoraphobia). Solomon’s panic attacks are described as “loops” and explained in such a way that the reader is left understanding and empathizing with Solomon. And Solomon, as a character, is really well developed and interesting. He may not have left his home in awhile but he still has a great personality (and he’s such a nerd). 

Perhaps it is slightly unrealistic how almost everyone Solomon interacts with is very supportive and understanding. However,  it was nice to read a book where things like being gay are a nonissue (even though Solomon does, of course, have to come out to his family/friends).

 

So would I recommend this book? HELL YES! Go read it! (And if you already did, I’d love to hear what you thought!)