Book Review: Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

Made You Up

by Francesca Zappia
Published: May 19, 2015
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Format: eBook (428 pages)
Source: Library

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 appea...

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.

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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. View Spoiler »I loved the moment when Alex changes her thinking about her mom wanting to send her to a hospital. She realizes her mom doesn’t want to get rid of her but that she doesn’t know how to help her anymore. « Hide Spoiler

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.

My thoughts on the ending which I mostly liked but one thing bugged me. View Spoiler »Alex is also paranoid and I fell like her paranoia helped her see things that other’s dismissed and she saved the day because of it. Also, the only thing that bugged me about the story was that she didn’t get to graduate from high school. Why?! She worked so hard and it never says why she doesn’t get to graduate. Oooh it irked me. « Hide Spoiler

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

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