Recently, I finished reading Crazy, a 367 page realistic fiction novel by Amy Reid. Amy Reid is originally from Seattle, but is now living in Oakland, California. Reed is also the author of Beautiful, Clean, and Over You.  This novel was amazing. I’ve never read a book that has made me feel so much emotion so quickly.

The reason I read this book is because it discusses some serious topics. I like reading books about more serious topics because they make me feel more connected to the characters, like they are more than just characters in a book.

In the novel, the narrators, Connor and Izzy, talk to each other through emails. They met over the summer while being counselors at a camp. Connor is doing great. He lives with his mom on an island, he has a adorable dog, and he has his whole future laid out in front of him, but there’s one issue. He has a huge crush on Izzy and Izzy knows it. Unfortunately, for Connor, Izzy could care less about his crush, and teases him about it constantly. Izzy, on the other hand, is not doing so well. She lives with her parents, who constantly fight, her brother, who is a drug addict, and her sister, who is about to move out to live with her wife. Although over the summer, Izzy was a fun and outgoing girl. “Then you climbed on top of the table in the middle of the room and started tap dancing and singing about surrealism and Dali and Magritte, and everyone shut up and sat down” (Reed, Crazy, pg. 13).

That quote was written in Connor’s point of view and it was when he was reminding Izzy of the girl she used to be. Izzy showed signs of serious depression and odd behavior early on in the novel. She stopped emailing him for a couple days and when she didn finally email him she said stuff like; “Connor, can you imagine what it feels like to wake up and realize you’re dead? That you’re dead? That you love someone, who can’t even see you? I am tired, Connor. I am so tired I don’t want to wake up” (Reed, Crazy, pg. 61).

I was really angry when Izzy got mad at Connor when he stopped responding. Connor was away looking at colleges, in case you were wondering. Izzy, on the other hand, sat at home, in front of her computer, emailing Connor everyday, sometimes even twice a day. Then one day while Connor is away, Izzy sends him this email; “She is winning, Connor. My evil twin. I don’t know where the real me stops and she begins. She runs and runs and I follow, and it’s getting easier, this racing around. The track is part of my feet, her feet. I am strangely calm. I am focused. Everything is clear all of a sudden. The pain comes from the struggle, next from the girl. She wants me to stop fighting. She promises me there will be no conflict. She whispers and her voice is soft. It is not the sound of evil. She says, Let go. She says, Relax. She says, Don’t you want to stop fighting? And I say yes. She says, Close your eyes. And I do. Then she takes over and I feel myself slipping, and the falling feels like freedom” (Reed, Crazy, pg. 255).

This part of the novel really stuck with me, because it made me feel really bad for Izzy. This paragraph really made me worry about her. This novel really stuck with me.

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good book that really makes you feel. I would recommend this book to anyone who is stuck on what to read. This book is a 10 out of 10 and truly amazing.
Sincerely, Sydney Roberto