Review: The Symptoms of My Insanity by Mindy Raff

The Symptoms of my Insanity
Author:  Mindy Raff
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers, Peguin
Hardcover: 384 pages
Genre: Contemporary YA
Summary (from Amazon):

It's kind of crazy how you can pay so much attention to yourself and still not see a thing.

Izzy is a hypochondriac with enormous boobs that won't stop growing, a mother with a rare disease who's hiding something, a best friend who appears to have undergone a personality transplant, and a date with an out-of-her-league athlete who just spilled Gatorade all over her. Yes, Izzy Skymen has a hectic life. But what Izzy doesn't realize is that these are only minor symptoms of life's insanity. When she discovers that the people she trusts most are withholding from her the biggest secrets, things are about to get epic -- or is it epidemic?

Purchase Here: The Symptoms of My Insanity 


Review:
Sometimes I always fall for a book based on it's cover. And I know it's not just me. I'm sure every avid reader does it, too. First it's the cover. Next is the blurb. Then it's the blurb. And for The Symptoms of My Insanity is funny, and that's the main reason why I got this book (and also including the title and blurb/summary). But this book was somewhat humorous, and some issues I had with this book that I couldn't really get over.

The best things about this book is that Mindy Raff does awkward, funny moments that teens can surely connect to such as trying to get a new bra fitted by unknown people and their hands groping and squeezing and measuring your upper chest; the discomfort of your body, and getting your hair stuck in someone's glasses, or extending an awkward moment between people.

This book felt half-serious and half-funny but couldn't decide which one to be. The book that Mindy tried to attempt to speak out about follows the seriousness of cancer, sexual harassment, and friendship  while trying to add some humor to the darker subjects it....doesn't work as well as I thought it would.

For example, Izzy's hypochondria: because of her mother's super dark secret- cancer - Izzy spends time researching and ends up becoming addicted to an online diagnosis website. There she becomes paranoid that every little sneeze, sniffle or stomachache means ultimate disaster. A problem with that is that after it's been put on the spotlight from Izzy's friends and family, there is no mention of it ever in the story. It's just suddenly gone. Poof. Without warning. Having sudden realization of a problem doesn't automatically make it go away.

Izzy's Mom. I think I should feels sorry for Izzy's mom because of her illness, but...I really don't. I simply can't sympothize for the mother especially when she's constantly looking down at Izzy and destroying her self-esteem. Izzy's self-consciousness about her body comes from her mother who continues to pick at everything. Like this, Izzy's mom uses the Yiddish word of nafka which means the term of a "loose woman" and sometimes Izzy's mom will make that comment to her daughter because either her clothes are too loose and baggy and gets frustrated and mean if she wears clothes that are too tight. But when Izzy finally tells her mom straight about this bullying her mom has been pushing on her, it felt a little forced and rushed and not all much resolved, sne it only did happen only a few pages before the actually story ended.

The one that was upsetting  and shouldn't really have been included was the sexual harassment. Izzy ends up in a good-turned-bad position fairly quickly with a boy that she liked, named Blake, against her will. It was known that they have harassed two other girls, her friends, and Izzy doesn't nothing to report him about what he did.  But instead, she just ignores him and eventually a viral photo of her gets around which gains the name BoobGirl...and now Izzy wants it to stop. So, with her doing nothing about it, Blake is trying to come around Izzy to apologize to her explaining to her that he didn't mean it, and that he didn't want to do what he did and only because it was a bet/prank, and that he's sorry, blah blah. I almost for bad for Blake. Almost. But, I would give Izzy some props for finally confessing but that didn't end well....

The friendship between Izzy and Jenna wasn't really handled well. Jenna and Izzy are best friends, but it appeared that they didn't really care for each other at all. Jenna decides to blow off Izzy because of what happened in the summer. Izzy had a good reason so I couldn't really blame her. Though once Izzy realizes what Jenna issues were, she doesn't really supports Jenna.


Conclusion:
I promise that this review may sound like a rant, but it's not.  Despite these issues in the book, there are good things about it, too. I do hope that Raff continue to make more books. The humor is done well, but could have been a bit more and for the dark subjects could have shown a little bit more promise. TSoMI does try to do too much and ends up not quite that satisfying as I thought it would be. Though I didn't particularly like the book, I am open to reading some of her other future books.

Rating 3.9/5