Publisher: Amulet Books
Page Count: 368
Publishing Date: October 11, 2016
**I was provided with an eArc by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!**
I read this with fellow Blogateers Cátia and Cristina, which is a good thing, because there was a lot of ranting to be done. And when I say “a lot”, I really mean it this time! Their reviews aren’t up yet, but you should check back on their blogs (by clicking on their names) to read about their experience with the book.
I am just going to say it straight away, this book is about mental illness, schizophrenia to be exact. I feel like that’s something you can’t really gather from the synopsis, which is a shame, because then you go into The Movie Version with completely wrong expectations. There’s nothing wrong with the topic itself, I usually quite appreciate books that take on such an important and quite frankly complex theme, but it simply didn’t work for me here.
Right from the beginning something felt off. Most of it is probably due to me not connecting with the main character, Amelia, at all. She lived in this oblivious bubble of her movie-life. More than once I wondered, if she chose to ignore her brother’s alarming behaviour, if she really didn’t think it was all that odd or if she thought she was actually “protecting” him. I do understand that siblings are supposed to cover for each other, but what she did was in no way helpful. Then, when her brother Toby finally got diagnosed and the help he needed, I could stand her even less. Again, I tried to understand her actions, telling myself that there would probably be a period of denial and then she would get on the case and educate herself about schizophrenia. But nope, that was not the case and it was maddening.
Everything was about her and how this ruined her life, not once did I read her thinking how this must be a terribly difficult time for her brother as well. All her friends, even the most flaky ones, knew more about schizophrenia than she did, simply because she refused to talk about it. Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed for, yet that is exactly how she acted. She lashed out at anyone who wanted to talk and maybe comfort her, telling them and herself that they wouldn’t understand, even though they were far from overbearing and really just concerned. She showed a little growth towards the end, which justifies my 2-star-rating, but ultimately her behaviour just made me sad. I even cried while reading, because I was so disappointed in Amelia. Yes, this is difficult for the family members as well as for the person concerned, but she didn’t even try to talk to Toby or try to understand what was happening. She just wanted her old brother back.
Amelia’s side-story about her love-life wasn’t helpful either. At most times it felt random or awkward at best. I did not feel any chemistry and she kept complaining about a certain feature of his, that I could not imagine being such a big deal. One thing is for sure, this book did not show the movie-version of life. However, I don’t think it portrayed reality either, at least I really don’t hope so.
Fazit: 2/5 stars! Not what I would have wanted to get from a story like this.
Would you read this book? Have you read any books that dealt with schizophrenia better than this one did?
I didn’t realise this book was about mental illness from the cover. Great review!
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Thank you! I thought that was an important fact about the book that was completely neglected in the blurb.
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Ugh. Coming across books that tackle mental health issues in such a poor way just makes me sad. Just imagine, a young adult (because let’s not forget this is the targeted reader) uninformed and still very likely to be influenced by what they read, buys this book and… well, in this case what he/she gets is not a good or realistic idea of what this issue represents in real life because the author has focused in something else to make the story, what? lighter?
Anyway… great review! As always 🙂
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Somehow the mental health issues were just a plot device here and it was maddening. You barely got to explore what it meant to live with such a diagnosis for the brother. You just had Amelia whinging about how she “hates her brother for whatever is wrong with him”. -.-
Thanks for checking out the review!
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Great review! It’s really way too bad that this book wasn’t as great as it could have been. I feel like it had potential, really, but with a main character like that…well, I get why it wasn’t your cup of tea. I would have been annoyed as well haha.
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It was just a really, really dreadful read. You wanted to sympathise with what this family was going through, but Amelia was so selfish. She just wanted her brother to go and act normal, as if it were his fault that the chemicals in his brain are messing with his perception of the world. It was sad.
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It would make me SO sad as well, really. It seems like a bit of a waste for a book talking about mental illness to end up like that.
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It sends a completely wrong message 😦
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Yeah exactly, it’s so…Wrong 😦
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I had a lot of the same problems you had with this one! I really didn’t like the fact that, going in based off the synopsis, there was no clue that it would cover a mental illness. It was really disappointing as I feel like schizophrenia isn’t something I see a lot of in books and so would love to see it done right. And it definitely wasn’t in this. I couldn’t stand how ashamed Amelia acted. It felt like Toby was really side-lined and more of a plot device. I actually feel like it could have been redeemed if it had been a dual POV between Toby and Amelia while dropping the romance. Great review!
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I agree with everything you just said. It just felt completely off and covered the topic in a way that seemed disrespectful. I think that a double POV might really have helped too!
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[…] with Cátia @The Girl Who Read Too Much and Kat@Life and Other Disasters. You can check out Kat’s review of this book here, and go to Cátia’s blog on the next few days to read her thoughts on […]
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[…] I’ve read this book as a buddy with my fellow Blogateers Kat @Life and Other Disasters and Cristina @My Tiny Obsessions so you can read their thoughts in this book HERE and HERE. […]
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[…] The Movie Version by Emma Wunsch (2 stars) Read this alongside Cátia and Cristina […]
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