When Jason Milwaukee’s best friend, Sunshine, disappears from the face of the earth, the whole town, including Jason, starts searching for her. But the insistent voices in Jason’s head won’t let him get to the heart of the mystery—he’s schizophrenic, and the voices make it hard to know what is real and what is not. As the chase becomes more panicked, Jason’s meds start wearing off, and he is looking more and more guilty. But of what, exactly? Both brilliantly witty and intensely honest, this poignant novel draws upon the author’s many years as an adolescent psychologist, but it’s Vaught’s powerful voice and expertly crafted mystery that will keep the pages turning.
This book put me on one hell of an emotional rollercoaster. Freaks Like Us was one of the books I read on the car ride home from ALA (an 8-hour drive). When I heard that the main character in Freaks Like Us was schizophrenic, it made me want to read the book even more. There aren’t many YA titles with main characters that have a mental illness, so I was interested in seeing how Susan Vaught pulled off the storyline. I couldn’t get my eyes of the page! It captured me completely, and each sentence left me wanting more.
Jason’s voice was breathtaking. I fell in love with his thought process, and the way Susan Vaught wrote it. Jason made me want to jump into the story and hug him. Throughout the story, Jason introduces readers to his two best friends- Drip and Sunshine. Shortly thereafter, Sunshine goes missing. Jason then tries to solve Sunshine’s missing persons case. His relentless effort to find one of his best friends is amazing, and so well written.
Freaks Like Us isn’t an easy book to read. It isn’t about cheerful topics, it doesn’t have a ‘traditional’ way of writing, and I don’t think it really fits into a category. Freaks Like Us is an amazing novel. The writing is perfect for the story, the characters are amazing, and the plot couldn’t be any better. I highly recommend Freaks Like Us.
FTC- Received from publisher
1 comment:
Not traditional, not cheerful, not easy to categorize? We are SO there!
Also, we're so glad that mental illness is getting more attention in YA fiction, because that's a critical time to introduce good information and sympathetic views to people's thinking.
Thanks for your review!
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