Me Being Me Is Exactly as Insane as You Being You

by Todd Hasak-Lowy

Through a series of lists, a narrator reveals how fifteen-year old Darren's world was rocked by his parents' divorce just as his brother, Nate, was leaving for college, and a year later when his father comes out as gay, then how he begins to deal with it all after a stolen weekend with Nate and his crush, Zoey.

• ISBN10: 144249574X
• ISBN13: 9781442495746
• Publish Date: 5 April 2016 (first published 24 March 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
• Edition: Reprint ed.
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 656
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

6 Things Angie Liked About This Book

The title.
The format (lists!!!).
The main character is Jewish.
The main character is chubby.
Teenage sex is portrayed as being awkward. Which it is.
Darren's brother and the Hawaiian pizza.

4 Things Angie Didn't Like So Much About This Book

It was boring.
She felt no emotional connection to Darren and therefore
Didn't care much about what he was going through.
Multiple time jumps of a few months.

5 Great Plot Threads and Concepts That Angie Felt Could Have Been Explored More or At Least Done In a Non-boring Way

Darren learning that his dad is gay.
Zoey.
The visit to Darren's brother, Nate, at college.
Darren's relationship with Nate (he seems oddly obsessed).
Breaking up a conversation (or wall of text) with numbers does not make it a list.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Kelly]

http://www.divabooknerd.com/2015/06/the-list-book-one-with-really-long-title.html
Me Being Me Is Exactly as Insane as You Being You is a storyline made entirely of lists, in which Darren seems to find solace as a coping mechanism. The ass has just fallen out of his world, he's depressed, latches onto girls hoping for a girlfriend and dreams of his own band, I suspect in the hope to find said girlfriend. His mother would rather throw herself into her work than spend time with her family, and his divorced father has just dropped a doozy of a secret in Darren's lap. Darren is a likable character, we're told he's intelligent but sadly never shown any proof. But he's creative and an incredible bassist, who misses playing with his brother's band. Darren reminded me of Charlie in The Perks of Being A Wallflower, naive and awkward, but has a strange appeal that is never quite fully explored. I loved Zoey, her character had the makings of a John Green novel. Quirky and flighty, but sadly just as she started to become interesting, she disappeared.

I loved Darren's father, so incredibly loving and tolerable of his son while he worked through his issues. He was a big part of Darren's life, whether Darren wanted him there or not and with his mother always on the road, he desperately needed a parental figure in his life.

But beyond the quirky format, it brings to light deep and thought provoking issues such as substance abuse, sexuality and loneliness. I felt incredibly sorry for Darren but once his father's secret was revealed, he became another angry and angst riddled teen that seemed withdraw from the only person who was genuinely there for him.

As much as I appreciated it's uniqueness, I didn't see the overall picture. I was waiting for the AH HA! moment that never arrived. It was entertaining, but the format left me feeling disconnected and unable to immerse myself within the storyline. I found the lists difficult to read with it's stop start format.

A quirky and unique coming of age, that in the right hands will indulge readers, immerse them and leave you on a high. I enjoyed it for the most part, but with a disconnection to the characters and storyline. Don't let it's length fool you, it's remarkably easy to breeze through.

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

FYI: My review will spoil what Darren's dad reveals to him. We find out about this revelation really early on in the story, so I don't feel it's really that much of a spoiler, and considering it's a focus of the majority of the story, I have no idea how I can review this book without talking about it. If you don't want this spoilt for you, though, do not read any further.

As soon as I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. A story told entirely through lists, that's as long as it is - 656 pages, about what sounds to be quite a complicated story? I am sold! This book is really amazing, but the ending has left me totally confused.

Darren isn't doing so great. His parents are divorced, his brother has left for college, and his best friend has moved away. Dealing with the divorce has been hard, but he doesn't really have anyone to talk to. And then one morning, his dad drops a bombshell on him; he's gay. Darren doesn't know how to deal with this sudden declaration, or how to work out what it means. Not being able to cope with all that's going on in his head, or with having to spend a several hour journey with his dad later to visit his brother, he decides to skip school and visit his brother early. But Zoey, a quiet and seemingly strange girl from school Darren has always had a thing for, adds further complications; she turns up mid-journey, and spends the day with him. And then disappears.

I felt quite sorry for Darren. He has really struggled with his parents' divorce. He understands that now they're apart they seem happier than they were together, but that's not what he wants. He wants his family whole; his parents together, and happy about it, and possibly his brother back home. Even now, there is still tension between his parents, and flitting between the two homes is difficult. It doesn't help that his mother isn't really around as much, as for her job she has to travel to and from California quite a lot, so Darren is forced to stay with his dad who just wants to talk about everything. And then his dad throws another spanner in the works by revealing he's gay.

I really like the way this was handled. Darren isn't homophobic, he doesn't have a problem with gay people... but this is not something you expect to be told from your dad. He's gay? He's always been gay? So what does that mean for his mum and dad's relationship? Was it all a lie? Had his whole childhood been a lie? Darren really isn't happy, and doesn't know how to deal with it. Also, although being gay isn't a problem, having a gay dad kind of maybe is, because of how he's going to be seen - he's always going to be the guy with the gay dad, he's a little worried what people will think of him. But mostly, his struggle is with accepting it himself. His dad is not who he thought he was, he never has been, and although he doesn't have a problem with gay people, it's a complete shock. And with his mother not always there, and his best friend nowhere near by, he's lonely, and doesn't really have anyone to talk to. Hence him deciding to go visit his brother on his own.

The voices of the various characters in this book were brilliant! So distinctive! I especially loved Nate's, even though he frustrated the hell out of me. It was Darren's, Nate's and Zoey's that stood out for me. In fact, it was Darren's relationship with Zoey that was the highlight of the book for me. In the end, it turns out to be only one part of a book with many parts, so not as much of a focus as I would have liked. But hey, Darren has a lot going on, and does spend a lot of time thinking about her and questioning things, even if there isn't much page-time of them together. And Me Being Me isn't so much a book about Darren's relationship with any one particular person, but with all of them. It's a book about him.

However, this book had one major flaw for me; the ending. I have no idea if I missed something, or if that is just how it ended. There are so many questions left unanswered! Maybe there will be a sequel, from someone else's point of view, where we find out the answers to these questions. But if not, and that is just it, with me having not missed anything... then that is one hell of an infuriating ending, to the point where I'm quite angry. To get so invested in a story, in a character, and wanting them to work out everything, and then to have... things end like that?! I'm really trying not to spoil it, but it just felt cruel. I want to know what was going on too, how comes I don't get to hear? I really do hope there's a sequel, but if not, I'm really not happy. Has anybody else read this yet? Please talk to me about the ending in case I have completely missed something! Because there are just no words really.

Overall, though, a really amazing book, apart from those last four pages. I'd still really recommending this book despite the ending, because it's just so, so good otherwise! And the format is so interesting and works so well! Definitely something to check out!

[ellieroth]

También en: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Con un nombre tan largo y curioso, algo así como “Yo siendo yo es igual de loco que tú siendo tú”, era imposible no notar este libro. Solo que no me esperaba lo que leí.

¿Cómo diablos le haces para escribir una historia como ésta? Todo el bendito libro está narrado en… ¡Listas! Primero pensé que era una especie de introducción, solo que las páginas avanzaban y las listas continuaban y continuaban. Listas como “3 Palabras que dije antes de la noticia” o “10 Cosas que probablemente estaría pensando” o “2 Escenarios en los que me imagino”, cosas así, algunas bastante graciosas la verdad. Definitivamente Me Being Me Is Exactly as Insane as You Being You se lleva un montón de puntos por su estilo narrativo, Todd Hasak-Lowy ha abierto un nuevo mundo para mí, ya nada será lo mismo.

La historia es bastante buena también, cada vez hay más y más libros LGTB publicados, lo cual se agradece muchísimo, nos ayuda a entender y aceptar al mundo. Pero ¿qué pasa si en el desayuno tu padre te dice que es gay? Por muy maduro que seas, por más que estés de acuerdo que ser homosexual es la cosa más natural de la vida, de qué es shock, es shock. Darren Jacobs, mientras intenta digerir la dona que se acaba de comer, intenta digerir también la pequeña noticia que su, hasta entonces, bastante heterosexual y recién divorciado padre, le suelta. Más las otras bombas que su familia le va soltando durante el año.

Darren Jacobs es un chico de 15 años con la mente bastante curiosa y un poquito subido de peso, idolatra a su hermano mayor, tiene el mismo problema que yo cuando estaba en el colegio, es un año mejor que todos en su clase por lo que se siente en desbalance de vez cuando, preguntándose que quizá estaría mejor con la clase que sí tiene su edad. Y encima de todo, no es la persona más sociable exactamente. Tuve dejavus hasta por la puras, kitten.

Me Being Me Is Exactly as Insane as You Being You es el ejemplo extendido de la frase “Estoy bien”, ese momento en el que quisieras gritar, patear, golpear, reclamar, llorar un poco pero sabes sería injusto y egoísta para la persona que te lo pregunta, por lo que pones buena cara, sonríes, dices estar bien y que sigan contando sus problemas, mientras vas acumulando poco a poco toda la presión, porque de verdad quieres ser una buena persona, quieres estar ahí para apoyar y aconsejar a las personas que quieres y te necesitan. El problema viene cuando explotas.

Otro de los detalles que me gustó de Me Being Me Is Exactly as Insane as You Being You es que no idealiza los problemas mentales, algo que pudo ser bastante fácil, pero Todd Hasak-Lowy nos trae el lado duro, la decisión drástica que a veces se deben tomar para cuidar de las personas que queremos.

Lo único negativo que le encontré al libro es que tienen una cantidad importante de marihuana, no es ningún tipo de apología a este planta pero sí es mencionado más de un par de veces.

Entonces, kitten, ¿Qué tan loco es que nosotros seamos nosotros?

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[Leah]

Five Things You Should Know That Leah Is Going To Tell You About Me Being Me Is Exactly As Insane As You Being You

1. The novel is told entirely by lists. Which might make it sound like a super-quick, awesome way of telling a story, but a lot of the lists include really, really long-winded explanation better served with a traditionally written novel (in my opinion anyway).

2. I’m not actually sure what I just read. I’m not sure what the plot was. Even the GoodReads synopsis doesn’t seem sure, because sure Darren goes to visit his brother, alone, but um, is that it? Was that the whole point of the novel, or did I entirely miss the point?

3. The absolutely best character in the novel – the super interesting Zoey is barely in it. Which made me want to cry. Because I really liked her. My interest would have held infinitely longer if she had been in more of the novel.

4. I also wasn’t a big fan of the whole Darren’s dad is gay plot. I don’t mind at all that Darren’s dad is gay, I minded the way Nate and Darren made it out to be like a joke. It was just the teensiest bit homophobic, and while I can understand Darren was probably messed up learning that his father is gay, I still didn’t think it was acceptable, in this day and age.

5. Overall, this one wasn’t for me. I loved the sound of it as soon as I read the synopsis, but the synopsis didn’t deliver what I was promised. The title is awesome (yes, it’s a mouthful, but I like it) but at the end of the day this was a little bit like reading a teenager’s diary. And not just an ordinary diary. A list-obsessed teenager’s diary, and it just wasn’t that interesting, to me. That just may be my tastes, and I was disappointed I didn’t enjoy it more.