BOOK REVIEW: MY KIND OF CRAZY BY ROBIN REUL

My Kind of Crazy

by Robin Reul

336 pages

Expected Publication April 5th 2016

MY GOODREADS RATING 4/5 STARS

(Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley, I received an ebook copy of this book for free to review.)

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS:

Despite the best of intentions, seventeen-year old, wisecracking Hank Kirby can’t quite seem to catch a break. It’s not that he means to screw things up all the time, it just happens. A lot. Case in point: his attempt to ask out the girl he likes literally goes up in flames when he spells “Prom” in sparklers on her lawn…and nearly burns down her house. 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Peyton Breedlove, a brooding loner and budding pyromaniac, witnesses the whole thing. Much to Hank’s dismay, Peyton takes an interest in him—and his “work.” The two are thrust into an unusual friendship, but their boundaries are tested when Hank learns that Peyton is hiding some dark secrets, secrets that may change everything he thought he knew about Peyton.

MY THOUGHTS:

At first, I thought this was just going to be a silly little love story, but about 20% in I realized that wasn’t going to be the case at all. I also thought it had a similar plot line to another book I had read recently, again I was wrong. The two main characters are extremely relatable.

The author has a way of making light of tough situations, but not undermining the feelings involved. The story touches on the subjects of addiction, death, guilt, grief, emotional and physical abuse in a very empathetic way. There were a couple of times when I laughed out loud while reading, and other times I could feel my eyes welling with tears. It was the perfect combination of serious and funny.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I found it quick to get through but also memorable.