Review: Schizo by Nic Sheff

Title: Schizo

Author: Nic Sheff

Publisher: Philomel Books

Publishing Date: September 30th, 2014

Pages: 263
Audio Length: 5 Hours and 12 Minutes

Genre: YA Contemporary

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

 
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The fascinating, shocking, and ultimately quite hopeful story of one teen’s downward spiral into mental illness by the bestselling author of Tweak.
Miles is the ultimate unreliable narrator—a teen recovering from a schizophrenic breakdown who believes he is getting better . . . when in reality he is growing worse.
Driven to the point of obsession to find his missing younger brother, Teddy, and wrapped up in a romance that may or may not be the real thing, Miles is forever chasing shadows. As Miles feels his world closing around him, he struggles to keep it open, but what you think you know about his world is actually a blur of gray, and the sharp focus of reality proves startling.
Written by the New York Times bestselling author of Tweak, Schizo is the fascinating, and ultimately quite hopeful, story of one teen's downward spiral into mental illness as he chases the clues to a missing brother. Perfect for fans of Thirteen Reasons Why, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and It’s Kind of a Funny Story.

What made me pick this book up:

The cover caught my eye first, and then the title. 

What did I like about the cover: 

I actually really like it. I think it fits the book really well. How it's him and then other versions of him. The colors are beautiful and the model isn't bad to look at either.

What made me read this book: 

The book sounded really interesting. I love books about mental illness, I don't know why, but I'm always drawn to them. Maybe because of my own mental illness? 

Anyway! 

I also wanted a short book to listen to and review and this one seemed perfect.

What did I like the most: 

This book is kind of hard for me to review. There was more I didn't like it, than I liked about it. But at the same time, I still rated it a three. And I'll tell you why.

Schizo is about a teenage boy who has schizophrenia. He was diagnosed after his first episode 2 years ago. At the same time as his first episode his little brother went missing from a beach.

They couldn't find his brother. So he blames himself for his brothers disappearance, to the point of obsession. He is completely obsessed with finding his brother, he knows with everything that he is that his brother is still alive. 

I think this book is really well written, it gives a lot of light to schizophrenia and being inside his head.

I didn't care for the MC, which I'll go over later.

Jackie is my favorite character. She's his best friends girlfriend, and she is just super honest and sweet. 

The best part of this whole book is the ending to be honest. There's a big huge BOOM that happens and it just has you like whaaa. The ending made this whole book worth it to be honest.

What didn't I like: 

It started off pretty rocky. Very slow, and just kind of dry. 

It had a lot of build up.

I had a really hard time with the characters too. A lot of authors write the characters in these books as screwed up. All of them, not just the MC. But like his friends, always partying, getting drunk or high. 

And the MC acts like a total badass, just doesn't care. I understand that it's hard. He his schizophrenia, his mom takes pills and checks out. He has to act tough. 

The only time he seems soft at all he's talking about his brother. 

I feel like if we got to see a little bit more emotions from him, not just the bad ones. That it could have been better, and I would have felt for him more.

Another thing that bugs me, is that he acts like God doesn't exist. I understand not everyone believes in God. But the way he did it, he made it sound like the voices in his head was God, and then when he realized it wasn't, it's like God didn't exist at all.

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
Yes.

Kind of slow at the beginning, writing is okay, has a really great ending.

“You have got to get creative if you want anyone to notice your goddamn teenage angst.” 
― Nic Sheff, Schizo

Due to his parents' divorce, at age 4, Sheff spent much of his childhood bouncing back and forth between the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles. He began using alcohol and drugs early on, even before his teen years. By high school he was a regular user of ecstasy and cocaine. Living on the street much of the time, Sheff became involved in various destructive behaviors such as selling drugs and working as a prostitute in order to support his addiction. Eventually, faced with the choice of jail or rehab, Sheff dropped out of college to seek treatment, at which time he was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder.