the bibliotherapist

A lovely tribute to books created by a Louisiana production group– also now an Academy Award nominee. Any book lit lover will connect with the charming story of a man swept up by books.

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Book Report: Mad Love

Feb 11

Posted by M

Book: Mad Love

Author: Suzanne Selfors

Initial Impression: Probably better than the Chris O’Donnell movie, but I can’t say for sure because I’ve never seen it.

from barnesandnoble.com

I admit it: I love Valentine’s Day. I know I shouldn’t. But I do. For me, it’s not about romance so much as it is about showering everyone with love. Candy hearts! Snarky cards! Wearing pink and red! Singing cheesy love songs really loud! And, for me, allowing myself a month of reading simple love stories.

Naturally, I couldn’t pass up a book with hearts literally showering on the cover.

Queen of Romance Belinda Amorous (subtle!) is “overseas” as far as her fans are concerned, but her daughter Alice knows the truth: she’s in a high-end mental health facility because her bipolar disorder is out of control. Now her publishers are sending letters threatening to stop her royalty checks if she doesn’t cough up a new manuscript, and her manic spending habits before her admission make that a real problem for her daughter. Alice resolves to write a romance novel to save her mom. How hard could it be?

As it turns out, a little easier than you might think because a handsome stranger starts harassing her to write his love story. He says he’s Cupid- the actual Cupid- and that he wants the real story of his relationship with Psyche told before “it’s too late.” Meanwhile, Alice has regular teen issues like her awkwardness around her crush Tony, general nastiness from her goth neighbor Realm, and concerns that she’s going to turn out just like her mother.

It’s a perfectly fine book. Though bipolar disorder is serious, it’s mostly a light read. It’s not a perfect story and there’s some plot points that didn’t quite gel for me, but it’s generally good. I liked reading it before bed- short chapters that don’t usually end on a cliffhanger so you can read a few chapters and turn out the light feeling satisfied.

Good Stuff:

- Archibald! Alice has a gay neighbor who manages not to fall into stereotypes. He is perhaps the most normal of her neighbors and a calm in the storm.

- For once, a novel addresses the high cost of mental health care. Honestly, I have a little trouble believing Belinda’s meds took over 6 weeks to kick in and she was nearly comatose that whole time. Usually meds work faster than that. But, I was glad to see the novel address that people don’t stay at hospitals indefinitely and that it’s way expensive– with or without insurance.

- Alice and her fears about getting bipolar. Nicely done and basically realistic for a kid who has a parent with mental health issues.

- Tony Lee, the sweet and persistent love interest. Sure, there’s some contrivance in their interactions, but he’s a good guy and he’s nice to Alice and he’s Asian American, which is not something you see very often in YA.

- The use of clam juice as an antidote to love spells. Ha! Combat the sweet with salty!

The not so great: mostly the last chapter. Alice spends a lot of time in the novel outlining the rules of romance novels for us, and I suppose the last chapter is an attempt to follow Alice’s formula. It’s kind of like the Harry Potter epilogue where everyone gets a happy ending (except Malfoy and his unfortunate hair). It didn’t feel necessary to me. It was kind of a list of outcomes and didn’t flow with the rest of the novel.

Verdict: If you’re going to read a book with hearts showering the cover, it may as well be this one.

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Tags: mad love, suzanne selfors, YA