CRAZY by Amy Reed

Connor knows that Izzy will never fall in love with him the way he’s fallen for her. But somehow he’s been let into her crazy, exhilarating world and become her closest confidante. But the closer they get, the more Connor realizes that Izzy’s highs are too high and her lows are too low.  And the frenetic energy that makes her shine is starting to push her into a much darker  place.  As Izzy’s behavior gets increasingly erratic and self-destructive, Connor gets increasingly desperate to stop her from plummeting. He knows he can’t save her from her pain…but what if no one else can?

–CRAZY

CRAZY, from Oakland author Amy Reed is an emotional rollercoaster ride through teen angst, romance, and the very real hopelessness that some feel and don’t know how to face. The novel, written in the unique and engaging format of email correspondence between just two characters, follows teens Isabel and Connor, who live in different cities and virtually different worlds but have become each other’s greatest confidant.

As Izzy descends into a dark spiral driven by what she has yet to learn is the onset of bipolar disorder, Connor tries desperately to reach her. He is falling in love with the girl who doesn’t know how to be loved, or to love herself, and all he wants to do is show her just how loved she is.

What begins as a seemingly typical tale of a moody teen slowly turns dark as Izzy’s ability to function with her disorder deteriorates. Connor finally begins to fear for his friend, understanding just how grave her situation is, until she finally sends one email that tips him off to her attempted suicide. The boy is forced to find the strength inside himself to go to their parents and the authorities and find the help Izzy needs before she is lost to him forever.

As she’s shown in her earlier novels, Reed has a fantastic ability to draw the reader into the mind of her characters. She addresses heavy issues with the light hand of a YA author. Her treatment of the spiral of depression in the teen years that can lead to suicide is insightful and touching, and very real. Without any of the hackneyed drama that sometimes surrounds the topic, Reed paints an intimate image of the confusion a person experiences that can lead to feeling like there’s no way out — and the fear and helplessness felt by those close to them as they try to understand and help.

As the author mentions in a personal message to readers, she has been in Izzy’s shoes, considering the most permanent “solution”, until she was able to talk to her parents about it:

Author Amy Reed (Photo by Erika Hart)

“I can honestly say that medication saved my life as a teen. At age fourteen, I was planning my suicide. I got very close to following through. But as strained as my relationship with my parents was at the time (as strained as all teens’ relationships are with their parents), I somehow gathered up the courage to tell my mom what was going on. Some glimmer of hope remained, some knowledge that I was loved, some curiosity about what would happen tomorrow. I asked for help and I got it, and that help saved my life.”

And, however moving and entertaining, Reed ultimate hopes that her novels will offer that glimmer of hope to those who need it: “It is my greatest wish that anyone out there who is feeling this kind of hopelessness and fear finds the brave place inside them and ask for help before the light of hope burns out. If this book can inspire just one reader to do that, my time on this planet will have been worth something.”

At her website, Reed shares resources for those in need of help or education about suicide and mental illness.

Read more at SevenPonds about why suicide is life-changing,  why suicide happens and how to cope with suicide.