Book Review: It's Kind of a Funny Story - Ned Vizzini

"Like many ambitious New York City teenagers, Craig Gilner sees entry into Manhattan’s Executive Pre-Professional High School as the ticket to his future. Determined to succeed at life—which means getting into the right high school to get into the right college to get the right job—Craig studies night and day to ace the entrance exam, and does. That’s when things start to get crazy.

At his new school, Craig realizes that he isn't brilliant compared to the other kids; he’s just average, and maybe not even that. He soon sees his once-perfect future crumbling away. The stress becomes unbearable and Craig stops eating and sleeping—until, one night, he nearly kills himself.

Craig’s suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, isolated from the crushing pressures of school and friends, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety."

Read Date - May 2024

Length - 444 pages

Genre - Young Adult, Mental Health, Contemporary

Rating - 7/10

Notes - I’m not gonna lie, i was actually a bit put off by the fact that this has 40+ chapter. But once i really got into it, i instantly soared past where i had started reading it in 2017. I absolutely love the way they show depression as a gradual thing. It’s not something that always had one big trigger, sometimes its many small things compiling together, or the tentacles, as Craig puts it. i want to say that, as a trans person, i really dont hate the characterization of trans people. It’s very offensive and distasteful, of course, but it reads off to me as if it’s coming from the perspective of somebody who doesn’t understand. And, Ned may NOT have understood to the fullest extent. Thats why i say i like it. Because i do think that matters. i really like the dynamic between noelle and Craig, and i like how nia isn’t end game. I like how we see them as two different girls, which is something Ned has struggled to discern in the past with BMC. I love the way Ned tied up the ending, and it genuinely moved me to tears to read the ending “verbs”. This is such a fucking beautiful novel and Ned Vizzini will be missed dearly