Rating: 7.4
I tend to hate young-adult novels. The prose is often lack-luster; the dialogue is clichéd; the characters are hollow. Ever since the Twilight “Saga” came around, more and more YA novels are being pushed out to young readers all over the world. That being said, it is quite easy to become cynical when reading YA.
I had a feeling that Vizzini’s second novel, It’s Kind of a Funny Story would be just that: a funny story. Something light-hearted with maybe one or two lines that I would love. However, Vizzini only impressed me.
It’s Kind of a Funny Story follows Craig, a suicidal fifteen-year-old living in Brooklyn, New York. After attempting to go out á la defenestration, he checks himself into a mental ward where he meets new friends and a potential girlfriend.
Yes, just from the sound of that, it’s groan-worthy. However, Vizzini did his homework. He wrote of the conditions of a mental ward so correctly and intricately, it was like he served time there himself–which, incidentally, he did. This is not your normal YA novel; it is filled with beautiful writing. The dialogue is never forced. Every character is so well fleshed out, it’s as if I could talk to them even after the pages stopped turning. He described the effects of clinical depression to a T. His description was thorough while not being flowery. Vizzini did a fantastic job writing this novel and will be looked at more closely in the future.
For an excerpt of It’s Kind of a Funny Story, please copy/paste the link: http://www.teenlibris.com/images/uploads/pdf/FunnyStory.pdf
