Book Review: Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley

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Highly Illogical Behavior
Author: John Corey Whaley
Reading Level: Young Adult
Genre: Contemporary
Released: May 10th 2016
Review Source: Dial Books

Sixteen-year-old Solomon is agoraphobic. He hasn’t left the house in three years, which is fine by him.

Ambitious Lisa desperately wants to get into the second-best psychology program for college (she’s being realistic). But how can she prove she deserves a spot there?

Solomon is the answer.

Determined to “fix” Sol, Lisa thrusts herself into his life, introducing him to her charming boyfriend Clark and confiding her fears in him. Soon, all three teens are far closer than they thought they’d be, and when their facades fall down, their friendships threaten to collapse, as well.

Someone slap me for not getting my hands on a John Corey Whaley book much sooner! And if there’s anything that I’m going to take away from Highly Illogical Behavior it’s that I want to give Star Trek a try, okay that’s a lie, there’s more, but that’s definitely top of the list.

Highly Illogical Behavior follows both Solomon Reed, an agoraphobe who hasn’t left his house in three years and Lisa Praytor, a student who wants nothing more than to get out of her small town and Solomon Reed is her ticket out. One day in middle school Solomon had a panic attack and stripped down and got into the school fountain. From that day forward Solomon has never left the house and Lisa never stopped thinking about him. Fast forward to present day and Lisa is applying to the second best psychology program in the country and their entrance essay is about your own personal experience with mental illness. The best essay recipient receives a full years tuition and there’s nothing more Lisa wants than to get that scholarship and get out of town and Solomon Reed is her ticket out.

From the first page to the last I was sucked in from writing style to the characters, to everything in between, it held my attention like no other. I’m actually kicking myself for this being my first John Corey Whaley book *puts review on hold* *orders all the books*. While I was reading this, I kept seeing an add on Facebook for books you just want to hug after you read them, and Highly Illogical Behavior was always right there in the center and you know what, I did just that once I closed that last page. It wasn’t just a story about mental illness, but about friendship, truth, discovering yourself, and testing your limits. It’s about growing up and making mistakes and having the best support group around you to help pick up the pieces. Everything I wanted, could want, and didn’t even imagine I wanted, was in this book, and seriously cannot wait to read more by this author.

So, obviously I highly recommend Highly Illogical Behavior. I will question your behavior if this is not immediately added to your TBR, because that’s clearly illogical not to do so. (See what I tried to do? Kind of failed, kind of not).