1. Optimists Die First, by Susin Nielsen:
Here's the thing: I actually really enjoyed this book, for the most part. There are a lot of blaring things that are wrong with it, things that a lot of other reviewers did not seem to want to look past when reviewing it, but other than those things, I really enjoyed reading Optimists Die First. 16-year-old Petula De Wilde is anything but wild - to quote the dust jacket description. She has shut herself off from the world in the years since a family tragedy and, as a result, finds danger in literally everything; from crossing the street to eating meat. She also has factual proof that optimists die sooner than pessimists, which I thought was a fun and different angle. Quick side note: I'm totally more of a pessimist than an optimist and don't feel bad to admit that anymore, so it was nice to see that feeling of dread towards blindly happy people personified. I also can relate to the feeling of wanting to completely shut yourself off from anything, so maybe that helped me enjoy the story more than I would have otherwise. Since the tragedy and the events that followed, Petula has to attend a mandatory "art therapy" class with all of the other "weirdos" in the school who have experienced similar tragedies or traumas in their personal lives. I thought this was a really nice touch, because leave it to some suburban school system to decide the best way for these apparent "weirdos" to rehabilitate themselves is to attend a group where they make arts and crafts, almost as if they were mentally challenged or something, where all the misfits are lumped together even though their problems are often nothing alike. I thought that was ironic and pretty comical, because that's totally the way an American high school system would handle that. Enter Jacob: the newest student to join their art therapy group. Petula wants nothing to do with him, or his prosthetic arm, until they are forced to collaborate on a school project and start to connect; Jacob helps her face her fears in ways that nobody else can.
Honestly, while they had their cute moments, Petula and Jacob's relationship is probably the most problematic thing about Optimists Die First. As soon as they started collaborating, it seems that Petula's anxiety and fears start to become a switch that she can turn on and off, which is mostly where YA books like these start to go wrong when handling mental illness. There is a way to deal with mental health issues without having someone be "saved" from themselves by finding a romantic companion, and Optimists Die First completely failed in that area. Also, I think the author was a bit confused with what mental health issue Petula had - she seemed to definitely have anxiety, but also had symptoms of OCD that were not discussed at all. I think she just wanted Petula to be this nervous wreck of a person that was initiated by the tragedy in her family, which she wholeheartedly feels responsible for (that's not a huge spoiler), without having to put a label on what exactly her issues were, which in this case I think was a mistake. Knowing exactly what mental health issue she had would have helped me understand her actions just a bit more (but I guess it doesn't really matter, because her anxiety turned out to be something she could apparently turn on and off when she received attention from a boy *eye roll*). But, at the same time, there were a lot of things I liked when reading this book. I enjoyed the fact that Petula's mother is a children's literature fanatic who names their many, many cats all after characters from children's books. I loved how her father is a music buff who named his daughter after Petula Clark. I appreciated how the magnitude of what happened to their family was felt throughout the entire book, and not just brushed off and then used again for angst or something. And I LOVED the interactions between Petula, Jacob and the other kids from their art therapy group. It was so awkward at first but then they got more comfortable with each other; they're all so problematic in their own ways and they end up helping each other and it's so damn cute. It reminded me a lot of Freaks and Geeks. Anyhoo, as a whole, I did end up enjoying Optimists Die First because there were a lot of strong little things in the story that made me like it a lot. I can also relate to the feeling of hating optimists sometimes, so there's that. It falls flat in terms of overall treatment of mental health issues as well as realistic, romantic relationships between teenagers (there's some pretty awkward scenes between Petula and Jacob - that's all I'll say), but the strong little things made me look past those eye-roll-worthy things. 4/5 stars.
2. I Don't Know What You Know Me From: My Life as a Co-Star, by Judy Greer:
You may know Judy Greer from series like Arrested Development or from her countless supporting roles (often as the best friend character) in romantic comedies, such as The Wedding Planner, 13 Going on 30 or 27 Dresses. Her memoir with often comical stories from her youth until her present is just as enjoyable and funny as any other celebrity memoir, but I think the missing link here is that Greer isn't exactly as well known or much of a leading lady (not that there's anything wrong with that; Judy is great at what she does) but often times her writing style was pretty amateurish and her stories pretty...pointless. I enjoyed the chapters where she talks about what it's like to always play the best friend in romantic comedy movies, because that's definitely how people remember her (why else would I have wanted to read her book? I bought it because that's where I remember her from). I also thought it was HILARIOUS that so many people thought she was in Bridesmaids when she wasn't but she is so used to it by now that she doesn't even question it anymore. A lot of the people who gave this book 3 stars or lower say that this is only a book for Judy Greer fans. Um, isn't that obvious? If you don't like Judy Greer, know who she is, or are interested in her whatsoever, Don't? Read? Her? Book? 4/5 stars.
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