Review: Alex As Well

Alex As Well by Alyssa Brugman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Had Alex been sixteen, this would have been an excellent book. As it was, she was a whiny brat who somehow managed to do things it should be much more difficult (not to mention illegal) for a kid her age to do. I felt bad for her, but I felt worse for her parents. Why couldn't she see that they were right? The mom was pretty crazy (although if Alex had developed some empathy maybe she would have been all right), but the dad was a good guy whose kid was being horrible. Sure, she has identity issues- but they were trying. She made sudden, impulsive decisions and expected her parents to act like this had been normality for years. She randomly decides to go into foster care without once trying to have a proper discussion of her issues. By the end of the book she's proven herself to be a selfish jerk more times than I can count, and she never once gives a thought to anyone else's feelings.
Also, interesting way of putting it, but... we're supposed to hate the mom for losing it when the main character has MPD?
And the fourth-wall breaking was awful. Thankfully limited, but terrible.
Also, I only forgive false endings in Alcatraz. Don't do that to people. Or if you do, no more than a paragraph or two. It's difficult to trust a book once its lied to you (and I knew it was lying).

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