Unhinged?

Ever read a story with the expectation of it being an escape, but later find out it made you think?  I just finished one last night/early this morning.  While I could have probably had it done earlier, I took a break to spend some time with an old friend that is in town to visit, so sue me that I decided to finish reading this book later than planned and that I want to share my thoughts on this book in today's blog......

The book is called "Crazy For You", by Jennifer Crusie.  When I found it at the library a a little over a few days ago, I was already rereading something from my Kindle and made this book wait its turn.  It is a different author than Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum series, her "Full" series, her Barney Barnaby series and her dozen or so romance novels (of all I have managed to read this summer).  I have tried to find something that was an entertaining read that happened to be a "stand alone book"... you know....  not a series.  One book called "Beautiful Sacrifice" was so boring and filled with descriptive phrases about Myan/Aztec history, I actually screamed at the book while I read it out of frustration.  It reminded me of the writing styles of Dan Brown and "The Lost Symbol".  Fortunately, this book was not as long and drawn out....  It only took me 2 days to read it instead of the 3 weeks the Dan Brown took me last year.

Well, when it came to this "Crazy For You" book, I was fortunate enough to at least look up the reviews before considering this author as a possible new choice for the summer.  Her reviews were high and the raving over this book looked promising that I would not have a repeat performance of what I coined, "my Myan misery novel".  With high hopes for some laughs (as it was stated in the reviews), I barely got one.  The start of the book lacked the fluidity of authors past; there were too many characters with lacking introductions; there was a total lack of any foundation of a story, that is, until I was a little over half way through the book.  Then.... things got interesting.  Not to offer a spoiler to those interested in reading this book, I decided to offer the best and briefest synopsis from my feelings.....

A 30-something woman in a small town in Ohio has the "perfect" life.  Just an average girl with a good job, an overly nice boyfriend, and the knack of being a person that always accepts compromise.  In fact, her life is so predictable it bores her to the brink of insanity.  She is not one to ask for anything for herself, but she also lacks adventure or as she mentions in the book..... zing.  All it takes is for her to fall in love with a stray dog that she decides to keep against the wishes of her boyfriend that the whole town loves to make some drastic changes in her life in search of something different and exciting.  She breaks up with her boyfriend, moves out, and shares her quest for the "more" she so desperately feels she needs.  While she is considered "the rational one" by everyone she knows, the rationality takes a turn in all the lives that surround her.  Her best friend makes a spectacle of herself to get more attention from her loving husband, her mother kicks out her husband and moves in her lesbian lover that she has kept a secret for over 20 years, and the main character pursues her sister's ex-husband that has had feelings for her for over 20 years, but did nothing after the divorce, and...... her recently ex-boyfriend becomes delusional and unhinged over the breakup (of which he believes is only temporary insanity on her behalf).  Her life becomes more than she bargained for when her ex stalks her and becomes violent when she just refuses to hear what he has to say.  Of course, there are some other characters that intertwine in the story like the sexy bank employee that sets her sights on only married men, a bitter hair salon owner jaded by her ex-husband's advances to get her back after he is dumped by the home-wrecking bank employee, and the short-sighted young new Principal at the school that happens to do the wrong thing.  Way too much drama for such a small town, but this author manages to pull it together at the end well.

I guess what managed to get me to think is how one idea of seeking more out of life can create such an upheaval of emotions and actions.  The insight of the unhinged mind of the ex-boyfriend and his actions going from innocent to downright scary.  It made me think about the stalker ex-boyfriend from my past.  Fortunately, he never turned violent.  He just followed me for years after we broke up to watch what I was doing.  When I finally figured it out and confronted him.... the stalking stopped.  It is the thought after reading this book that there is always potential for someone to have a hard time with change and take things to a scary level.  Thus, making the title so relevant to the story line.  While I thought of it as a cute little notion of someone being smitten, I never thought it would highlight a much darker and sinister meaning.  Definitely, an eye opener for me when I read the book.  I have no complaints about the book and will probably get something else from this author today when the library opens since I am out of books to read.  It is a nice little shift of genre from the romance novels that I have been reading and could possibly be where I need to go so I can smoothly reduce my need to have my nose planted in a book from morning until night.  This reading jag has gotten out of control this summer.  Time to transition into something different before I totally kill my love of reading.  Maybe I can start making jewelry again or pick up my paintbrush or find some other thing to keep my mind busy and avoid trying to change my life too much.  As a character in the book explains (not in the exact words... just parts put together from the book) the journey that I have trying to take in mine with DH (without moving out on my family, of course)....  "Women like to feel the man that they are with actually sees them as different and special.  When they are not looked upon or attended to as being the most special gift in their men's life like when the relationship started.... they feel as if they are taken for granted and not seen as the vital need anymore.  Think about it....  What was your wife wearing today?  If you cannot remember... then complacency has taken over and the spark of vitality in the relationship has disappeared.  When a woman tries to get you to notice her, it is a sign that they feel under-appreciated.  What they want is for the man to want to do things without being told to do so.  It is not wanting to ask for it, but be offered freely because they want to is what matters most.  Just shaking things up a little to stop the complacency and predictability is what we need when the relationship feels stale so the years ahead won't feel so dull."  Well, that about sums it up for today....

Have a great day everyone!!