Star Rating: three out of five

High school is messy enough without a gay dad and a fascination with an unattainable girl, but adding those in the mix makes life even more difficult for the main character of Me Being Me is Exactly as Insane as You Being You by Todd Hasak-Lowy.

Darren is bland and somewhat underdeveloped, as he is the stereotypical teenage boy with one hobby and no ambition, and a very single-minded obsession with his broken, tormented dream girl. Readers can find characters like him in the pages of so many books.

Darren’s dream girl is Zoey, an unstable mystery who skips school and smokes cigarettes. She has piercings, strange hair, and is just generally very punk rock. Naturally, Darren falls in love with her after knowing her for only a single weekend.

Then she disappears for almost the rest of the novel, and he is tormented by the thought of her. But his ideal scenarios involve him changing some aspect of her to better suit him, which is not really love but obsession over an idea. Zoey had the potential to be a fabulously written character, if only she was more than just a perfect idea for Darren to desire.

Darren tries to make things work with another girl, Rachel, but ultimately his obsession with Zoey rules a relationship with the other girl impossible and he breaks up with her after stringing her along for a ridiculously long time.

“The romance was odd,” wrote Cait on Paper Fury. “Darren meets Zoey. Darren loves Zoey. Even though Zoey barley says 10 words to him. Zoey disappears. So Darren meets another girl. Gets invested in other girl’s life. Does everything with other girl. Delves into boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. But is not emotionally attached because: ZOEY (whom, remember, he doesn’t know at all, actually). Basically he uses the other girl just for pleasure and it. is. so. wrong.”

Truly, Darren’s treatment of Rachel is rude and downright awful, as is the author’s portrayal of her. She seemed like a shallow plot device to further Darren’s pining over the impossible girl.

Another character done wrong, Darren’s father could have been beautifully complex, but instead he was reduced to gay stereotypes for Darren to disrespect. His character is flat and one dimensional, and the conflict between Darren and his father feels more intense than just the shock of having a gay parent, but their issues are never explored.

The redeeming factor of the novel was its original form. The 630-page novel dragged on a bit, but it was written entirely in lists, which was a very interesting take. However, many of the lists seemed irrelevant to what one could struggle to call a plot.

“I had high hopes for this book – a story told in lists? I love lists!” wrote Trixie on Goodreads. “It’s an interesting concept and I applaud Hasak-Lowy for trying this format. Unfortunately, there were many lists that just didn’t add to the book and other lists that just went on and on. The book easily could have been half the length!”
Indeed, the novel had promise, but ultimately, it fell short of its mark. The best part of the book is near the end, when Darren begins to clean up his act, and starts to realize he needs to take care of his problems before worrying about Zoey and trying to fix hers. It was an enjoyable read, but it took a while to develop and is not for those who cannot persevere.