Schizo

A Novel

By: Nic Sheff

Narrated by: Michael Crouch

Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

The fascinating, shocking, and ultimately quite hopeful story of one teen's downward spiral into mental illness by the best-selling author of Tweak and son of David Sheff (author of Beautiful Boy, the memoir adapted into a movie of the same name starring Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet).

Miles is the ultimate unreliable narrator - a teen recovering from a schizophrenic breakdown who believes he is getting better - when in reality he is growing worse.

Driven to the point of obsession to find his missing younger brother, Teddy, and wrapped up in a romance that may or may not be the real thing, Miles is forever chasing shadows. As Miles feels his world closing around him, he struggles to keep it open, but what you think you know about his world is actually a blur of gray, and the sharp focus of reality proves startling.

Written by Nic Sheff, son of David Sheff (author of Beautiful Boy, the memoir adapted into a movie of the same name starring Steve Carell and Timothée Chalamet), Schizo is the fascinating, and ultimately quite hopeful, story of one teen's downward spiral into mental illness as he chases the clues to a missing brother. Perfect for fans of Thirteen Reasons Why, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and It's Kind of a Funny Story.

“This spare book is a well-written, but painful, read, as readers come to understand the hopelessness Miles feels about his life and his future.” (VOYA)

“In his first novel, memoirist Sheff (Tweak) provides an insightful perspective on one teen’s struggle with mental illness.” (Publishers Weekly)

©2014 Nic Sheff (P)2014 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Readers fascinated by the dark side of the human mind in realistic fiction will enjoy this deft portrayal of a brain and a life spiraling out of control. Miles is an endearing character whose difficult journey will generate compassion and hope.” (School Library Journal)

“[T]he crafting of the plot and the convergence of the different storylines keeps pages turning. Schizo is a thrilling read for teens.” (VOYA)

"[A}n insightful perspective on one teen’s struggle with mental illness." (Publishers Weekly)

awesome

great story and immediately drawn into the characters and their lives, a great read for all

A difficult listen, but one worth listening to.

I loved it. The author will bring you on a journey. A empathic one. As I listened, I learned to the love the main character. He's caring. He's loving. He's apologetic.

Obsessed with this author

I have read Nic Sheff's memoirs and this was the first fiction I'd read by him. I love his writing style. Its profoundly different and it reads like a diary or a letter. You can really feel Miles' obsession as your own. Definitely recommend.

More please Nic Sheff!!!!

This novel is a true story for so many people, my heart is full of emotion by how far we have come with mental illness. I have been through and around it my whole life. This is a bittersweet story that will make you cry tears of sorrow and joy! I just finished "Tweak" before this which is the memoir of Nic Sheff, as soon as I finished that I rushed to get this. There is one more audio book that I have found but I definitely want more by this smart and sensitive author!!! The narration is just wonderful and even though I am 56, it seems like yesterday that I have been through such sadness. I just want to tell all young people that if you just hang in there, get help and put aside such unnecessary shame...I promise you will be happy. The road is long, but so worth it, it is so amazing to WANT to be alive!!!!

Very much Nic Sheff

I truly enjoyed Sheff's memoirs Tweak and We All Fall Down. This piece of fiction is in a similar style, with similar tone, and similar character dynamics. It is to be expected, writing characters based on your experiences and interactions that mirror your own makes sense, and I am not knocking him for that.

What I will criticize is how the pacing seems to be a bit push and pull, and some of the plot is kind of derivative. This is a story that pulls from some of the great elements of It, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, and The Perks of Being a Wallflower. It is hard to avoid writing a coming of age, young adult, narrative that revolves around a protagonist who's mental health is the antagonist and avoid some overlap with the most influential books of a similar topic.

That being said, the story of Miles and his mental health struggles, his relationship with medication, and repeated contemplation of interactions with interests all reflect Nic's recollection of stories from his memoirs that make himself, and in this case Miles, such compelling characters. It absolutely had me entranced with suspense, and emotional at times. Nic Sheff may not write classic literary masterpieces, but he continues to capture the essence of the human experiences faced by young adults with mental health struggles in a way only someone who is deeply familiar can.

One final note is on the performance. Though this is the best of the audio performances among Nic's work, it is still a poor fit. Nic's vernacular mirrors a Kevin Smith script, but every recording feels like the performer has never sworn before. There are hesitations and issues with how phrases are paced/emphasized. If they would just hire someone who has had a single conversation with any degenerate, ever, it would make a massive difference.

I had hopes

I hoped this book was going to be good, I read the reviews and thought, well, this is either going to suck or be great, and I had an idea of what the ending might be even before I started the book, and though it was predictable it was really enjoyable.
The way it’s written helps the story, because it halos you focus on what the character is focusing on bringing with it a real sense of how he sees the world.

Lastly and delving a bit into spoiler territory, it ends in a hopeful note, which as someone who deals with mental illness in his family is a good thing to see, or hear.

In any case I would really recomend this book for anyone, but specially for people dealing with any mental illness, either themselves or as family or friends.

(Sorry for the messy review, it’s my first time writing one)

Ehhhh…

I really had high expectations going into this, as I had read the story of Nic Sheff’s addiction through his and his father’s memoirs. I had also just listened to another YA audiobook about a schizophrenic teen going through high school, Made You Up, and I thought it was pretty good. I’m not sure which book came first, but one probably affected the other as they both have very similar premises- even both with a central character named Miles! However, this book put a damper in my expectations, as it was very formulaic and I saw the twist coming a mile (pun not intended) away (maybe because a very similar twist was used in Made You Up). Also, Miles is just not a very sympathetic character. He often rudely addresses people (particularly one of the characters near the end) and his motives aren’t really that complex or compelling. Barely any of the characters were that well developed aside from Miles. And the representation of schizophrenia is mixed (like Made You Up). Only delusions or hallucinations are discussed, no cognitive, disorganized, catatonic, or negative symptoms. Finally, there’s a lot of medication name-dropping that really seemed unnecessary and gave the impression that antipsychotics cure everything.

Good story

Michael Crouch did an excellent job as usual! The story was good, not great. The "twist" I had figured out around page 53, so not much of a twist for me. But all in all it was an o.k. read/listen. I'm not sure if I'd try another book by this author, but I LOVE Michael Crouch's narration! I actually bought this because he was the narrator.

Well-researched, Predictable, Solid Narration

The plot was interesting enough, albeit predictable. I felt that the author tried too hard to make the book relatable by dropping random curse words. as a person who curses a lot, you're doing it wrong..

On the plus side, Sheff did his homework on Schizophrenia (at least from what little I have read in the subject). He kept the internal struggle somewhat grounded rather than making Miles seem completely out there, like many people assume schizophrenics are. Even the triggers Miles experiences are true to the disease.

The narration was well-done. the voice is exactly how I expected the protagonist to sound. Good choice there!

Predictable, but interesting

This is an interesting take on schizophrenia. The plot itself was predictable, but the narrator is good and fits the character. I enjoyed listening to it, though some may find the YA nature under stimulating. I wouldn't say this novel is profound, but I think the author writes a believable character that the reader or listener can relate to.