The back cover synopsis of this book is impressively incorrect
and does monumental disservice to the lovely Jane Mendoza with the
statement ‘Everything’s perfect until
Izzy tells her she’s bipolar and Jane leaves her, claiming the dreaded “It’s
not you, it’s me."’
At 47, Izzy Treadway, a technical writer in a
software company, has had just one real relationship in her life during her
college days. That relationship ended badly and Izzy’s subsequent actions led
to the discovery that she is bipolar. Medication, therapy, running and
controlled schedule are the four cornerstones of Izzy’s ability to keep her
condition in check. Surprisingly, despite no personal experience with romantic
relationships, Izzy rocks at giving advice to others about keeping their love
life on track. A throwaway idea from her best friend sets Izzy on a mission to
write a self-help advice book, An Idiot’s
Guide to Love. Jane Mendoza, a professor, is interning in the same office
for the summer to understand the program better. Breathtakingly clueless Izzy
seems to be especially blessed in the attracting-hot-women department and not
only is the gorgeous Jane attracted to her, but she even gets out of her
comfort zone and fights against her natural shyness to make the first move with
Izzy.
The author does a thorough job of explaining Izzy’s
condition, her internal workings, hopes and fears. Yet, we didn’t particularly
like Izzy for most of the book. However, by the end of it we didn’t actively
dislike her either. Some things however, just didn’t jell. Izzy did not at any
point seem of behave her age. She seemed decades younger than the 47 she is
supposed to be. Ditto her best friend at work. Also, for a person who has had
no experience with relationships, Izzy is remarkably confident, if not a little
cocky, about her sexual prowess. This was even more strange because at one
point in the book she is shown to be helpless and out of her depth in an
interaction with a woman who was taking an awful lot of physical liberties with
Izzy despite Izzy having said ‘no’. Then there is the fact that Izzy doesn’t
tell Jane about her condition for months.
She doesn’t tell Jane even after Jane
has moved in with her. In fact, she ensures that she hides her medicines from
Jane. That smacks of cheating. The decision to keep Jane in the dark is
especially weird since Izzy has told her friend about being bipolar and her
entire family (roughly fifty people) know about it and encourage her to confide
in Jane.
Jane is what really saves the book. She is hot, open, willing to go out on a limb and somehow very real. Even her incomprehensible compulsion to be nice to her parents seems more conditioning and slightly tragic rather than making her weak in any way.
Jane is what really saves the book. She is hot, open, willing to go out on a limb and somehow very real. Even her incomprehensible compulsion to be nice to her parents seems more conditioning and slightly tragic rather than making her weak in any way.
This book straddles a space between a being a romcom and
something more serious (given that the protagonists are dealing with a mental
disorder and paternal homophobic physical violence). One of the best things about the book is that at the end we feel that this couple will really be happy together because they seem to have got their shot together and have learnt how to be a couple that communicates and cares for each other.
⭐⭐⭐★
⭐⭐⭐★
