I read this once before, nearer when it first came out. The one thing I remembered from that was thinking that the title was better than the actual story.

It wasn't quite the case this go-round, but I was disappointed by how shallow everything was. It's a plot-driven YA book, perfectly suitable for an enjoyable read. There was no interrogation of what "madness" actually entailed, or what--if anything--made the magic-driven madness that plagues Reason's family made it different from regular mental illnesses or mood disorders. We get to meet Reason's mother exactly once, and she's portrayed as a dim version of herself because she's hopped up on antidepressants and antipsychotics.

All in all, it's fine. It's just not great, either. ( )

I'm not a big fantasy fan but I chose this as my YA book club selection. The story was quite enjoyable. ( )

I love the way Larbalestier turns what we know upside down. Reason has lived her life on the run from her evil grandmother. When she's 15, her mother ends up in a mental hospital and Reason has to go live with the woman she was raised to believe is a cruel monster. While she's plotting to run away, she befriends a neighbor boy and then discovers that her mother had been keeping some important facts about a family legacy secret. I finished this in one night because I couldn't stop reading, and immediately downloaded the second book in the series. ( )

Fifteen-year-old Reason, gifted in mathematics, struggles to work out where she fits in a family where magic and madness go hand in hand. The author's sparky and electric writing style brought the book alive for me. A quick and enjoyable read. ( )

A very strange, rich, confusing book. My view of who the villain was kept switching abruptly around - it was quite disconcerting. The obvious, cartoon villain was replaced by - lied to all her life? Then a whole new set of possible villains - who turned out to be one and a pawn...switch after switch. I wish we'd gotten more from Reason's POV after she went through the door, but I suspect that she really was nearly as bewildered as Jay-Tee thought. It's hard to upend an entire life's teachings - but she also got training in logic and reason, and when the facts contradict theory, facts win. She is, in many ways, very young - no "street-smarts", for either Sydney or New York. In other ways Reason is much closer to adult than either Tom or Jay-Tee - she's grown up being pretty much her mother's equal, not treated as a child. It's an interesting mix. One funny thing, for me - I had less trouble with the Australian slang than I did the New York variety (and there's no glossary for those!). It's most definitely the first of a series - the story ends at a turnpoint, not a conclusion (though without the feathers it would have been pretty solid). I'm interested enough I will probably seek out the other two, though it's not urgent. ( )