Bold and striking and heartbreaking. This book takes you for a whirlwind. I have a feeling this book will stay with me for a while. It was unique, and caused a lot of thought. It makes you question everything. Nothing will slip past your notice after reading this book. Thinking is all that you can do after reading I Crawl Through It. One quote that ties into this idea from the book is:

Thinking is just like exploding until it eventually scars you and you can’t interact with people anymore. It’s like one big, final detonation.

Being familiar with King’s writing, I’ve determined that she writes for those people who are struggling. The people who need help coping with the real world, and past traumas, and difficult futures. She is the everybody writer. I fall in love with her writing more and more, and it’s for this reason. She gives us characters that we can relate to. Someone we can talk to about things we can’t discuss with others. She is the “people’s” writer. I think King considers herself one of us, just being a bit bolder and writing what we all think.

A huge part of this book is questions and answers. And trying to figure what is right and what is wrong and why we do certain things and why we react the way we do. And the result? Undefined. The question is not always the right question, and the answer is not always the right answer. Also, as King puts it:

“My house is full of answers,” the bush man says.

This is when we realize we don’t understand the questions.

Most of this book is about making sense of things, and how we should all be able to perceive the world. It really makes people consider those who have suffered tragedies, and those who have to suffer through each day. One of the characters, for example was wronged greatly, and since she has found that thinking upside down is best, and the clearest for her. So, King inserts some text upside down in tribute to this girl, China.

Upside down, everything makes sense. Upside down nothing will blow up and no one will hurt me for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and no one will pretend I’m not here or make me trust them when I shouldn’t.

How many people did King just write for? How many people saw themselves in China’s thoughts? My hand is going up. Is yours? Suffering is something that we all face, whether we know it or not. We all have something to hide, something we are ashamed of. It’s a fact. And we all have different methods of coping. We all learn now to crawl through it. Each character is quirky, thusly. Gustav built an invisible helicopter to take him to the “hotbed of genius.” Stanzi wears a lab coat constantly to hide herself. China swallowed herself whole and writes poems instead of speaking. Lansdale lies compulsively with some unique outcomes. The dangerous bush man creates letters. No one believes these teenagers. No one believed why they acted this way, or why they do the things they do. Belief. That is important in life. You need to believe to live. And so many people don’t. it’s a travesty. People need to believe to change things, to change themselves and the world around them. Hardly anyone believed Gustav when he said he was building a helicopter—since it was invisible. But the end, they had faith in him. Belief is the key element King writes about. If you believe it, then why can’t other people?

I don’t care who you are. I don’t care your age, gender, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, or hometown. Go read this book. I have faith that it will change you. The writing is beautiful, and holds you in from page one. The plot is quirky just as the characters are and their situation. A school getting bomb threats every day? No ideal. And who is sending them is a shock, my darlings. This has something all of us love. Danger. Young love. Out of the ordinary lives. Weird people. A learning experience. This book will help you understand—understand yourself, and others, and the world. Please, I beg you. Read this book. It will help you. I got so much help from this book, and maybe it’ll do the same for you. This book is perfect for anyone, I promise you. This book is an experience you will not regret. It crosses the boundaries of “contemporary, young adult fiction.” There is nothing young about this book. There is everything adult about it. And it’s not just real life, it’s what’s going on in each of our heads. Get chills with me. Crawl through life with me. Change your way of thinking with me. Believe.

If my praise isn’t doing it for you, then read it and see for yourself what magic A.S. King has brought into this world once more.

Thanks for acting like you’re paying attention.

All quotes pulled from the novel, and included bonus content.