Book Review: The Silver Linings Playbook

I first read about the Silver Linings Playbook in an article about my girl crush Jennifer Lawrence. Out of curiosity, I watched the trailer and liked it because it looked good and well, I am biased towards J.Law. I found out that the film was based on the book by Matthew Quick. I don’t know about you but I always like reading first before watching the movie adaptation. As of writing, I still haven't seen the film so there will be no comparisons here. Let's just stick to the book review.

The Silver Linings Playbook is a story about Pat Peoples, a 34-year old mentally deranged man who believes in silver linings and that his life is a movie. The silver lining for him is that he will reunite with his wife, Nikki, who he hasn't seen during the last four years that he was in the bad place (mental institution). He works out several times a day to keep fit so Nikki will like him again when "apart time" finally ends. He hates Kenny G so much as well as pessimistic doctors. But he likes his new doctor, Cliff, who is also a Philadelphia Eagles fan like him.

Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious widow who is also mentally ill and goes to therapy just like him. Tiffany asks him to be her dance partner at a dance contest and in return, she will be Pat and Nikki's liaison. Pat agrees and soon, he finds himself in a series of twists and turns which I will not divulge anymore because I truly think that you, readers out there, should read this book.

I love Pat. I can't help but love Pat. He is a very different character, a far cry from the handsome, brave and strong men that dominate love stories and chick flicks. That being said, Silver Linings is not a love story. And Pat is not perfect. He is broken, messed up, flawed. But his childlike determination, his insane belief in silver linings is what makes him different and lovable.

Tiffany, on the other hand, has a strong personality. Despite her betrayal (that's just as far as I can get on spoilers), she is brutally honest, exactly the kind of person that Pat needs. Tiffany needs Pat, too. And this need is what fuels their unique friendship. How it ends and whether they find their silver linings or not, I won’t tell you BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO READ THIS BOOK.

The Silver Linings Playbook talks about forgiveness, regret, brotherhood, friendship, and life. You wouldn’t think two mentally distraught people can actually impart messages on these things but they did. Matthew Quick sure did a good job on his first book. Reading it was like looking into a crazy man’s life and seeing that hey, we’re not so different after all.

Silver Linings is a light and easy read and it won’t disappoint. Go ahead, grab a copy, and let me know what you think by leaving a comment. And oh, do tell me what your silver lining is. :)

UPDATE:

I watched the movie and I was sort of disappointed because they changed a lot of details. I saw very little resemblance. Buy hey, if you watched the movie first and then read later, maybe you will like it. I tell you though, Jennifer Lawrence is so hot and she's at her best in this movie; it's no wonder she won that Golden Globe award.