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laurajones's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Grief, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death
maryy_r0se's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
Caden is a high schooler. ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ. His behavior is changing. ๐๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ. His friends are distancing from him. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต. His parents are concerned. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ. He feels himself unwinding. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ช๐ต๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
This book really affected me. While compiling a list of YA mental health books for work, it was important to me to include a wide array of experiences. Most YA mental health books focus on depression and anxiety, and itโs very very difficult to find books that approach topics like psychosis and schizophrenia sensitively.
Caden is not definitively diagnosed in the story, although it does seem implied he has schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. I do not have either of those, so I wonโt assess that representation. It was difficult to find reviews from individuals who have those disorders, but from the few I did find this book seems to represent them well. I do have bipolar disorder, and I thought that book really captured the extreme moods and psychosis excellently.
I think what made this book really stand out was the input from Nealโs son, Brendan. Brendan has schizoaffective disorder and the book was influenced by his experience. He consulted on and illustrated this book, and it added a very personal element. I would definitely recommend this book. My favorite scene was the NYC flashback and the moments surrounding it; the way the book came together and fell apart in those moments was breathtaking.
Graphic: Suicide, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Confinement, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Animal death, Medical trauma, Medical content, Self harm, and Sexual assault
hayleythegoose's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Death, and Animal death
breadwitchery's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Suicide
Minor: Animal death, Vomit, Death, and Fatphobia
meagangrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Death, and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault and Animal death
charlottesomewhere's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Mental illness, and Self harm
Moderate: Animal death