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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
I love Ellen Hopkins and Sones so I picked this book up. I didn't feel as connected as I do while reading a verse novel by Hopkins but it was still a great read....coming of age while suffering from panic and anxiety attacks. Teenage and college years are tough enough as it is. Bless her heart. I wonder how she's doing now.
Check out my book blog for more reviews and a full review of I Don't Want To Be Crazy!
A beautiful verse novel about anxiety/panic disorder, written by someone who has actually gone through these things, so knows what it’s like. It’s also a memoir, and I think Samantha Schutz is very brave for telling her story to the world.
Teens (or anyone really) who suffer from anxiety disorder, like me, will be able to relate to this book perfectly and feel like they’re not alone. And we all need that sometimes.
It will also be a good read for those of you who like realistic stories about tough issues, or if you have a friend or family member suffering from an anxiety disorder, and want to understand them better. It really felt like I was reading my own diary sometimes, and I think I’m going to recommend it to some people who don’t seem to understand me at all.
I Don’t Want To Be Crazy is one of those books in which I keep underlining certain quotes because they relate to me.
Someone who reviewed this book said that the author made people with anxiety seem crazy, and I was really offended, actually. If anything, Samantha Schutz made people realise with this book that panic disorder is something medical, and you can’t help it at all, and it does not make you crazy. I just wanted to say that.
A beautiful verse novel about anxiety/panic disorder, written by someone who has actually gone through these things, so knows what it’s like. It’s also a memoir, and I think Samantha Schutz is very brave for telling her story to the world.
Teens (or anyone really) who suffer from anxiety disorder, like me, will be able to relate to this book perfectly and feel like they’re not alone. And we all need that sometimes.
It will also be a good read for those of you who like realistic stories about tough issues, or if you have a friend or family member suffering from an anxiety disorder, and want to understand them better. It really felt like I was reading my own diary sometimes, and I think I’m going to recommend it to some people who don’t seem to understand me at all.
I Don’t Want To Be Crazy is one of those books in which I keep underlining certain quotes because they relate to me.
Someone who reviewed this book said that the author made people with anxiety seem crazy, and I was really offended, actually. If anything, Samantha Schutz made people realise with this book that panic disorder is something medical, and you can’t help it at all, and it does not make you crazy. I just wanted to say that.
This memoir, written in verse, is a very frank look at the life of a woman in her college years struggling with generalized anxiety disorder without agoraphobia. As someone who struggles with anxiety (a different kind but oh well) I found myself screaming YES at certain points in the book. The writing was good, and I liked that it was written in verse because it captured the anxiety so much better somehow. I would recommend this book to anyone with anxiety so you don't feel as crazy and to anyone who wants to understand what it's like. It is also a VERY quick read which I loved.
I absolutely devoured this book. When I was in high school, I searched and searched for books about young girls suffering from anxiety disorders. Reading these stories made me feel like I wasn't so alone, so crazy. I can't believe I never came across this book. It sounds crazy but this book is my experience with anxiety to a T, minus the medications. There were countless times that I felt she was literally writing about my life in high school and college. It's very reassuring knowing the author turned out okay and she looks pretty happy in her picture! If you're suffering from an anxiety disorder, READ THIS BOOK.
I picked this up because I found this list on Book Riot 100 Must-Read YA Books in verse. I had no idea that many books had been written in verse, let alone 100 must read ones.
This was really enjoyable for me, mostly, I think because I have anxiety that sort of reared its ugly head in college like Samantha's, and as the author and I are about the same age, this college experience was very much like my own, highlighted with Ani Difranco concerts, raves, and short-lived hook-ups.
But I'm still not sold on verse novels.
The writing is very beautiful and poetic and makes for a quick read, but you lose some things too. Like character development and plot. I did not know the main character was named Samantha or that she was Jewish until around page 200, and we never find out what her college major was. I think the problem with committing to verse is that you have to stick to it no matter and what, and sometimes it doesn't fit the entire story.
But I would still recommend this to anyone with anxiety, about to head off to college, or 90's kids like me.
This was really enjoyable for me, mostly, I think because I have anxiety that sort of reared its ugly head in college like Samantha's, and as the author and I are about the same age, this college experience was very much like my own, highlighted with Ani Difranco concerts, raves, and short-lived hook-ups.
But I'm still not sold on verse novels.
The writing is very beautiful and poetic and makes for a quick read, but you lose some things too. Like character development and plot. I did not know the main character was named Samantha or that she was Jewish until around page 200, and we never find out what her college major was. I think the problem with committing to verse is that you have to stick to it no matter and what, and sometimes it doesn't fit the entire story.
But I would still recommend this to anyone with anxiety, about to head off to college, or 90's kids like me.
This is an autobiographical story told in verse and it is very moving. Samantha Schutz takes us into her world and shows us what it is like to live with an anxiety disorder. Since it is autobiographical everything feels very real and her descriptions of the panic attacks are done well. I think the having the story told in verse is clever and shows us how the author thinks and feels about everything around her. Her depictions of the therapists were also interesting because they are very similar to real therapists with their different approaches and sometimes off putting methods.
This book hit especially close to home for me and I understand what Schutz was trying to say. I felt absorbed by her words and was lost in her story. I find that expressing yourself through poetry is the most cathartic form of release and I feel like when you have extreme anxiety or depression it takes the edge off what you are trying to say. The author is very accessible and easy to relate to and I feel like it is a great book for any teenager 13 and older. Since it is written as poetry and flows so well it is also great for more reluctant readers. Also, for people who experience these kinds of feelings its nice to feel like others know what you are going through or have gone through.
This book hit especially close to home for me and I understand what Schutz was trying to say. I felt absorbed by her words and was lost in her story. I find that expressing yourself through poetry is the most cathartic form of release and I feel like when you have extreme anxiety or depression it takes the edge off what you are trying to say. The author is very accessible and easy to relate to and I feel like it is a great book for any teenager 13 and older. Since it is written as poetry and flows so well it is also great for more reluctant readers. Also, for people who experience these kinds of feelings its nice to feel like others know what you are going through or have gone through.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Mental illness
This is a beautiful book about anxiety. There are not a lot of books about young people with anxiety, especially ones that take place in college. I could relate to Schutz so much, even down to having the same major as her. This book is great for anyone who struggles in college, in particular with anxiety, relationships, love, or family. Knowing that someone out there feels the same as I do is awesome, and I really enjoyed reading what it was like to have anxiety from someone outside my own head.
My only critic with this book is that I would not classify it as poetry. Some of the language is beautiful, but this book was prose. It was simply a story about her own life. There really isn't much that makes this poetry except the line breaks.
Overall, still a really powerful piece of book that I wish more people knew about.
My only critic with this book is that I would not classify it as poetry. Some of the language is beautiful, but this book was prose. It was simply a story about her own life. There really isn't much that makes this poetry except the line breaks.
Overall, still a really powerful piece of book that I wish more people knew about.
I've been wanting to read this book for a very long time. I read the summary and saw myself in it, very strongly. I just finished my sophomore year of college, and I still remember those first few months of freshman year.
I've also had panic attacks sine 2011, when I was 14, though not badly enough to qualify for a diagnosis of panic disorder. I have even had a panic attack in the dining hall of my college, just like is described in the book. I have one anxiety disorder and OCD, which until recently was classified as an anxiety disorder and comes with it's share of anxiety. Anxiety and I are definitely not strangers.
All that being said, I did not like this book. I feel like this is an unpopular opinion, but I found that it dragged, and when I finished it, I left no different than I went in. I like books that leave me shell-shocked, books that I have to sit and digest when I'm finished, and this book didn't do that for me. I read it in two days, because of a time crunch (it was a library book and I had to finish it quickly), but most of the time I was reading it I wasn't doing so because I enjoyed it but because I had to finish it in time.
I think this book was just not for me, specifically because of my history with similar anxiety. I feel like it's written for people who have never had a panic attack, who don't experience overwhelming anxiety, who don't understand how simple anxiety could be debilitating. I already know what all that is like, and because of that, this book felt like looking into a mirror. But I felt that was all it did, give a window into what it's like to live with an anxiety disorder.
I gave the book three stars, because what is does well is the description of anxiety which is spot-on and incredibly accurate. I just found nothing beyond that, no particular reason for me to read it. I would recommend this book to people that don't understand anxiety. Honestly, I would like my mother to read it, I think she would gain a lot of understanding. It just wasn't for me.
I've also had panic attacks sine 2011, when I was 14, though not badly enough to qualify for a diagnosis of panic disorder. I have even had a panic attack in the dining hall of my college, just like is described in the book. I have one anxiety disorder and OCD, which until recently was classified as an anxiety disorder and comes with it's share of anxiety. Anxiety and I are definitely not strangers.
All that being said, I did not like this book. I feel like this is an unpopular opinion, but I found that it dragged, and when I finished it, I left no different than I went in. I like books that leave me shell-shocked, books that I have to sit and digest when I'm finished, and this book didn't do that for me. I read it in two days, because of a time crunch (it was a library book and I had to finish it quickly), but most of the time I was reading it I wasn't doing so because I enjoyed it but because I had to finish it in time.
I think this book was just not for me, specifically because of my history with similar anxiety. I feel like it's written for people who have never had a panic attack, who don't experience overwhelming anxiety, who don't understand how simple anxiety could be debilitating. I already know what all that is like, and because of that, this book felt like looking into a mirror. But I felt that was all it did, give a window into what it's like to live with an anxiety disorder.
I gave the book three stars, because what is does well is the description of anxiety which is spot-on and incredibly accurate. I just found nothing beyond that, no particular reason for me to read it. I would recommend this book to people that don't understand anxiety. Honestly, I would like my mother to read it, I think she would gain a lot of understanding. It just wasn't for me.