Quick Fire Review: The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

Published: 2nd August 2016 | Publisher: HarperTeen | Source: Bought
Katrina Leno's Website

For all of her seventeen years, Molly feels like she's missed bits and pieces of her life. Her memory is perforated with holes and gaps. But then a horrible accident changes everything.

Now she's starting to remember her own disturbing secrets. And bit by bit, Molly uncovers the separate life she seems to have led--and the love that she can't let go. From The StoryGraph.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features descriptions of blood, mention of animal cruelty, a motorbike accident, death, depression, suicide ideation, and dissociative personality disorder.

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Review: How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox

How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox

Published: 7th May 2019 | Publisher: Dial Books | Cover Designer: Kristie Radwilowicz | Cover Illustrator: Karolis Strautiekas | Source: Bought
Helena Fox's Website

Biz knows how to float. She has her people, her posse, her mom and the twins. She has Grace. And she has her dad, who tells her about the little kid she was, who loves her so hard, and who shouldn't be here but is. So Biz doesn't tell anyone anything. Not about her dark, runaway thoughts, not about kissing Grace or noticing Jasper, the new boy. And she doesn't tell anyone about her dad. Because her dad died when she was seven. And Biz knows how to float, right there on the surface--normal okay regular fine.

But after what happens on the beach--first in the ocean, and then in the sand--the tethers that hold Biz steady come undone. Dad disappears, and with him, all comfort. It might be easier, better, sweeter to float all the way away? Or maybe stay a little longer, find her father, bring him back to her. Or maybe--maybe maybe maybe--there's a third way Biz just can't see yet. From Goodreads.

Trigger/Content Warnings: This book features sex shaming, hallucinations, disassociation, anxiety and panic attacks, depression, suicide ideation, and discussion of suicide.

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Review: Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley (eProof) - This is a love story. It's the story of a second-hand bookshop called Howling Books where people leave letters to strangers, or those they love, or want to love, between the pages of books in the Letter Library.

Henry Jones and Rachel Sweetie are best friends. Or they were. Before Rachel moved away to the sea. Now, she's back, grieving for her brother Cal who drowned in the sea that he loved.

Rachel loves Henry. Henry loves Amy. Amy loves Amy but is happy for Henry to love her too.

This is a book about books. About the power of literature to cradle our past, present and future selves. It's about how we leave ourselves behind when we die. How we leave our histories in the things we love - like books. From Goodreads.

I received this eProof for free from Hodder Children's Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

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Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Art of Feeling by Laura Tims

Review: The Art of Feeling by Laura Tims (Bought) - Perfect for fans of Jennifer Niven’s New York Times bestseller All the Bright Places, this contemporary YA novel explores the friendship between a girl in constant pain and a boy who feels nothing at all.

Since the car accident, Samantha Herring has been in pain, not only from her leg injury, but also from her mother’s death, which has devastated her family. After pushing away her friends, Sam has receded into a fog of depression.

But then Sam meets Eliot, a reckless loner with an attitude and an amazing secret—he can’t feel any pain. At first, Sam is jealous. But then she learns more about his medical condition…and his self-destructive tendencies. In fact, Eliot doesn’t seem to care about anything at all—except maybe Sam. As they grow closer, they begin to confront Sam’s painful memories of the accident—memories that may hold a startling truth about what really happened that day. From Goodreads.

Trigger warning: This book features sexual harassment, violence animal death, and discussion of suicide and self-harm.

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Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Colour Me In by Lydia Ruffles

Colour Me In by Lydia Ruffles (eProof) - Nineteen-year-old actor Arlo likes nothing more than howling across the skyline with best friend Luke from the roof of their apartment.

But when something irreparable happens and familiar black weeds start to crawl inside him, Arlo flees to the other side of the world, taking only a sketchbook full of maps.

With its steaming soup and neon lights, this new place is both comforting and isolating.

There, Arlo meets fellow traveller Mizuki. Something about her feels more like home than he's felt in a while. But what is Mizuki searching for?

HOW FAR CAN YOU OUTRUN YOURSELF . . .
BEFORE YOU LOSE YOUR WAY BACK? From Goodreads.

I received this eProof for free from Hodder Chlildren's Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

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Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Definition of Us by Sarah Harris

The Definition of Us by Sarah Harris - Florence is pretty sure she's not got much in common with the other patients at Manor Lane Diagnostic & Therapy Centre. Wilf has ADHD and a tendency to punch doors, Andrew's ASD means he likes to run to a schedule as precise as a Japanese train, and Jasper would be far too perky if it wasn't for his moods at mealtimes.

It's only when Howard Green, the centre's psychotherapist goes missing that they start to share some common ground. They've told Howard things they've never told anyone before. They trusted him and were making progress. Starting again with someone else is an unbearable prospect. Together the four of them decide that they need answers and set off on a roadtrip, vowing to track him down. From Goodreads.

I received this eProof for free from Piatkus via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Trigger Warning: This book features discussion of suicide.

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Mental Illness in YA Month Discussion:: The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X. R. Pan and Living With a Depressed Parent

I received this eProof for free from Orion Chlildren's Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Today, I want to talk about The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X. R. Pan, which I reviewed back in April. But there is one particular element of this beautiful, heartbreaking story I want to focus more on today; Leigh's experience of living with her depressed mother.

As you may know by now, I have anxiety. What you won't know is that both my parents have depression. My Mum has had depression since I was around 11, and my Dad was diagnosed after I became an adult, so I understood depression more when he was diagnosed, and found it easier to deal with. But it's not something I fully understood as a pre-teen and a young teenager, and watching my Mum struggle was so, so hard.

In The Astonishing Colour of After, through flashbacks we get to see Leigh's memories of  how depression affected her mum, Dory. Her decline, her recovery, and then her relapse that led to her death by suicide (at least this is what she remembers. We find out later in the book that Dory has had depression a lot longer than Leigh realised). I found myself relating to Leigh so much in these scenes. Mum's depression was never as severe as Dory's - where Dory struggled to even get out of bed most days, my Mum always made it up - I still found it difficult to deal with the fact that there was nothing I could do, or anyone could do, to make her happy again.

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Mental Illness in YA Month Review: When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez

When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez (Bought) - A Goth girl with an attitude problem, Elizabeth Davis must learn to control her anger before it destroys her. Emily Delgado appears to be a smart, sweet girl, with a normal life, but as depression clutches at her, she struggles to feel normal. Both girls are in Ms. Diaz’s English class, where they connect to the words of Emily Dickinson. Both are hovering on the edge of an emotional precipice. One of them will attempt suicide. And with Dickinson’s poetry as their guide, both girls must conquer their personal demons to ever be happy.

In an emotionally taut novel with a richly diverse cast of characters, readers will relish in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and be completely swept up in the turmoil of two girls grappling with demons beyond their control. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features a suicide attempt and violence.

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Mental Illness in YA Month Review: The Beauty that Remains by Ashley Woodfolk

The Beauty that Remains by Ashley Woodfolk (Bought) - Music brought Autumn, Shay, and Logan together. Death wants to tear them apart.

Autumn always knew exactly who she was—a talented artist and a loyal friend. Shay was defined by two things: her bond with her twin sister, Sasha, and her love of music. And Logan always turned to writing love songs when his love life was a little less than perfect.

But when tragedy strikes each of them, somehow music is no longer enough. Now Logan can’t stop watching vlogs of his dead ex-boyfriend. Shay is a music blogger struggling to keep it together. And Autumn sends messages that she knows can never be answered.

Despite the odds, one band's music will reunite them and prove that after grief, beauty thrives in the people left behind. From Goodreads.

Trigger warning: This book features discussion of suicide, and panic attacks.

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Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Four Weeks, Five People by Jennifer Yu

Four Weeks, Five People by Jennifer Yu (Bought) - They're more than their problems

Obsessive-compulsive teen Clarissa wants to get better, if only so her mother will stop asking her if she's okay.

Andrew wants to overcome his eating disorder so he can get back to his band and their dreams of becoming famous.

Film aficionado Ben would rather live in the movies than in reality.

Gorgeous and overly confident Mason thinks everyone is an idiot.

And Stella just doesn't want to be back for her second summer of wilderness therapy.

As the five teens get to know one another and work to overcome the various disorders that have affected their lives, they find themselves forming bonds they never thought they would, discovering new truths about themselves and actually looking forward to the future. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features a suicide attempt - though not on page - and discussions of suicide. It also features the use of ableist language, and stigma surrounding mental illness - but this comes from a character whose own mental illness makes him think/say these things.

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Mental Illness in YA Month Review: Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (bought) - Zach is eighteen. He is bright and articulate. He's also an alcoholic and in rehab instead of high school, but he doesn't remember how he got there. He's not sure he wants to remember. Something bad must have happened. Something really, really bad. Remembering sucks and being alive - well, what's up with that?

I have it in my head that when we're born, God writes things down on our hearts. See, on some people's hearts he writes Happy and on some people's hearts he writes Sad and on some people's hearts he writes Crazy on some people's hearts he writes Genius and on some people's hearts he writes Angry and on some people's hearts he writes Winner and on some people's hearts he writes Loser. It's all like a game to him. Him. God. And it's all pretty much random. He takes out his pen and starts writing on our blank hearts. When it came to my turn, he wrote Sad. I don't like God very much. Apparently he doesn't like me very much either. From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: This book features sexual assault, domestic violence, discussion of the experience of child abuse, male rape, and blackmail for sex, discussion of the experience of racism with use of the n-word.

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Mental Illness in YA Month Review: It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini (Gift) - Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life - which means getting into the right high school to get into the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan's Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself.

Craig's suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.

Ned Vizzini, who himself spent time in a psychiatric hospital, has created a remarkably moving tale about the sometimes unexpected road to happiness. From Goodreads.

Trigger warning: Suicide attempt and discussion of suicide.

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Review: The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X. R. Pan

The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X. R. Pan (eProof) - Leigh Chen Sanders is sixteen when her mother dies by suicide, leaving only a scribbled note: 'I want you to remember'. Leigh doesn't know what it means, but when a red bird appears with a message, she finds herself travelling to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time.

Leigh is far away from home and far away from Axel, her best friend, who she stupidly kissed on the night her mother died - leaving her with a swell of guilt that she wasn't home, and a heavy heart, thinking she may have destroyed the one good thing left in her life.

Overwhelmed by grief and the burden of fulfilling her mother's last wish, Leigh retreats into her art and into her memories, where colours collide and the rules of reality are broken. The only thing Leigh is certain about is that she must find out the truth. She must remember.

With lyrical prose and magical elements, Emily X.R. Pan's stunning debut novel alternates between past and present, romance and despair, as one girl attempts to find herself through family history, art, friendship, and love. From Goodreads.

I received this eProof for free from Orion Children's Books via NetGalley for the purposes of providing an honest review.

Trigger Warning: This book features suicide, though not on the page.

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On Tommy Wallach Joking About Suicide

CW: Depression and suicide.

Tommy Wallach has done it again, and offended most, if not all, of the YA community. I've discussed previously how incensed he made me when, after the Paris bombings last year, he said how the world would be a better place if more people were atheists. He grouped all people of faith, of any religion, in with extremists, with terrorists, and offended countless people. I decided then that I simply couldn't support him as an author and wouldn't be reading any of his future books. I was done. Despite being done, however, I feel it's important to speak out against reprehensible behaviour, and Wallach has again caused uproar.

Two days ago, Wallach tweeted the paperback cover for one of his books, and in this tweet, he made a joke about suicide. And, it's been found, two years previously, he wrote a blog post where he rated literary suicides - two of which weren't literary; one was about characters he wished had committed, and the other was about a real person who died by suicide - in order of how emo they were. You can catch up on all the details of the tweet and his post on YA Books Central, where V.E. Schwab wrote about Wallach's latest offensive comments in We Need to Talk About Tommy.

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Review: More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera - In the months after his father's suicide, it's been tough for 16-year-old Aaron Soto to find happiness again--but he's still gunning for it. With the support of his girlfriend Genevieve and his overworked mom, he's slowly remembering what that might feel like. But grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist prevent him from forgetting completely.

When Genevieve leaves for a couple of weeks, Aaron spends all his time hanging out with this new guy, Thomas. Aaron's crew notices, and they're not exactly thrilled. But Aaron can't deny the happiness Thomas brings or how Thomas makes him feel safe from himself, despite the tensions their friendship is stirring with his girlfriend and friends. Since Aaron can't stay away from Thomas or turn off his newfound feelings for him, he considers turning to the Leteo Institute's revolutionary memory-alteration procedure to straighten himself out, even if it means forgetting who he truly is.

Why does happiness have to be so hard? From Goodreads.

Trigger Warning: Suicide.

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Mental Health May Review: Panther by David Owen

Panther by David Owen (proof) - Life isn’t going terribly well for Derrick; he’s become severely overweight, his only friend has turned on him, he’s hopelessly in love with a girl way out of his league, and it’s all because of his sister. Her depression, and its grip on his family, is tearing his life apart. When rumours start to circulate that a panther is roaming wild in his south London suburb, Derrick resolves to try and capture it. Surely if he can find a way to tame this beast, he’ll be able to stop everything at home from spiraling towards disaster?

Panther is a bold and emotionally powerful novel that deals candidly with the effects of depression on those who suffer from it, and those who suffer alongside them. From Goodreads.

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Review: My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga (proof) - Aysel and Roman are practically strangers, but they've been drawn into an unthinkable partnership. In a month's time, they plan to die by suicide - together.

Aysel knows why she wants to die: being the daughter of a murderer doesn't equal normal, well-adjusted teenager. But she can't figure out why handsome, popular Roman wants to end it all....and why he's even more determined than she is.

With the deadline getting closer, something starts to grow between Aysel and Roman - a feeling she never thought she would experience. It seems there might be something to live for, after all - but is Aysel in so deep she can't turn back? From Goodreads

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Review: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick (review copy) - Leonard Peacock is turning 18. And he wants to say goodbye.

Not to his former best friend, whose torments have driven him to consider doing something tragic and horrific.

Nor to his mum who's moved out and left him to fend for himself. But to his four friends.
A Humphrey Bogart-obsessed neighbour
A teenage violin virtuoso
A pastor's daughter
A teacher

Most of the time Leonard believes he's weird and sad but these friends have made him think that maybe he's not.

He wants to thank them, and bid them farewell. From the blurb

Trigger Warning: This book features suicide ideation.

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