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3.7 AVERAGE
3.7 AVERAGE
this book is so good, and so painful!
as I have a lot of expirience With mental illness, both personal and as a Close relative, this book hurt me deep inside, but it is so beautiful! even tho my heart still hurts when I think about it, especially some parts, I just loved it. how it is written from the iside of a mentally ill teenagers head is Perfect, and as the Author is a mental nurse he Writes With conviction.
I really hope he will continue writing in the future.
as I have a lot of expirience With mental illness, both personal and as a Close relative, this book hurt me deep inside, but it is so beautiful! even tho my heart still hurts when I think about it, especially some parts, I just loved it. how it is written from the iside of a mentally ill teenagers head is Perfect, and as the Author is a mental nurse he Writes With conviction.
I really hope he will continue writing in the future.
This book had so much potential, but I think the author got too caught up in trying to show the main character as schizophrenic that most of the story wasn't cohesive. I found it difficult to follow, although I really wanted to fight for Matt.
I found myself skimming just because I wanted it to end.
I found myself skimming just because I wanted it to end.
For a story about a young man with mental illness and a dead brother, it's pretty funny.
I personally loved the book. It was heart warming in a strange kind of way. The cover is very eye-catching. Everywhere i took it, people would ohhh and ahhhh and ask me what it was about. I was always at a loss for words so i just gave them the book and had them read the back. Even though is is a 4 line summary, it perks your interest rather quickly. People were asking me if they could borrow it after i was done, pure interest in their eyes. I am positive this book will sell lots of copies. I love the book. Please keep it up Nathan Filer. I received this book for free through a giveaway. I am very lucky to have been able to get this copy.
Didn't love it. The main character wasn't developed enough for my taste, thought the story was too scattered to really get involved in.
Engaging insight into mental illness. The plot isn't groundbreaking but the first person narrative is excellently done. Made me think about how I'd cope, how I view people who are coping. & the support teams around them. Can't ask more of a novel than to challenge your view of reality
This is one of the books that you read three times just to get the hang of it, and let me tell you something, it is quite good and enjoyable!
I didn't expect it to be that great but I was rather enjoying it at some point.
Characters might be weak and one dimensional, however the plot is a brand new plot that I simply did not expect to come out of a relatively small book.
Extra credit for the printing quality and the use of different fonts and different types, always keeps me interested in knowing and understanding.
Not Highly recommended, but recommended nonetheless.
I didn't expect it to be that great but I was rather enjoying it at some point.
Characters might be weak and one dimensional, however the plot is a brand new plot that I simply did not expect to come out of a relatively small book.
Extra credit for the printing quality and the use of different fonts and different types, always keeps me interested in knowing and understanding.
Not Highly recommended, but recommended nonetheless.
A worthy winner of the 'Costa First Novel' award 2013, this is a striking debut novel by someone who has found the right angle of writing about a serious mental health issue, schizophrenia. An experienced mental health nurse, Nathan Filer has had the courage, the talent and the insights to write about this "sly and slithering snake of a disease"; I applaud him.
The fictional narrator's reflections and emotional anecdotes of his childhood and teenage years are sometimes shocking and often scary (so vivid that I was painfully reminded of the angst I felt during my work experience in a psychiatric hospital in my student days, and why I chose not to pursue a career in clinical psychology after all), but also filled with many funny and poignant moments, and always insightful and very touching.
I am looking forward to reading whatever Nathan Filer decides to write next.
The fictional narrator's reflections and emotional anecdotes of his childhood and teenage years are sometimes shocking and often scary (so vivid that I was painfully reminded of the angst I felt during my work experience in a psychiatric hospital in my student days, and why I chose not to pursue a career in clinical psychology after all), but also filled with many funny and poignant moments, and always insightful and very touching.
I am looking forward to reading whatever Nathan Filer decides to write next.
This was, for me, the definition of a quick read. It took merely four modest sessions to navigate its lightly worded 300-odd pages. And what do you know? The last 10 pages or so are acknowledgements and an author Q&A... skippy, skippy, skippy...
Firstly, this book worked best for me in its depiction of parental love. I felt it really got quite close to the truth at times, and it even made me feel one or two emotions - perhaps because I'm a parent now.
What I found worked less well was... everything else. The story wasn't particularly interesting, nor did the first-person depiction of mental illness ring exactly true. Matt just didn't seem that confused or to be struggling that much. I found it interesting that the author biography inside the cover mentioned that Nathan Filer is/was a mental health nurse, or some such - I assumed in order to lend validity to a tale of struggle with mental illness. But then I thought, 'how does that lend credibility?' It doesn't really. And it becomes ironic when Filer's character demonstrates feelings that the mental health professionals who care for him fail to understand him. I hope I don't have to point out why that is ironic...
And don't get me started on that lame plot device where something of the story is held back in order to cash in with a big reveal later on. It's actually a lot like The Silver Linings Playbook if you think about it - just less triumphant and uplifting (though I personally didn't find that book uplifting, I feel that was what it was going for).
While I'm on it, I also found the conversational tone irritating. Matt would say things like, "The sky looked like black silk. Or maybe velvet... it looked nice is what I'm getting at." Seriously, writing that way doesn't convince me that your character is a real person, let alone one suffering guilt, grief and mental illness. And I don't find it quirky or amusing.
Anyway, look; it wasn't that bad. It really isn't the kind of book I tend to choose to read, but just to keep up with literary trends I sometimes read something my wife has read. So it's not bad, but it's far too vague and shallow to really float my boat. As I say though; there were some nice touches in there relating to Matt and his family.
Firstly, this book worked best for me in its depiction of parental love. I felt it really got quite close to the truth at times, and it even made me feel one or two emotions - perhaps because I'm a parent now.
What I found worked less well was... everything else. The story wasn't particularly interesting, nor did the first-person depiction of mental illness ring exactly true. Matt just didn't seem that confused or to be struggling that much. I found it interesting that the author biography inside the cover mentioned that Nathan Filer is/was a mental health nurse, or some such - I assumed in order to lend validity to a tale of struggle with mental illness. But then I thought, 'how does that lend credibility?' It doesn't really. And it becomes ironic when Filer's character demonstrates feelings that the mental health professionals who care for him fail to understand him. I hope I don't have to point out why that is ironic...
And don't get me started on that lame plot device where something of the story is held back in order to cash in with a big reveal later on. It's actually a lot like The Silver Linings Playbook if you think about it - just less triumphant and uplifting (though I personally didn't find that book uplifting, I feel that was what it was going for).
While I'm on it, I also found the conversational tone irritating. Matt would say things like, "The sky looked like black silk. Or maybe velvet... it looked nice is what I'm getting at." Seriously, writing that way doesn't convince me that your character is a real person, let alone one suffering guilt, grief and mental illness. And I don't find it quirky or amusing.
Anyway, look; it wasn't that bad. It really isn't the kind of book I tend to choose to read, but just to keep up with literary trends I sometimes read something my wife has read. So it's not bad, but it's far too vague and shallow to really float my boat. As I say though; there were some nice touches in there relating to Matt and his family.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes