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careinthelibrary's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
I have complicated feelings about this book but it was really good. Compelling and readable, I kept being drawn back in by my concern for these characters.
This book captures the imperfect responses of various family and friends to a loved one's schizoaffective disorder. Lucia's sister is so protective of her to the point of being overbearing and condescending, reducing her sister's life to "did you take your pills" out of her desperate, obsessive concern. But it is through love, which makes it hard to condemn her reactions although they clearly drive a wedge between her and her sister and hurt Lucia's self-esteem. Ironically, Miranda is experiencing deep anxiety and paranoia but her own mental illnesses are deemed much more socially acceptable and she isn't infantalized as a result.
Yonah is less concerned about his partner's condition, hands-off and allowing Lucia to dictate her own treatment. I loved his chapters, his character who is more accepting and accommodating to Lucia, is also funny and strange. He's irreverent and a bit offensive at times, but his charm wins out.
Manny is afraid of so much, avoids talking about it with her, secretly watches her but doesn't want to intervene because he doesn't know how she'll react. His inaction is harmful but is it more harmful than Miranda's overcare?
This book really grabbed my attention with its chapters from Lucia's point of view which I was grateful for, she is able to speak for herself and not just be seen through the eyes of others (esp Miranda) who catastrophizes her sister's future. I can't speak to whether the mental illness rep is accurate from Lucia's point-of-view but it gave me some clarity to the lens of logic through which she saw the world and how it made sense from her perspective. Is her way of thinking and experiencing life wrong or harmful to others? No, but she isn't supported by a pharmaceutical-driven medical system nor by her under-educated family and friends. This failing of her community causes her to accidentally harm herself and others, not her mental illness. Very complex depiction throughout the book, and it's hard to know if I'm reading into this more than the author intended.
Mental illness is so often discussed as a massive burden on the family but it's clear that this burden is produced in part by Miranda's desperation and clinginess to her sister because of her own fears of how the world will react to Lucia and Manny's inability to have a candid conversation with her about her behaviours. Lucia doesn't ask for much if any help in this book, just wants to live her life in a world which is unforgiving to those who are unpredictable to others.
One note on Manny as a character, he felt a bit like a reductive stereotype in the chapters where we're reading about him from others' perspectives, not so much from his own chapters though. Not sure if other readers felt this way in part or all of his portions of the novel and that being said, the scenes that address his deep fear of deportation were palpable and tense.
This book captures the imperfect responses of various family and friends to a loved one's schizoaffective disorder. Lucia's sister is so protective of her to the point of being overbearing and condescending, reducing her sister's life to "did you take your pills" out of her desperate, obsessive concern. But it is through love, which makes it hard to condemn her reactions although they clearly drive a wedge between her and her sister and hurt Lucia's self-esteem. Ironically, Miranda is experiencing deep anxiety and paranoia but her own mental illnesses are deemed much more socially acceptable and she isn't infantalized as a result.
Yonah is less concerned about his partner's condition, hands-off and allowing Lucia to dictate her own treatment. I loved his chapters, his character who is more accepting and accommodating to Lucia, is also funny and strange. He's irreverent and a bit offensive at times, but his charm wins out.
Manny is afraid of so much, avoids talking about it with her, secretly watches her but doesn't want to intervene because he doesn't know how she'll react. His inaction is harmful but is it more harmful than Miranda's overcare?
This book really grabbed my attention with its chapters from Lucia's point of view which I was grateful for, she is able to speak for herself and not just be seen through the eyes of others (esp Miranda) who catastrophizes her sister's future. I can't speak to whether the mental illness rep is accurate from Lucia's point-of-view but it gave me some clarity to the lens of logic through which she saw the world and how it made sense from her perspective. Is her way of thinking and experiencing life wrong or harmful to others? No, but she isn't supported by a pharmaceutical-driven medical system nor by her under-educated family and friends. This failing of her community causes her to accidentally harm herself and others, not her mental illness. Very complex depiction throughout the book, and it's hard to know if I'm reading into this more than the author intended.
Mental illness is so often discussed as a massive burden on the family but it's clear that this burden is produced in part by Miranda's desperation and clinginess to her sister because of her own fears of how the world will react to Lucia and Manny's inability to have a candid conversation with her about her behaviours. Lucia doesn't ask for much if any help in this book, just wants to live her life in a world which is unforgiving to those who are unpredictable to others.
One note on Manny as a character, he felt a bit like a reductive stereotype in the chapters where we're reading about him from others' perspectives, not so much from his own chapters though. Not sure if other readers felt this way in part or all of his portions of the novel and that being said, the scenes that address his deep fear of deportation were palpable and tense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Cancer, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Miscarriage, Car accident, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Deportation, and Racism
Mental illness stigma
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