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saltair_andtherust_onyourdoor's review
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
theundeadreign's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I read this for one of my human services classes. It made me think a lot about the experience of death & loss, whether it be loss of a loved one or loss of health or loss of self. Truly beautiful and heart-wrenching.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
i_have_worms's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
this book made me feel seen
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Mental illness
amyjayexo's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
kathleenabby's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Such a beautifully written book surrounding mental health and the toll it takes on not just the individual but family and friends as well. It’s a powerful and unforgettable read. ❤️
“But I don’t want to suffer. I want to live.”
This is a must read for anyone that loves psychological fiction/mental health reads. It’s a heavy subject, deeply moving but so worth the tears 😍
“But I don’t want to suffer. I want to live.”
This is a must read for anyone that loves psychological fiction/mental health reads. It’s a heavy subject, deeply moving but so worth the tears 😍
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Death, Suicide, and Mental illness
siobhanward's review
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was as sweet as it was heartbreaking. I loved Lucia and my heart broke for her as she struggled to make a life for herself while living with schizophrenia. The plot was slow, but well-done. It was meant to be a slow burn, and it was. I'm not generally a fan of slow burns, but this one was well done.
However, I really struggled with Manuel's portions of the book. I get why he was there, but I just found that he wasn't as interesting as the other characters and found myself bored during his portions of the book. I think less time spent in his POV and more time spent with other characters would have been good. I just found that the more time I spent with Manny, the less I liked him...
However, I really struggled with Manuel's portions of the book. I get why he was there, but I just found that he wasn't as interesting as the other characters and found myself bored during his portions of the book. I think less time spent in his POV and more time spent with other characters would have been good. I just found that the more time I spent with Manny, the less I liked him...
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
awebofstories's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Grade: A+
What a heartbreaking and beautiful yet difficult book!
Through the eyes of 4 different characters, we dive into the depths of mental illness. Lucia suffers from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, something in between, or something different. Because doctors can't find an exact diagnosis, she struggles with treatment. The three other people in her life all want the best for her. We have her older sister Miranda, who fights to find a diagnosis and treatment plan and tries everything in her power to get Lucia to do what she needs to do to say healthy. Lucia's husband, Yonah, loves her dearly but feels that medication is not only not helping but is making her situation worse. Finally, we have her young lover Manny who doesn't understand her illness but desperately wants to do what is right.
None of these characters is a true hero, yet all of them try to act with Lucia's best interests in mind. All four characters are flawed. Sometimes you will hate them, and sometimes you will cheer for them. Ultimately, you will feel deeply for them. There are no heroes or villains here, just humans.
This book is, at times, a tough read. We dive deep with Lucia and the others in her life into the depths of her mental illness. If this material is troubling for you, you should take care with this book. Lee does not back away from some of the harder material and reading it can be excruciating.
This book was not always enjoyable, but it deeply impacted me. I would recommend this to anyone.
What a heartbreaking and beautiful yet difficult book!
Through the eyes of 4 different characters, we dive into the depths of mental illness. Lucia suffers from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, something in between, or something different. Because doctors can't find an exact diagnosis, she struggles with treatment. The three other people in her life all want the best for her. We have her older sister Miranda, who fights to find a diagnosis and treatment plan and tries everything in her power to get Lucia to do what she needs to do to say healthy. Lucia's husband, Yonah, loves her dearly but feels that medication is not only not helping but is making her situation worse. Finally, we have her young lover Manny who doesn't understand her illness but desperately wants to do what is right.
None of these characters is a true hero, yet all of them try to act with Lucia's best interests in mind. All four characters are flawed. Sometimes you will hate them, and sometimes you will cheer for them. Ultimately, you will feel deeply for them. There are no heroes or villains here, just humans.
This book is, at times, a tough read. We dive deep with Lucia and the others in her life into the depths of her mental illness. If this material is troubling for you, you should take care with this book. Lee does not back away from some of the harder material and reading it can be excruciating.
This book was not always enjoyable, but it deeply impacted me. I would recommend this to anyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis and Mental illness
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 stigmaamiegold's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Lucia is a beautiful, optimistic and talented woman who finds herself struggling unexpectedly with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. We find ourselves following how she copes with this disease throughout her life through her eyes, as well as the eyes of the people around her. We hear about a period of time from her sister Miranda's point of view, then weave back to experience it from Lucia's perspective. This layered perspective opened my eyes to how easy it looks to outsiders to just get healthy, and how difficult it is for the sufferer to even identify what in their life is wrong.
We traveled from New York to Switzerland to Equador and back again. I appreciated the cultural accuracy that the author portrayed, it felt like I visited and got to know these places myself.
This book accurately conveys the fear, sorrow and grief that comes along with mental illness, both for the sufferers and the caretakers. Ultimately, it is a love story of sisters, mothers and daughters and family. It was a beautiful journey.
I only removed a half star for the detailed sexual exploits and infidelity of Lucia's partner, which I really did not feel was necessary for the story and took away from the intimacy I otherwise felt with the character.
We traveled from New York to Switzerland to Equador and back again. I appreciated the cultural accuracy that the author portrayed, it felt like I visited and got to know these places myself.
This book accurately conveys the fear, sorrow and grief that comes along with mental illness, both for the sufferers and the caretakers. Ultimately, it is a love story of sisters, mothers and daughters and family. It was a beautiful journey.
I only removed a half star for the detailed sexual exploits and infidelity of Lucia's partner, which I really did not feel was necessary for the story and took away from the intimacy I otherwise felt with the character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual content, and Suicide
Moderate: Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexism, and Vomit
callmemaggs_'s review
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness