Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis

1 review

mugsandmanuscripts's review

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dark emotional tense 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

4.0

 TLDR: This was a heavy one. Literarily speaking, I'd give this 4 to 5 stars. It's very well-written in terms of both story and prose, and it's deeply thought-provoking. But in terms of personal enjoyment, I struggled to get through this book, not JUST because it was heavy but because there were a lot of slow parts. I didn't really enjoy reading it (or having my heart ripped out). I appreciate and admire the work, but I don't like it. 
 
This multiple-POV story follows mainly three characters (with a small handful of single-chapter side character POVs): Ava, her son Toussaint, and her mother, Dutchess. At the beginning of the novel, Ava and her son are unhoused in Philadelphia after Ava is kicked out of her house she shared in an unhealthy marriage with a controlling man. Ava cannot function; she refuses to use the shelter's facilities and can't sleep or bring herself to eat because of how filthy everything seems. She exhibits all the signs of depression. 
 
Dutchess and Ava have a fraught relationship; Ava has lived most of her adult life more or less avoiding her childhood. She purposefully has very little contact with her mother, although she occasionally sends post cards or letters every few years. Dutchess is not diagnosed in the book, but her behavior during Ava's childhood and youth would probably meet the criteria for bipolar disorder (usually depressive episodes, although there are clues that she also had hypomanic or manic episodes). Mental illness and the havoc it wreaks on family is a huge theme throughout this book. 
 
Toussaint, 10 years old at the beginning of the novel, is caught in the fallout of generations of mental illness and generational trauma. While he doesn't seem to have the same mental illness markers, he clearly suffers from PTSD at various points (disassociation, night terrors, freezing, flashbacks). Honestly, I think in some ways Toussaint, as a child who has no healthy, stable adults in his life (there is a kind, nonjudgmental neighborhood pastor who provides a safe space for him whenever he needs it, but it feels like too little, too late), suffers the most. He tries to find his way through a dark, confusing world. 
 
There are so many layers to this book, and as such, I think it would benefit from multiple readings (although I don't think I have the heart for it). We see racism in side characters and in systems/structures that heavily impact the characters. Dutchess's small Black town's general store is burned to the ground, surrounding white towns steal its land, and one of its graveyards is bulldozed over to build vacation homes for white people. Ava lives her life trying to outrun the trauma of watching her beloved step-father chased and shot by white men. 
 
Another major theme is how society fails the vulnerable. Ava experiences obvious abuse and manipulation by two men, one after the other, but she is shown no compassion by anyone around her (not that she expects it). She is blamed by members of the community for being a bad mother, threatened with losing her beloved son, and manipulated into staying in an extremely toxic relationship/home environment that ultimately only hurts not just her, but also the child she loves. It's easy to dislike her as a character; her anxiety and depression at the shelter keep Toussaint from using facilities/eating as much as he needs, and she eventually brings him into a home in which he is not allowed to go to school, doesn't have enough to eat, and experiences other traumatic things I won't spoil. But as many times as Ava did wrong, she was wronged many more. Had others stepped in to help Ava rather than judge her, the entire narrative could have been changed. Instead, throughout the novel, people are hostile to Ava, and their judgmental gaze only makes it harder for her to overcome her situation. 
 
There's a tiny glimmer of hope at the end, but it isn't happy, neat, or clean (which wouldn't fit with the rest of the book, anyway). In some ways, I think this novel is literary fiction at its best: an entirely believable exploration of deep-seated societal issues with deeply flawed characters that will leave you wondering how we got here and what our place is/should be. 
 
Okay, this was significantly longer than I meant to write, but wow this book is deep. And now... off to read something gentle to renew my soul, which has been quite depleted by this novel! 
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