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sarahs_bookish_life's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. I didn't know what to expect from this book as a lot of people have given it quite bad reviews but to be honest I found it to be a father telling us the brutally honest truth of bringing up a daughter with schizophrenia. How him and his wife coped as long as long as they have I don't know, everyday is a struggle. I wonder how many of us would cope in the same circumstances.
roni1574's review against another edition
4.0
This book was an easy read and hard to put down. There has been a lot of criticism in the way it has been written by the father, however I think he is telling the story the way he see's it and how he felt going through the complex process of having his daughter diagnosed. I do think he was a little hard on his wife in the book and would love to hear her side. I do not know if I would have had another child with their circumstances. I do admire that they have never given up on their child and for the most part still have hope.
tsunanisaurus's review against another edition
5.0
Note: I received this ARC for free from the publisher. This book is due to be published in August 2012.
Quote from Foreward:
"During one stay in the hospital, while my wife, Susan, and I were visiting our daughter, Jani looked down from her fourth-floor window and said, "I want to jump down."
[...]
"You don't want to do that, " I replied, as calmly as I could. "Come here and play with me and Bodhi". Out of the corner of my eye, I could see she was still looking down.
"I want to die," she said softly."
This story is truly hard to read at times, you can feel a persistent lump in your throat throughout the book's entirety. The story of a father's desperate attempt to save his daughter, starting at age 4, while simultaneously in denial that she may not be able to be rescued.
Janni, as some will know, has been the subject of at least 2 documentaries and numerous newspaper articles. Seeing as how I was already semi-familiar with who she was and what her family was going through, I was even more interested in reading this story. I could see her eyes as he described their blank glaze, I could see her blonde curls as she shook them in rage and I could hear her voice describing her hallucination-driven pets.
I would say that it's obvious he is not a natural writer but he is a natural storyteller, for whatever that's worth. He tells his story the only way he can and that is through his eyes, his feelings and his version of what happened. He is so deeply raw and honest during the entire book, including his own misplaced anger at his wife Susan and his severe depression that led him to swallowing a bottle of his medication in an attempt to escape the misery his life had become.
I was moved by this story, I think it's an important one to tell. Mental illness is a controversial topic in many circles particularly in children. When you read/see/hear this story of Jani (as her name is later changed to in a hospital) your heart may shatter but I still you should read it.
Quote from Foreward:
"During one stay in the hospital, while my wife, Susan, and I were visiting our daughter, Jani looked down from her fourth-floor window and said, "I want to jump down."
[...]
"You don't want to do that, " I replied, as calmly as I could. "Come here and play with me and Bodhi". Out of the corner of my eye, I could see she was still looking down.
"I want to die," she said softly."
This story is truly hard to read at times, you can feel a persistent lump in your throat throughout the book's entirety. The story of a father's desperate attempt to save his daughter, starting at age 4, while simultaneously in denial that she may not be able to be rescued.
Janni, as some will know, has been the subject of at least 2 documentaries and numerous newspaper articles. Seeing as how I was already semi-familiar with who she was and what her family was going through, I was even more interested in reading this story. I could see her eyes as he described their blank glaze, I could see her blonde curls as she shook them in rage and I could hear her voice describing her hallucination-driven pets.
I would say that it's obvious he is not a natural writer but he is a natural storyteller, for whatever that's worth. He tells his story the only way he can and that is through his eyes, his feelings and his version of what happened. He is so deeply raw and honest during the entire book, including his own misplaced anger at his wife Susan and his severe depression that led him to swallowing a bottle of his medication in an attempt to escape the misery his life had become.
I was moved by this story, I think it's an important one to tell. Mental illness is a controversial topic in many circles particularly in children. When you read/see/hear this story of Jani (as her name is later changed to in a hospital) your heart may shatter but I still you should read it.
heyreadingpants's review against another edition
4.0
I have been intrigued by this book for a long time, but my old library didn’t have it. But my new one does!
January First is the story of the author’s struggles to figure out what is happening in his daughter’s mental health. January, his daughter, is anti social, shows violent tendencies, and is incredibly intelligent. She also has imaginary friends she insists are very real and changes her name daily. After the birth of Schofield’s second child, January’s behavior becomes exponentially worse.
This book was terrifying and fascinating. Schofield catalogs experiences with many mental health professionals, January’s reactions to the various drugs they prescribe, and their inability to find anything that works. It’s so scary to imagine someone you love behaving and suffering the way January does. I definitely got invested in this story, hoping for a happy ending for Schofield and his family.
One complaint/caution I have about this book is that it is only one man’s perspective. He has awful interactions with health professionals and I had to remind myself regularly that the way a person views a situation is not always the whole story. Schofield has a tendency to paint the health professionals as the bad guys. I like to hope they were acting in what they thought was January’s best interests.
Overall, I thought the book was terribly interesting and gave it four stars.
January First is the story of the author’s struggles to figure out what is happening in his daughter’s mental health. January, his daughter, is anti social, shows violent tendencies, and is incredibly intelligent. She also has imaginary friends she insists are very real and changes her name daily. After the birth of Schofield’s second child, January’s behavior becomes exponentially worse.
This book was terrifying and fascinating. Schofield catalogs experiences with many mental health professionals, January’s reactions to the various drugs they prescribe, and their inability to find anything that works. It’s so scary to imagine someone you love behaving and suffering the way January does. I definitely got invested in this story, hoping for a happy ending for Schofield and his family.
One complaint/caution I have about this book is that it is only one man’s perspective. He has awful interactions with health professionals and I had to remind myself regularly that the way a person views a situation is not always the whole story. Schofield has a tendency to paint the health professionals as the bad guys. I like to hope they were acting in what they thought was January’s best interests.
Overall, I thought the book was terribly interesting and gave it four stars.
val_halla's review against another edition
5.0
Watching a child struggle with schizophrenia may be one of the most difficult challenges a parent can face. Schofield is honest about the times he didn't handle it well, and his writing beautifully conveys the conflict within a family ripped apart by mental illness. I wondered how his wife felt about the angry way he wrote about her in the book.
3dotsforme's review against another edition
4.0
An heart-rending true story of a father's quest to find help for his 6 yr old daughter in her struggle with mental illness.
occasionalreader25's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
tanyarobinson's review against another edition
3.0
Wow, that was a depressing book. Fascinating, but depressing. It's rough to have a child with any illness, but childhood onset schizophrenia is hard to top. I'm glad my challenge in life is not to be January Schofield's parent.