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3.93 AVERAGE
3.93 AVERAGE
See my review on my blog at http://palmerspageturners.blogspot.com/2016/02/review-underwater.html
I've always loved the YA genre, and every now and then a YA book comes along and reminds me exactly why I love YA. Underwater is one of those books. This book blew me away. It was absolutely brilliant. I absolutely loved Morgan. Her character was so raw and real. I don't want to give too much of the details of the plot away because so much of what's great about this book is that you discover it along the way. But I will say that what she is dealing with is (sadly) something that perhaps hundreds of students across the country could be dealing with--on some level at least, since Morgan's case is a bit more extreme. I spent most of the book wishing I could give Morgan a hug and help her cope. I was so proud of her journey by the end of the book.
And Evan! Wonderful Evan from Hawaii. I loved how patient he was with Morgan. I love how he brought her out of her shell and helped her through. I also enjoyed her little brother, Ben, as a character. In addition to the main issue that the book deals with, Morgan also has the stress of a broken military family. The author handles both issues--serious, heavy, relevant issues--beautifully. I feel like so many teens could read this book and feel like they aren't alone. Which is EXACTLY why I love YA. This book was heartbreaking at times, but in a good way. I read this book in less than 24 hours because I couldn't bear to put it down. I had to know more about Morgan's story.
In short: go to the bookstore or library NOW and get this book. It's brilliant, well written, and so relevant to today's world. I know it's going to be one of my top favorites of 2016!
I've always loved the YA genre, and every now and then a YA book comes along and reminds me exactly why I love YA. Underwater is one of those books. This book blew me away. It was absolutely brilliant. I absolutely loved Morgan. Her character was so raw and real. I don't want to give too much of the details of the plot away because so much of what's great about this book is that you discover it along the way. But I will say that what she is dealing with is (sadly) something that perhaps hundreds of students across the country could be dealing with--on some level at least, since Morgan's case is a bit more extreme. I spent most of the book wishing I could give Morgan a hug and help her cope. I was so proud of her journey by the end of the book.
And Evan! Wonderful Evan from Hawaii. I loved how patient he was with Morgan. I love how he brought her out of her shell and helped her through. I also enjoyed her little brother, Ben, as a character. In addition to the main issue that the book deals with, Morgan also has the stress of a broken military family. The author handles both issues--serious, heavy, relevant issues--beautifully. I feel like so many teens could read this book and feel like they aren't alone. Which is EXACTLY why I love YA. This book was heartbreaking at times, but in a good way. I read this book in less than 24 hours because I couldn't bear to put it down. I had to know more about Morgan's story.
In short: go to the bookstore or library NOW and get this book. It's brilliant, well written, and so relevant to today's world. I know it's going to be one of my top favorites of 2016!
Oh this book. This beautiful, beautiful book. Underwater has secured itself a snug little space up there with my favourite books of all time. This book broke me and built me back up again. How on earth is this a debut? It's absolutely stunning and such a perfect and sensitive portrayal of what it is to suffer with panic attacks and agoraphobia. I don't even know where to start with this review except to say that the first thing I did after finishing this book was to hug it to myself. Underwater is absolutely jam packed with emotion, intrigue and love and I just loved it so very much.
Underwater follows the life of Morgan as she suffers through her panic attacks, agoraphobia and anxiety following a traumatic event at her school several months earlier. We gradually learn about what happened at her school and at the guilt that she harbors. The reveal is slow and torturous, which only added to the book. I felt Morgan's pain so very clearly and the drawing out of the reveal felt like she was finally letting us in and trusting us, just as she is her councilor. As someone who has personally suffered with a panic and anxiety disorder and was agoraphobic, I related to this book so much. Events are different but all of the emotions that Morgan experiences were so very real, from the beginning to the path to recovery. It invoked all of the emotions and I really wanted to wrap her up and hug her.
An aspect which I didn't expect to love as much as I did was the introduction of Evan. When I first read this on the synopsis, I'll admit that I did have a little eye roll moment, but I take that eye roll back x100000! Evan was everything that he needed to be in this book. He was there for Morgan when she needed him the most. He was a rock and, I don't want to say to much and spoil anything, but he is such a solid, present figure and we all know how important it is to have someone that cares about you when you're having a tough time. I finished this book wanting more from these characters. I didn't want to let them go. I wanted to know more, I wanted to follow them further. I wasn't ready to let go of this beautiful story.
Underwater brought out so much emotion in me. Reading this on the tube was such a bad idea - the constant tearing up was a tough one to hide. I couldn't recommend this book and I'm so happy that more and more YA novels are tackling tough topics such as mental health. This is a stunning debut; please do pick it up!
Underwater follows the life of Morgan as she suffers through her panic attacks, agoraphobia and anxiety following a traumatic event at her school several months earlier. We gradually learn about what happened at her school and at the guilt that she harbors. The reveal is slow and torturous, which only added to the book. I felt Morgan's pain so very clearly and the drawing out of the reveal felt like she was finally letting us in and trusting us, just as she is her councilor. As someone who has personally suffered with a panic and anxiety disorder and was agoraphobic, I related to this book so much. Events are different but all of the emotions that Morgan experiences were so very real, from the beginning to the path to recovery. It invoked all of the emotions and I really wanted to wrap her up and hug her.
An aspect which I didn't expect to love as much as I did was the introduction of Evan. When I first read this on the synopsis, I'll admit that I did have a little eye roll moment, but I take that eye roll back x100000! Evan was everything that he needed to be in this book. He was there for Morgan when she needed him the most. He was a rock and, I don't want to say to much and spoil anything, but he is such a solid, present figure and we all know how important it is to have someone that cares about you when you're having a tough time. I finished this book wanting more from these characters. I didn't want to let them go. I wanted to know more, I wanted to follow them further. I wasn't ready to let go of this beautiful story.
Underwater brought out so much emotion in me. Reading this on the tube was such a bad idea - the constant tearing up was a tough one to hide. I couldn't recommend this book and I'm so happy that more and more YA novels are tackling tough topics such as mental health. This is a stunning debut; please do pick it up!
I had to lower my rating because this subject was way too close to me and it made me a little angry.
This book was so powerful and moving. It is inspiring and full of hope and I urge you all to go read it. Now.
Reichardt did such a fantastic job with this. Morgan and the aftermath of what she went through feels SO real. Her panic attacks, thought processes and feelings are so true to life and depicted so well. This book tugged on my heartstrings massively. I also super loved the relationship between Morgan and her brother, Ben.
This was full of beautiful characters, who I loved every single one of, and such a lovely story line.
This will forever be a favourite.
Reichardt did such a fantastic job with this. Morgan and the aftermath of what she went through feels SO real. Her panic attacks, thought processes and feelings are so true to life and depicted so well. This book tugged on my heartstrings massively. I also super loved the relationship between Morgan and her brother, Ben.
This was full of beautiful characters, who I loved every single one of, and such a lovely story line.
This will forever be a favourite.
Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.
Trigger Warning: This book features a school shooting.
Underwater by Marisa Reichardt is a book I was hoping would be a really great portrayal of agoraphobia, as I have read only a few novels with main characters who have agoraphobia. However, I was really disappointed with this book. It's really problematic, and so incredibly slow.
I understand that Morgan has agoraphobia, and so there is only so much she can do at home, but that doesn't mean the pacing has to be slow and the story uninteresting. Under Rose Tainted Skies by Louise Gornal is a great example of a story with a main character who has agoraphobia and is really interesting and gripping. You don't need to step outside your house for things to happen. But, in the great scheme of things, nothing really happened with Morgan, and I was pushing myself to keep on reading when I wasn't gripped at all.
Also, I felt like some of the characters in this book were just awful to Morgan. The girl has a mental illness, and yet she gets so much flack for it. From Evan, the new boy next door, and even from her psychologist, Brenda. At different times, they both have a go at her for how she deals with things. Morgan has a really bad relapse at one point, where she ends up just lying on the floor for hours. She's found when her mum and brother get home, and Evan sees her there. He knows, ok? He knows she has agoraphobia and anxiety, he knows. So when Morgan needs some space and isn't able to talk to him for a few days, he gets so mad. Sure, maybe she should have let him know that she can't talk for a while, but, actually, how about a little understanding and just see that she is unable right now, that she needs some time? I don't see how that is so difficult to understand. But he acts like she's been a right cow and was ignoring him for no reason, and gets mad at her, makes her feel bad, and acts like he's the victim, the one who has been wronged. He describes her relapse as a pity party. A pity party! As she ignored him, he's now ignoring her. This is not ok! So not ok! I can't tell you how mad it made me! And it makes him look really childish and pathetic, too. He never apologises for his behaviour, and only wants to know her again once she starts to make progress with her mental illnesses. Because she's someone worth knowing once she's a bit more "normal", right?
And Brenda, her psychologist, who shouts at Morgan when she's frustrated with her for what she believes is her pushing people away. Maybe she hasn't been dealing with things in the best way, but she has mental illnesses, she's been through a huge ordeal, and she's trying her best here. Shouting at her because she's not doing what you want isn't going to help her. It's so god damned wrong, and it made me so angry. You cannot blame people for having mental illnesses! It's not something we can control, and sometimes we just need to look after ourselves for a while. There is nothing wrong with that.
I've discovered that Morgan's recovery from agoraphobia is realistic since finishing the book, from reading other reviews from people who have experienced similar (here and here), though I did frown a little at the progress Morgan made while I was reading. I do not have agoraphobia, and I never have, so I wasn't coming at this from a place of experience, I was coming at it with what I've learned from other books. And I wondered if Morgan was making progress far too easily to be realistic. She wasn't "cured" of her agoraphobia by the end of the book, you can't be cured of your mental illnesses, but, from what I'd read before, it seemed unrealistic to me that someone with agoraphobia, who has made it a small distance outside the door, would find it no problem at all to make that distance again next time. From what I understood, it's really difficult, during recovery, each time a person steps out the door. Not that they can't or don't make it, or that it doesn't get easier as time goes on, but walking five steps outside the front door, I thought, isn't going to be super easy next time simply because you've done it once before. She was absolutely fine walking outside the door for distances she's already accomplished, she only starts to feel anxious when it comes to extending those distances. But before you know it, she was walking out the door, going down the steps and jumping into the swimming pool in the courtyard like it was absolutely nothing. So I did wonder if the representation of recovery was realistic, but the reviews from people who know say it is, so it's good that the representation is spot on.
Morgan's mental illnesses are never mentioned by name. I think she has agoraphobia because she has panic attacks (at the beginning) when she tries to leave her house. I think she has anxiety, because she has panic attacks when reminded of the school shooting through news reports on the TV. She may have depression, too, after the relapse where she was just lying on the floor for hours, and I think she probably has PTSD, too, but I couldn't say with any real certainty that she has depression and/or PTSD. But we're never actually told that she has agoraphobia and anxiety. She just doesn't leave the house anymore, has panic attacks, and sees a psychologist.
Despite the representation being well written, becuase of it's problematic elements, Underwater is not a book I would recommend. Nobody with a mental illness should be made to feel bad for having a mental illness.
Thank you to Macmaillan Children's Books for the proof.
Trigger Warning: This book features a school shooting.
Underwater by Marisa Reichardt is a book I was hoping would be a really great portrayal of agoraphobia, as I have read only a few novels with main characters who have agoraphobia. However, I was really disappointed with this book. It's really problematic, and so incredibly slow.
I understand that Morgan has agoraphobia, and so there is only so much she can do at home, but that doesn't mean the pacing has to be slow and the story uninteresting. Under Rose Tainted Skies by Louise Gornal is a great example of a story with a main character who has agoraphobia and is really interesting and gripping. You don't need to step outside your house for things to happen. But, in the great scheme of things, nothing really happened with Morgan, and I was pushing myself to keep on reading when I wasn't gripped at all.
Also, I felt like some of the characters in this book were just awful to Morgan. The girl has a mental illness, and yet she gets so much flack for it. From Evan, the new boy next door, and even from her psychologist, Brenda. At different times, they both have a go at her for how she deals with things. Morgan has a really bad relapse at one point, where she ends up just lying on the floor for hours. She's found when her mum and brother get home, and Evan sees her there. He knows, ok? He knows she has agoraphobia and anxiety, he knows. So when Morgan needs some space and isn't able to talk to him for a few days, he gets so mad. Sure, maybe she should have let him know that she can't talk for a while, but, actually, how about a little understanding and just see that she is unable right now, that she needs some time? I don't see how that is so difficult to understand. But he acts like she's been a right cow and was ignoring him for no reason, and gets mad at her, makes her feel bad, and acts like he's the victim, the one who has been wronged. He describes her relapse as a pity party. A pity party! As she ignored him, he's now ignoring her. This is not ok! So not ok! I can't tell you how mad it made me! And it makes him look really childish and pathetic, too. He never apologises for his behaviour, and only wants to know her again once she starts to make progress with her mental illnesses. Because she's someone worth knowing once she's a bit more "normal", right?
And Brenda, her psychologist, who shouts at Morgan when she's frustrated with her for what she believes is her pushing people away. Maybe she hasn't been dealing with things in the best way, but she has mental illnesses, she's been through a huge ordeal, and she's trying her best here. Shouting at her because she's not doing what you want isn't going to help her. It's so god damned wrong, and it made me so angry. You cannot blame people for having mental illnesses! It's not something we can control, and sometimes we just need to look after ourselves for a while. There is nothing wrong with that.
I've discovered that Morgan's recovery from agoraphobia is realistic since finishing the book, from reading other reviews from people who have experienced similar (here and here), though I did frown a little at the progress Morgan made while I was reading. I do not have agoraphobia, and I never have, so I wasn't coming at this from a place of experience, I was coming at it with what I've learned from other books. And I wondered if Morgan was making progress far too easily to be realistic. She wasn't "cured" of her agoraphobia by the end of the book, you can't be cured of your mental illnesses, but, from what I'd read before, it seemed unrealistic to me that someone with agoraphobia, who has made it a small distance outside the door, would find it no problem at all to make that distance again next time. From what I understood, it's really difficult, during recovery, each time a person steps out the door. Not that they can't or don't make it, or that it doesn't get easier as time goes on, but walking five steps outside the front door, I thought, isn't going to be super easy next time simply because you've done it once before. She was absolutely fine walking outside the door for distances she's already accomplished, she only starts to feel anxious when it comes to extending those distances. But before you know it, she was walking out the door, going down the steps and jumping into the swimming pool in the courtyard like it was absolutely nothing. So I did wonder if the representation of recovery was realistic, but the reviews from people who know say it is, so it's good that the representation is spot on.
Morgan's mental illnesses are never mentioned by name. I think she has agoraphobia because she has panic attacks (at the beginning) when she tries to leave her house. I think she has anxiety, because she has panic attacks when reminded of the school shooting through news reports on the TV. She may have depression, too, after the relapse where she was just lying on the floor for hours, and I think she probably has PTSD, too, but I couldn't say with any real certainty that she has depression and/or PTSD. But we're never actually told that she has agoraphobia and anxiety. She just doesn't leave the house anymore, has panic attacks, and sees a psychologist.
Despite the representation being well written, becuase of it's problematic elements, Underwater is not a book I would recommend. Nobody with a mental illness should be made to feel bad for having a mental illness.
Thank you to Macmaillan Children's Books for the proof.
I inadvertently read two novels in a row dealing with a teenage girl with PTSD. This was actually an enlightening accident, because the two characters' responses to their respective traumas couldn't be more different. I almost wrote a review as a comparison of the two, but that wouldn't be fair to either book alone. If you want to have a conversation about them both, the other book is After the Woods by Kim Savage.
The characters in Underwater are sympathetic and the relationships are touching. The dialogue felt very natural and real. I was surprised after the fact to learn this was the author's first published novel. I wish I had taken more notes while reading to discuss now, but after I got into the story I didn't really put it down.
None of us are truly alone in our pain. I think that's a good enough takeaway.
The characters in Underwater are sympathetic and the relationships are touching. The dialogue felt very natural and real. I was surprised after the fact to learn this was the author's first published novel. I wish I had taken more notes while reading to discuss now, but after I got into the story I didn't really put it down.
None of us are truly alone in our pain. I think that's a good enough takeaway.
Beautiful, emotional writing; an interesting, original perspective on the "school shooting book". The romance was a little much, IMO, but I absolutely loved reading this.
It was good for a while but it started to become to predictable.
Interview with Marisa Reichardt + Giveaway! (DL: 21 May 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH_mW9Tnq0k
SPOILER FREE Review>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWFfQmdjpLw&t=2s
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I looove love love the first 200 pages. Full review coming soon! + Giveaway and something special
SPOILER FREE Review>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWFfQmdjpLw&t=2s
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I looove love love the first 200 pages. Full review coming soon! + Giveaway and something special
Wow. Talk about powerful. I think every teenager in America should read this book!
At its center, Underwater is about PTSD and mental health. But it is also about forgiveness, familial love, friendship, and facing the past to move forward.
Deep, three dimensional characters and the realistic, contemporary subject matter definitely made this a five star book. A must read!
At its center, Underwater is about PTSD and mental health. But it is also about forgiveness, familial love, friendship, and facing the past to move forward.
Deep, three dimensional characters and the realistic, contemporary subject matter definitely made this a five star book. A must read!