Reviews

Little Bandaged Days by Kyra Wilder

jennyreads17's review against another edition

5.0

I originally picked this book up because it reminded me a lot of the novel Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum - one of my favorite reads of 2018. I am intrigued by modern narratives that discuss motherhood, relationships, and women's mental health (think Yellow Wallpaper in the 21st century). Kyra Wilder did not disappoint, it was hard for me to believe this was her debut novel - it was such a page turner. I loved the themes of control and isolation in this novel, especially as they related to money and living abroad somewhere where you don't speak the language.

maycsb's review against another edition

5.0

This is a truly disconcerting work. Erika is losing her mind. You’re watching as she does, as she doubts herself, watches the world flutter and fetter around her, she’s drowning, drowning, being eaten whole.

You want to help. You feel her pain. There are only so many books that elicit such visceral, naked feelings of empathy. Her struggle is complicated but completely and utterly simple, she’s alone, lonely, disturbed. I wanted to reach into the pages and help her, guide her back to sanity, convince her that it was going to be all right, all the while feeling I was also going a bit mad. This is a disconcerting book, but a good one, a great one even.

ballet4535's review against another edition

3.0

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me this ARC In exchange for an honest review. I really struggled with this one. Not so much the actual story, but the writing. There are no quotation marks when someone is reading. First time I’ve ever encountered this and it was sometimes difficult to get thru.

emmaparsnips's review against another edition

3.0

A quirky read about a young mother's descent into madness after moving to Geneva for her husband's new job. Her husband, M, is away from home more and more and she finds caring for her two children more and more challenging. The ending left me confused and wanting to know more.

ephemeris_of_books's review against another edition

4.0

Once, E. reached for her cup too soon while I was still squeezing and measuring and pouring lemon and sugar and water, and the sticky sweet juice spilled on the counter, on the floor. “That’s ok,” I said. “That’s ok. Look, we can clean it up.” And I was smiling. “All we have to do is get the towel wet and kneel down on the floor and find every little drop. We can do that,” I said. “We can be so clean and tidy and good.” There was so much smiling to do. So much teaching and smiling and not minding, wiping and drying, sorting, smiling and not minding a bit.

A couple with two young kids relocates from the US to Switzerland for the husband’s fancy new job. From the moment they arrive in the country the husband is ushered off to one important meeting after another. Meanwhile, the mother is left to care for their children in a tiny temporary apartment.

From the outset, I found the tone of the book chilling and creepy. The mother is so sickly sweet and constantly smiling that it instantly made me feel uneasy. Despite the tone, everything seems great at first. She is excited for their new life in Switzerland, learning French and trying desperately to be the perfect mother. However, things soon start going downhill. Her husband spends less and less time at home, flying off to business trips and (supposedly) spending his nights at work. The strain from the inescapable, all-encompassing duties of motherhood, exhaustion from sleepless nights and lack of contact with the outside world slowly start chipping away at her sanity and self-worth. The feelings of claustrophobia and isolation settle in.

While it’s a short book, her descent into madness is gradual and well-paced. It starts with the little things: forgetfulness, misplacing objects. However, soon she begins acquiring more alarming habits which pile up over time. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact time the balance tips because the changes are so slow as to be nearly imperceptible. The scary thing is that there is nobody there to tell her that her behaviour is not normal, to offer her a reality check or a helping hand.

The writing is absolutely exquisite. It perfectly captures the feelings of claustrophobia and suffocation, both with the images of the dark, sweltering, terribly confining apartment and the sensation of time passing too slowly to endure. I was often uncomfortable reading it, but I guess that was the intent.

I think this book would benefit a lot from being read over only a few sittings. In this way, the changes in the mother’s mental state would offer an especially stark contrast.

brittsbookclub's review against another edition

3.0

Let’s start out by saying I didn’t hate this book and I didn’t love this book. It was more of an average read for me, containing things that I liked and things that I didn’t like. I will always be an advocate for a book that touches on mental health awareness, so I commend this book in that aspect. I like that it works to create discussions about mental health and how it affects not only the person dealing with the mental illness, but those around them as well. I also liked the idea of the story and thought that it could make for a great book. What sort of fell flat for me was the execution of the story. I think the writing was unique in a purposeful way, but it made it hard for me to read. It was very chaotic and often I found myself getting confused about what was happening. I also found it difficult to connect with the characters. They weren’t ever presented in a way that we were able to get to know them, so it made it a little harder to identify with them.

*Thank you to Abram Books for a finished copy of this book in exchange for my honest review*

mscamp0235's review against another edition

5.0

I immediately was drawn into this book because of the writing style. I kept thinking how wonderful it is and how much it reminded me of something I would have read in a college English class. I was a little confused by the ending. Since the narrator is unreliable I'm not sure what to think. But those are my favorite kind of stories, the ones that make me think about them for days.
And I will be thinking about this for a while.
I recommend this to those who enjoyed stories likeThe Bell Jar, The Catcher in the Rye, and The Yellow Wallpaper. This definitely deserves to be compared to the greats

ckmurphy1958's review

3.0

I received an ARC of Little Bandaged Days in exchange for an honest review. Even though this book dealt with the tough subject of mental health well being, I really tried to like it. Erika has moved to a foreign country, where she doesn't know the language, doesn't know anyone, has two very young children and her husband works and travel a lot. And by a lot I mean he's hardly in the book. It was hard to believe that he did not see her downward spiral. She also referred to her husband and children by their first initial, M, B and E. Not sure why they couldn't be referred to by their names. I also think the book would have been better with the husband's point of view and even her mother's. She would FaceTime with her mother at the beginning of the story and then when technical problems developed they just stopped communicating. The mental health decline was described very well, I just have a hard time believing how clueless the husband was.

theunorganisedbookshelf's review against another edition

2.0

With so many lonely hours to fill from day to day, Erika's descends into madness as she finds herself isolated in her tiny apartment. Her sole job is to raise her 2 children almost entirely alone in a country where she doesn't speak the language. ⁣
⁣
I'm not sure what I expected but it definitely wasn't this. I think many readers would appreciate this book a lot more than I did. I anticipated a really quick read but the lack of dialogue meant the book was essentially 200 pages of desciption and as a result I found myself not wanting to pick it up. The mother's downward spiral into hysteria as she becomes more detached from the outside world is really saddening to read but the lack of proper storyline meant overall I found the book really hard to get attached to. Certain chapters of the story had me convinced there was some big plot twist coming that we were getting a peek into but it never came so I ended up feeling a bit lost. It's not a book I'd pick up again which is a shame, I've saved this book for weeks because I really expected to love it

ellemnope's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

There are so many things to say about this book. When I first finished it, I was disappointed and confused in the outcome, but then sat for over an hour picking the narrative apart and rethinking it in pieces until I began to see so much more. I am utterly overwhelmed. In fact, I have not stopped thinking about this novel since I finished it around twelve hours ago. It is sitting hard, like a lump in my chest. It is highly impactful, immobilizing, terrifying, and poignant. There is so much to consider and analyze.

In college, I read "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. I was instantly transported to that experience upon reading Little Bandaged Days. The novel is a gripping account of postpartum depression and psychosis in the scope of modern day life. It is based lightly on the author's actual experience and it reads immensely authentically. I struggle to say everything I want to about this book without creating spoilers, so let me just say that this book could also be used as a college read for analysis. It is brilliantly crafted with a protagonist whose every action has meaning and even though you follow the read thinking you're understanding what is going on and all the pieces are falling together, you are left at the end questioning EVERYTHING you knew. It's an amazing read. But it is so incredibly painful.

The trauma gripped me hard. The pace moved from something I could handle and evaluate to something that tore the breath from me and left my heart beating anxiously with worry and concern. I am still not over that feeling.

I am a mother of two young children. I can identify with much of the early thoughts and feelings that the protagonist voices. (I don't recall her being named anywhere in the narrative, but the synopsis identifies her as Erika.) I know what it is like to become overwhelmed by the responsibilities of motherhood and the loss of self that comes along with that responsibility. I am all too keen on the feelings of absolute love and devotion for your children alongside an internal desire to have a moment of peace, a bit of time alone. Due to circumstances of my own life, I also understand her feelings of loneliness and solitude.

There are a lot of things to question about the construction of this novel and the individual characters within it, but I have to assert that I feel this is all purposeful. It makes sense looking backwards. It also does not make sense. Because that's how mental illness is.

I will need to read this again. I have no doubt. It bruised my motherly heart and tore me in pieces at times, but I need to relive it to see it deeper. Just writing through this has made me appreciate it even more.

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher, in exchange for an honest review. *