Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Immeasurable Depth of You by Maria Ingrande Mora

14 reviews

morganacmott's review against another edition

5.0

emotional mysterious sad

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Content Warnings

sallytiffany's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I enjoyed this one. I think the mental health aspect was very relatable. They got the panic right so much that I was stressed just reading it. I liked the depth of the characters. I think it was kind of unrealistic so that’s why it’s not five stars. Still a good read!

Content Warnings

d4rrrcy's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional mysterious 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

Content Warnings

ash_36's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

mel_muses's review against another edition

4.5

Thank you to Pride Book Tours, Peachtree Teen, and NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Brynn has intrusive thoughts and anxiety. She’s fifteen, she’s bisexual, and she’s deep into the Tumblr community. So when Brynn’s mom is sent a post she misinterprets as a suicide note, Brynn is sent to spend the summer with her dad… in Florida. Without internet, without her phone, without her friends. But then Brynn meets Skylar in the bayou around her dad’s boat house, and something about her just doesn’t add up…

Everything about this book was too real. The depictions of Florida (“Florida felt like an armpit”), the way Brynn’s intrusive thoughts and anxiety manifested, her frustration and the piercingly honest observations. Even something about the supernatural elements made the book feel real. It was entirely captivating.

My favorite part about reading this book was the exploration of relationships. Every character was so fleshed out and I loved how different levels of relationships were explored. I really grew to love every central character. Brynn and her mom, her dad, Skylar, her dad’s girlfriend — there was so much depth (see what I did there lol). This is a complicated, messy book in so many ways. But most feelings are. Brynn messes up, big time. She makes unwise decisions and is sometimes insensitive to those around her. And I would be lying if I said I didn't sometimes feel frustrated with Brynn. But in the end, I don't think I really blamed her for her attitudes and sometimes blinding self-righteousness. Her willingness to see this, to accept her own faults — her determination to make herself better and correct her thinking, even if in small ways — that's what endeared me to her. I saw a lot of myself in that.

This book was worth the read for me. It’s not a story for everyone, but it’s one we need more of because it is a story for someone. The Immeasurable Depth of You is heartfelt with layers upon layers of feeling, for those parts of us we can’t help but recognize and sometimes let run our lives.

Content Warnings: depictions of anxiety, depression, intrusive thoughts, internalized ableism, grief, suicidal ideation, panic attacks, homophobia, description and aftermath of suicide

Content Warnings

siriface's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Content Warnings

savvylit's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional hopeful 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

The Immeasurable Depth of You is a compelling and empathetic young adult tale. Narrator Brynn's anxiety, compulsions, and self-consciousness throughout are so palpable that I yearned to comfort her. In creating Brynn, Mora has written one of the most believable teen narrators I have ever encountered in fiction.

Beyond the realistic characterization, there is so much more to love about this novel. First, there is a supernatural thread surrounding Skylar. Skylar's inclusion and her arc within the novel are both beautiful and heart-wrenching. Second, this novel paints a nuanced and empathetic portrait of teen mental illness and suicidal ideation. When I was reading piles on piles of YA Fiction as a teen myself, I never read any books that even slightly portrayed mental health in as normalizing a way as this novel. Third, this is a delightfully queer novel. Brynn's bisexuality is, like her other qualities, portrayed in a deeply believable and loveable manner.

Last but not least, this book is powerfully connected to its setting: the Gulf Coast of Florida. Mora is a resident of Florida and it is heavily apparent in her rich, vivid, and accurate descriptions of the coast and its native flora and fauna. Furthermore, the connection to place in this novel has an important political context. The government of the state of Florida is currently enforcing a culture of homophobia and hate within its bounds. Countless books have been banned from public school libraries for mentioning anything deemed even slightly "controversial." Teens need access to books like this one in order to feel less alone and to see how the teenage experience can be beautifully varied.

Thanks @peachtreeteen & @mariamorawrites for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Content Warnings

amylynnknitsreads's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It took me a while to finally start this book, but once I did I loved it.

Mora does an amazing job of opening the inner world of a teen who struggles with anxiety disorder on top of the anxiety of being a teenager at all. We follow Brynn as she spends the summer with a father who moved away after divorce, and handles being separated from the technology that she's grown used to being her interaction with the world.

All the characters are written incredibly well. Mora brings both them and Florida to life in a way that keeps the reader engaged and interested in the next chapter.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who is or was a teenager, but especially to anyone wanting to learn more about anxiety and intrusive thoughts.

Content Warnings

starrysteph's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A coming-of-age story featuring a queer & quirky teenage girl struggling with mental health … and a supernatural twist.

After a tumultuous Tumblr post sends her mom spiraling, fifteen-year-old Brynn is banished to the Florida mangroves to spend a summer offline. Brynn is stuck with her dad (who hasn’t really been present in her life for years) on a small houseboat with no phone, no access to online friends, and an overwhelming amount of catastrophic anxiety. But when she meets fearless & vibrant Skylar - who is trapped in the bayou - Brynn is determined to save her new friend.

There are parts of Brynn’s story that I found deeply realistic & relatable. She’s navigating relationships with parents that are well-meaning but not always informed. Her mom questions the validity of online friends and the worth of online friendships and is making parental decisions from a place of fear rather than thoughtfully considering the needs of her child.

Brynn’s juggling an overzealous punishment from her mom alongside not enough care or monitoring from her dad. I was surprised that her mom trusted her dad enough to watch her during such a vulnerable moment in her life (and he KEPT leaving her alone after she had proven to be too impulsive for such a lack of supervision).

I appreciated the honest conversations and depictions around intrusive thoughts, death anxiety, and belongingness as a young adult. The mental health aspects were by far the strongest aspect of the novel and I felt like the author was sharing vulnerable snippets of their own life.

The parts I struggled with all had to do with Brynn’s recklessness and impulsivity. It’s partly a teenage thing, but it also felt a bit mischaracterized at times. Brynn’s a smart girl and she’s also got debilitating anxiety - so why is she making dangerous decision after dangerous decision?

There is not a romance aspect here besides two crushes (one that could blossom into something and another that was unrequited). And speaking of the crush on Skylar, the unwanted & unwarranted kiss was a big miss for me. It’s another impulsive Brynn decision that she quickly regrets, but it was an unneeded predatory moment and added nothing to the story.

I enjoyed the supernatural elements & plot, but was disappointed by the ending & lack of closure to that arc.

Overall, I enjoyed The Immeasurable Depth of You and the earnest & honest conversations it opens surrounding mental health and navigating teenagehood.

CW: mental illness, panic attacks, death (child death), grief, suicidal thoughts, suicide, medical content, blood, vomit, injury, animal cruelty (fishing), animal death, ableism & internalized ableism, murder (discussed), biphobia

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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)

Content Warnings

fanboyriot's review

5.0

emotional medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was funny, sad, wholesome, and relatable all at once. Brynn was relatable in so many anxiety filled ways, dealing with a mind that constantly betrayed her.

I really liked the setting of this book too. The boat life and summer vacation were detailed nicely even if Brynn didn't ever have lady luck on her side. The mentions of internet friends, fanfiction, and Brynn blurting out that she liked girls to her dad, all warmed my heart.

While this book does deal with heavy topics (I suggest reading the content warnings) there were so many wholesome and funny parts too. I also would like to mention it was nice to read a book with a dad who knew their kid and genuinely cared for her. He knew not only her medical history but also the fandom edits she made. I don't see this nearly enough in books.

Skylar deserved better than the life she got, but I was happy that she got some closure in the end.

Bi MC
Good Parents
Summer Vibes
Detailed Characters
Good Mental Health Rep

(First Person POV)

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the eARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

Content Warnings

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