with_discipline's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

3.25

Easy read of a hard subject in terms of narrative writing. Pretty difficult out in terms of reading about peoples’ awful experiences. Not for the faint, but a great deep dive. 

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flowchelle's review

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challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

4.0


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realpteradactyl's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0


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readastorywithtory's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25


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dustghosts's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.0


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citrinuke's review

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dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

4.0


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molly_c's review

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challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0


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freethefrican's review

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0


As someone who is just getting into non-fiction, it’s a little difficult for me to be overly critical as I am just learning what I’m looking for and what I want from the genre. That being said, I don't have a lot of criticism for this book. I enjoyed it. I thought the writing style was pretty good in how it read like non-fiction and I liked that a lot of effort was put into crafting a cohesive story from such a painful experience.

Schizophrenia is not one of the more talked about mental illnesses and I'm glad a book like this exists, not only to inform and mildly educate about the recent research into the disease’s treatment but to also show what it's like to live with a person or people who suffer from rather extreme forms of it. 

Growing up and living around people with a disease at a time when not enough was known about it from cause to treatment to long-term management, meant that a lot of mistakes were made. The enormity of this family’s affliction is something I don't think many of the readers of this book—including me—will be able to truly appreciate. One family member with a chronic illness is difficult enough. Now imagine 6 family members with a chronic, debilitating, and socially-ostracising illness. It's almost too painful to fathom. 

My first criticism is about the language of blame used. After making some effort to condemn the earlier beliefs by psychiatrists that mothers were largely responsible for the development of mental illness in their children, the author went on to craft a narrative (maybe as a result of his assessment of the situation or maybe it was him directly affirming the biases of his informants) that pointed a big arrow at the mother. 
Then there was this: “It is possible, maybe even likely, that the genetic flaw that caused schizophrenia in the Galvin boys might not be Mimi’s fault or Don’s fault, but both of their faults together—an entirely original cocktail, powerful enough to change all of their lives.”  This rubbed me off the wrong way. Was this necessary? Unfounded speculation (SHANK2 mutation be damned) that needed to point fingers at people who had been dealt terrible cards and who had their lives swallowed by this illness.

The second is how the transition from the family’s story to the scientific discussions was rather abrupt a lot of the time. As someone in the medical field, they weren’t too difficult to follow but I could see how those parts would feel a little tedious and sometimes dragged out to other people. But I did appreciate the author’s effort to simplify and directly correlate the different researches to the family’s timeline. 

This story is not for the faint of heart. It is difficult and sometimes full of despair. But I am glad that the Galvins have been able to find some semblance of sanity in the middle of their turmoil and continue to support each other. I hope the rest of them who are still with us can heal and live happy lives. 

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dashes101's review

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

My first 5 star review of this year. I was so not expecting this when I picked up Kolker's book. However, I was quickly thrown into a deep dive of the family: the boys battling their disorders as well as the stigma, the parents fighting to keep their family intact, the daughters' own trauma from growing up in the Galvin household. The book was harrowing, riveting, and impossible to put down. A fascinating mix between the research efforts of the time, and the personal story of the family blended perfectly. Not only does this book show the horrific tragedy of schizophrenia separating people from reality, it shows the hope of a family, the difficult choices we make in the face of hardship, and the healing process. There are so many things this book explores, and I can't put them all in a review: this is simply a must-read.

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avno13's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

This is a long-haul; you have to be willing and interested to confront the troubled and misunderstood history of schizophrenia. Underlying the biographical narratives of 1) research into the disease and 2) the Galvin's as a case-study are the commentaries on forgiveness, acceptance, and destigmatization of an unrelenting grip the disease has on its victims. I really enjoyed the varying perspectives, lack of judgment from the author, and truthful but sensitive retelling of the Galvin's history.

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