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theshenners's review
4.0
more like 4.5 but not enough to round up? Full review to come on my blog.
I definitely saw pieces of myself in most of the characters and related strongly to the depictions of depression and anxiety. I was relieved and greatly appreciated that there was direct engagement with and debunking of the damaging ideas that a) romance will fix your mental illness or b) doing therapy camp will magically cure you and you won't have to struggle anymore after the fact.
Since this deals very directly with mental illness, your mileage may vary with how you react. For me personally, it was a mixture of triggering and cathartic throughout. I'll just list the appropriate content/trigger warnings here:
-depression
-anxiety
-bipolar disorder
-eating disorders/anorexia
-narcissistic personality disorder
-suicide
-dissociation
-panic attacks
I definitely saw pieces of myself in most of the characters and related strongly to the depictions of depression and anxiety. I was relieved and greatly appreciated that there was direct engagement with and debunking of the damaging ideas that a) romance will fix your mental illness or b) doing therapy camp will magically cure you and you won't have to struggle anymore after the fact.
Since this deals very directly with mental illness, your mileage may vary with how you react. For me personally, it was a mixture of triggering and cathartic throughout. I'll just list the appropriate content/trigger warnings here:
-depression
-anxiety
-bipolar disorder
-eating disorders/anorexia
-narcissistic personality disorder
-suicide
-dissociation
-panic attacks
vera_michele's review against another edition
3.0
3/5 Stars
I enjoyed this book, but there wasn't a whole lot in here. The characters were not very developed, and it just moved very quickly in my opinion. I would have liked to read more. I don't know how well the representation was, so look into other reviews to see how it was.
TW: talk of suicide, and others.
I enjoyed this book, but there wasn't a whole lot in here. The characters were not very developed, and it just moved very quickly in my opinion. I would have liked to read more. I don't know how well the representation was, so look into other reviews to see how it was.
TW: talk of suicide, and others.
readwithmeemz's review
2.0
I'm an Indigo employee, and I received an advanced reading copy of this book from
indigo books & music, in exchange for my honest review.
I love YA books about mental illness, because I often find them to be refreshing and realistic, and I enjoy the catharsis of reading about characters going through difficult things, and trying to find some healing.
Unfortunately, I was very disappointed that i didn't find that in this book. The characters were so hard to relate to. Despite having chapters from each of their POVs, I just could not connect to any of them much.
I also feel like this wilderness therapy retreat was terrible? It seems like a gross oversight to have so little supervision (e.g. At meals, and walking around the camp). The counsellors don't seem to actually know what they're doing, and don't seem realistic at all - and it was just frustrating, because this book could have done a much better job showing these teens getting actual help from trained and competent professionals, and that leading to a journey of healing.
Instead, we got tired; trope-y counsellors who didn't seem to be very good at their jobs, and somehow cultivated a very 'us vs them' mentality when it came to connecting with their charges.
Finally, I found this book to be so dull. I didn't connect to a single character, and barely cared about any of their storylines. I hoped for better, but was, unfortunately, pretty let down.
indigo books & music, in exchange for my honest review.
I love YA books about mental illness, because I often find them to be refreshing and realistic, and I enjoy the catharsis of reading about characters going through difficult things, and trying to find some healing.
Unfortunately, I was very disappointed that i didn't find that in this book. The characters were so hard to relate to. Despite having chapters from each of their POVs, I just could not connect to any of them much.
I also feel like this wilderness therapy retreat was terrible? It seems like a gross oversight to have so little supervision (e.g. At meals, and walking around the camp). The counsellors don't seem to actually know what they're doing, and don't seem realistic at all - and it was just frustrating, because this book could have done a much better job showing these teens getting actual help from trained and competent professionals, and that leading to a journey of healing.
Instead, we got tired; trope-y counsellors who didn't seem to be very good at their jobs, and somehow cultivated a very 'us vs them' mentality when it came to connecting with their charges.
Finally, I found this book to be so dull. I didn't connect to a single character, and barely cared about any of their storylines. I hoped for better, but was, unfortunately, pretty let down.
elleceeveee's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
annie8782's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book and found that I could learn and understand mental health issues more. As someone who hasn't experienced it myself I can't say whether or not it is portrayed accurately but it seemed to be done very well.
The characters' stories who I was most interested in were Clarisa and Andrew. Clarisa because this was the first time I could see OCD as a legitimate disorder and Andrew because I could really understand how he got to where he was, as opposed to people who have a disorder but you don't know about them before it.
The characters' stories who I was most interested in were Clarisa and Andrew. Clarisa because this was the first time I could see OCD as a legitimate disorder and Andrew because I could really understand how he got to where he was, as opposed to people who have a disorder but you don't know about them before it.
cupcates's review
3.0
i expected a lot more coming from this book after all the hype, so i was slightly disappointed. the writing is good, the characters seem well researched, but nothing happened. there was basically no development and it always turned into a DNF.
ove_gard_andersen's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Not the easiest book to write a review without spoiling something. But as a person who have worked in mental health sector for sevral years I feel the author could do much more reserch on the diffrent illnesses she’s represented in the book. The illnesses are porley discribed and some times even just wrong. If your’e looking for a book to really get into the heads of people with serious mental illnesses stay away from this book. If your just looking to pass time, go ahead.
octoberrose91's review
4.0
I wanted to really love this book in a way that a lot of others in the community did I wanted to connect with it on a deeper level but maybe due to my age and it being over 10 year (YIKES) since I was the same age as these character I just found there interactions to be a bit lacking for me and the ending to be lack luster I just feel like I wanted more but that was the point of the novel that mental illness isn't something you can have an aha moment with sometimes it's about the smallest things like having a good day. And I felt like in the overall grand scheme of things that , that was a good message.
norababora's review
3.0
This book is about 5 teens trying to cope with their mental illness by going to a 4 week therapy camp. I think this book touches on a lot of issues that people don't always understand. I could relate to a lot of what all the teens were feeling. This book teaches a great lesson about understanding that you can't control everything that happens in life and you should try not to let situations that are out of your control affect you as much.
I do think the characters in this book could have been much more developed. We only get tiny snip-its of what their life is like outside of camp and a couple characters seemed way over the top (Stella and Ben) but otherwise, it was a nice story.
I do think the characters in this book could have been much more developed. We only get tiny snip-its of what their life is like outside of camp and a couple characters seemed way over the top (Stella and Ben) but otherwise, it was a nice story.
thebookishlibrarian's review
Clarissa, Ben, Andrew, Mason and Stella meet each other at a camp for teens with mental illness, and form bonds that they never thought possible. Each teen is plagued with something different, yet, they come together to learn from each other on a path to healing.
Thanks to School Library Journal for a review copy of this book.
Thanks to School Library Journal for a review copy of this book.