While You Were Out: An Intimate Family Portrait of Mental Illness in an Era of Silence by Meg Kissinger

4.28 AVERAGE

agouldi's review

4.75
emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced
hedwig85's profile picture

hedwig85's review against another edition

4.5
challenging dark emotional funny informative sad medium-paced

frankly_lemon's review

4.0
the kids aren’t alright

schinavare's review against another edition

4.5
challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced
hyunniebunny's profile picture

hyunniebunny's review

3.25
dark informative tense
h0llace's profile picture

h0llace's review

3.0
dark emotional informative slow-paced
A memoir about a family ravaged by mental illness in the 1960s. The similarities between the author's family and my parents' families — large Catholic families in the Midwest with alcoholism, depression, and anxiety who were taught to bury their feelings — were staggering. I was not surprised to learn how corrupt and underfunded the mental health system in Wisconsin is. 

I wish the author had written this book in the narrative present (as the events unfolded) rather than the narrative future (with "wisdom" that came off as superiority and too many of the "If we only knew how bad it would get" chapter-ending tropes). The writing had too much telling instead of showing, and the book could have used a stronger edit. There were too many details I felt like the author included for her own nostalgia that weren't necessary to the story. 

emweinert's review against another edition

4.0
dark funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

stephd3's review

5.0
emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

lexis2772's review

challenging emotional medium-paced
literallyashlei's profile picture

literallyashlei's review against another edition

4.5
challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad medium-paced
Such a beautifully written memoir giving a peek into the mental healthcare “system” in the U.S.! The only thing that could’ve made it better for me would be an acknowledgement of the plight of minorities. It was mentioned once but I wanted more. It would’ve been nice for her to detail an interview with a racially minoritized family. 
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