What Made Maddy Run: The Secret Struggles and Tragic Death of an All-American Teen by Kate Fagan

4.2 AVERAGE

katiems1313's review against another edition

2.0
This book made me angry. I wasn't expecting to also (have to) read the very dissimilar story of the author in every other chapter. The author, herself, was a student-athlete but admits several times throughout the book that she has never experienced severe mental health issues. Additionally, while suicide prevention awareness advocates were consulted, no mental health specialists were interviewed.

The parts about Maddy were pretty good. The author is a talented writer. However, this part is where most of my anger comes in. It seems to me that Maddy was giving everyone some very clear signals about her distress. She talks (seemingly constantly) about being unhappy. She never even has a consult for depression medication?????? She has very disordered eating (also a sign of poor mental health) and other obsessive/compulsive traits. Definite red flags for me. And both parents were far too wrapped up in THEIR DAUGHTER being this big Ivy League athlete - perhaps prioritizing this over her literal cries for help. Again, the Maddy sections were good, but I reject the notion that this child committed suicide out of the blue. She was screaming for help, but the adults in her life either wouldn't or couldn't hear it.

Signed, a mental health therapist

gracejohnson1202's review against another edition

4.25
emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced
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kgoody813's review against another edition

4.0
Compelling, raw account of a personal tragedy, well told. I could've done without the interjections of basketball stories from the author. I know it was her attempt to establish credibility, but I think her biography does that on its own. A must-read for parents of high achieving 10-17 year olds!
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cara_lee's review against another edition

5.0
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

lovelyday2day's review against another edition

4.0
Heartbreaking. Even though the ending was clear I found myself wanting to tell her friends and family to intervene and more of what was going on. The most impactful moments for me were talking through what happened to Maddy in a moment and then seeing how she reflected it on Instagram. I also thought the section around quitting was very interesting.

Some of the parts where the author tries to get in Maddy’s head are a bit of a stretch and make too many assumptions. Would have preferred more acknowledgement of what is and will remain unknown.

courtneyjac's review against another edition

3.5
emotional inspiring fast-paced

szirbel's review against another edition

5.0
Wow! Madison's story was heart-wrenchingly sad while somehow at the same time the story of a typical athletically talented teenage girl. As a non-digital native mother of two young girls, it was very eye-opening to me to realize the affects of social media have had on Madison and now my girls generation. Thank you to Madison's family to allow her amazing story to be told and to allow her spirit help other young people who are so intent on curating the "perfect" life for the world while crumbling inside. Everyone should learn Maddy's story!

solanawhitfield's review against another edition

4.0
challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

esampso2's review against another edition

3.75
emotional informative slow-paced

lulupants23's review against another edition

5.0
challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced