Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - This Close to Okay

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross-Smith

62 reviews

lulyslibrary's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Meet Tallie Clark, a divorced therapist on her way home from work when she spots a man at the edge of a bridge. She convinces the man to grab a cup of coffee and not make a terrible mistake. The man? only willing to say his name is Emmett. Over the course of 4 days, both find comfort and safety with each other. But is that safety just an illusion? Only time will tell.

This is my first time reading Leesa Cross-Smith's writing and the way she is able to create an atmosphere is astounding. Truly it felt as though you were being wrapped in a warm cozy blanket the entire time. Leesa was able to also give both Tallie and Emmett their own distinct voices which can be difficult to accomplish with a dual perspective novel.

Tallie as a character reminds me so much of myself. She is such a well-intentioned, inviting individual who can help others easily but struggles to help herself. Emmett was a difficult character to really warm up to but I feel as though that was intentionally done by the author to create the imagery of an individual who is closed off and lost in depression. The most unbelievable part of this novel is how Tallie just invites a complete, possibly dangerous, individual to stay in her home. However, I recognize that while some literary fiction is meant to be very realistic I feel as though the author creates this bubble of curiosity for readers that asks "but what if this did happen?". The ending had me completely frustrated in the best way! I craved and still do crave more from Tallie and Emmett's story.

Content Warnings

amazinggrace1455's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

remie's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-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

4.5

Content Warnings

raisareads_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I binge-read this book, and I loved every minute of it. It's a great, romance-but-not novel written by a Black author about Black characters. The two main characters are extremely lovable, and you are immediately rooting for them both from the very start. Leesa Cross-Smith writes masterfully about their inner turmoil so much so that you come to love even their imperfections. The ending is not predictable but is still gratifying, and I love that in a book. I only wish it had been a little longer! I would definitely read her next book. I hope there is a next!

Content Warnings

ekopaskie's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective fast-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

5.0

Content Warnings

just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

This is my second read from Cross-Smith. A few years ago I read, and unexpectedly really loved, Whiskey & Ribbons. It was an end of the year book for me then too and was a last minute addition to my "favorites of the year" 2018 list. Since then, I've meant to read the short story collection she's published, but I am not always in the mood for short stories, so I haven't gotten to it yet. However, when I saw that she had another novel coming out, this one, I was psyched and knew I'd be reading it sooner rather than later.

Driving home from work one evening, Tallie (a therapist), sees and stops Emmett from taking an action that would end his life. Over the course of the weekend that follows, Tallie and Emmett spend days together, sharing lots of "big talk" and inevitably becoming deeply tangled in each other's lives, yet purposefully holding each other at arm's length because they are, essentially, strangers. Emmett meets Tallie's family and leaves a lasting mark on them, while simultaneously enacting a ruse that will break her budding trust in him. Tallie does everything she can to help Emmett see that his life has meaning, if worth living, while hiding an essential fact about herself that will threaten his belief in her motives. And in back-and-forth-in-time perspectives, the reader is also given the unfolding events that led to Emmett's decision to end his life and the difficult realities Tallie has yet to fully reckon with in her own life.

Although this novel was so different, in so many ways, from Whiskey & Ribbons, there was a style and feeling to the writing that rang very similar. It seems that the sort of soft, gentle cadence to the words and the way the story unfolds, is a central characteristic of Cross-Smith's writing. Interestingly, although the art forms were differently used and experienced, the place that art itself holds in the lives of the characters and the emotional connections shared/created is another similarity between the two. Something about the way it's woven in just adds to the smooth, comforting flow of the writing; it sort of all just washes over you as a reader, bringing you along for an immersive ride. And despite the intensity of many of the events that occur within these pages, it was still a deeply soothing reading experience. A really impressive accomplishment and, as it's the second time, really proves that it's no fluke, that Cross-Smith is just that good.

There is one other literary detail worth mentioning, an internal stylistic device. Emmett's observations, or cataloging, of the details around him, as well as Tallie's mental therapy notes, are a really nice touch that gives something extra to the characters and, while it could easily be overdone, never felt that way for me. They both give an almost haunting quality to Emmett and Tallie's inner personhood throughout their time together and it adds something simple, but necessary, to their development.

Regarding the actual story, it was, as I said, quite intense. Really shouldn't be a surprise, considering the way Emmett and Tallie meet, but it ends up being so much more than that. Despite the lies (or truth-guarding, if you will) that they tell each other, the intentional miscommunications and misdirections and invasions of privacy (that aspect in itself was such a human part of the story, I couldn't get over the absolute real feeling of it), there is something impossibly tender in the way Emmett and Tallie are with each other. It is deeply affecting and had me emotionally invested in them together almost immediately. And while there is definitely a romantic tension to their character development in and around each other, that's too surface-level to appropriately describe it. So when there was follow through there, but then also not, that weird mix of completeness and dissatisfaction was exactly what I wanted from it.

Other than that, looking at the "side character" details, the integration of Tallie's extended family and ex-husband, as well as her yearning for a child, juxtaposed with Emmett's mysteriously absent family and, of course, the mystery of the "why" behind his suicide attempt, into this emotion-laden long weekend, were equally striking as facets of the Emmet and Tallie's story. (A note here, the suicide attempt, planning, ideation, bargaining/planning, is central to the novel and has a quiet intensity to it that hits all the harder because of it, deserving full-throated content warnings.)

It's the small things, the artistic touches, that make Cross-Smith's writing so good. I was just so softly blown away by this novel. The tender writing and story of Emmett and Tallie, ships passing in the night while leaving indelible marks on each other's lives/futures, was so emotionally raw and epicly poignant.

“Losing her nervousness made her feel reckless, and feeling reckless fed her recklessness, leading her to feel the scariest, most thrilling thing of all: free.”

“He could pretend to be someone else who was pretending to be someone else. The cracked husk of his heart inside another and another, ad infinitum. Evidence of how he’d closed himself off out of necessity. Grief. Guilt. And fear.”

Content Warnings

readingwithjaybird's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

georgiajala's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.75

The writing for this book just felt really lazy. There were several lines where it seemed metaphors were just thrown together but didn’t add any actual meaning.

For example, when Emmitt/Rye describes his wife he says, “Her beauty: spectacularly normal, timeless. Practical and clean, like a girl on a bar of soap.” (113). What does that mean?? Who wants to be described as a bar of soap? I don’t know but a lot of the writing just felt really off to me.

I also couldn’t get past the fact that Tallie’s character just felt so cheesy and unrealistic. She’s described as an “empath” and just overly trusting because she can read people’s energy??

My expectations for this book were low to begin with just going off the cover but I was hoping for something fun and easy to read. This story just felt very bizarre and had characters that didn’t feel real to me at all.

I thought the ending was cute though.

Also, Emmitt was married to a woman but didn’t know what a pencil skirt was?? The writing made it seem like he was an alien or something.

Content Warnings

caitlyn_baldwin's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This novel was beautiful and poignant. It was cathartic to watch the characters work through their struggles and finally address the things they've been running from. There were some not completely expected twists that really built this piece up, my only personal preference would be to have a little bit stronger of an ending. I like seeing things wrapped up with a bow and while this did not necessarily scratch that itch, I did appreciate the possibility that was left open.

Content Warnings

garrisonabbey's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective slow-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

4.75

ahhhhh!!!! this was a seemingly peaceful read for a book filled with topics so heavy. the writing truly sucked me in, both main characters dwindled around each other so perfectly. this book is a perfect example of exploring new relationships and finding yourself within other people.

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