Review by mama_in_the_rye - Releasing 10

mama_in_the_rye 's review for:

Releasing 10 by Chloe Walsh

4.5

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Trigger and Spoiler Warning : This book talks about extremely difficult and complex situations and this review will talk about them.

I finished this book about a week ago and I have had to sit with it in order to fully understand and review it. This is the latest book in the Boys of Tommen series and one of the most heartbreaking to read. This part in the story of our teenage favorite rugby players and the girls that they love them involves Lizzy and Hugh. Since she was a young child Lizzy has struggled with mental health isssues and having to live in the shadow of her perfect older sister. Her mother is constantly in and out of the hospital with cancer and Lizzy has always gotten neglected by her father because she was different than her peers. After years of being tormented by visions and nightmares she is finally able to get a bipolar disorder diagnosis. However instead of being able to finally be able to live a normal life this creates an unbelievably dangerous situation for her. Hugh has always been older than his friends and has been the rock for his family and his best friend Gibsie’s since the tragic accident that took Gibsie’s father and younger sister. This day becomes the pivotal moment in this small group of young friends lives forever. While Shannon suffered in her own home, she was not the only one that experienced things that no child should ever have to. Shortly after this tragedy a new family moves into the neighborhood and become Lizzy’s older sisters boyfriend and Gibsie’s new step brother. This vile individual took advantage of both these young friends, causes intense trauma, and made too survivors of SA hate each other instead of band against their abuser. This review could be a whole essay on how complex mental health is and the effects of people who are mental ill being abused and not having a voice because people only believe the mental illness. I had to remember several times that Hugh is only a sixteen year old by the time this novel ends (we haven’t gotten to Binding 13 timeline) and that my frustrations with him might be very unwarranted. However one of my biggest pet peeves with him was his complete inability to understand mental illness. He understood Lizzys bipolar on a surface level, but never enough to actually help her when she was being abused. Never enough to understand how it wasn’t only her mental illness acting out, but also that abuse she had been put through. You can see this with his own personal feelings and the way he talks about his dads mental health and depression. This book series took a very serious concept when it started with Shannon and Joey and elevated the whole idea in this book. It is triggering and it is so hard to read, but it is so important for people who are not mentally ill to understand how easy it is to have someone take advantage of your mental health.

Content Warnings