cecereads__ 's review for:

Everyone I Know Is Dying by Emily Slapper

4.0

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Hmm. I don’t know how to describe this really. It was relatable (mental health-wise) and certain parts and sentences were very spot on - and not just from a relatability pov but from a construction pov, if that makes sense. This story was structured very succinctly and truthfully and sometimes very stunningly so and with such care.
I like that it leaned into the confusion and heaviness and the unbearable of depression (or mental health struggles in general).
It felt like two realities in one and at once, and intentionally so. Ofc there’s the masking and then everything (or the nothingness) going on on the inside. I like that we see the beginnings of the unraveling/despair, how the depression overwhelms and has a life of its own. How nothing is linear, how it matters who we surround ourselves with and what that says about us, and how vulnerable we allow ourselves to be - not just in front of others but with ourselves most of all. At least as a start. But yeah, I’m not in a position to be preachy about this at all. I’m just saying that I felt it did a good job in the chaos and uncomfortable and confrontational. Even when it was subtle or only happening in Iris’ inner monologue 

I’m still not sure how I feel about George taking her back. Just bc his mother went through sth similar? I guess it makes it believable but there are things I think might be a bit convenient. Eg. Patrick sleeping with Sara so Iris can sort of let go of her guilt but I feel like she has to sit with this heartbreak she caused for him. Even though they weren’t good together and I agree with her that they might just not have been compatible. Buuut I don’t think Patrick was as bad a person as he was made out to be. And I feel like she got away with a lot. She made bad decisions but also lacked support from anyone other than George (and that was a little too romance-book for me bc he very much seemed too good to be true, let’s be honest).