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A review by enchantedfiction
A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa Sheinmel
5.0
A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa Sheinmel follows Hannah Gold, a 17 year old girl in the summer before her senior year. She is one of the smartest at her school, a straight-A student, choosing to take college level classes over the summer, and looking forward to her future. But what got her institutionalized was a mistake, a complete accident. It's just a matter of time before Hannah gets released because what happened to Agnes wasn't her fault. Until then, she'll play by their rules, and they will realize that there is nothing wrong with her. Then Lucy arrives. And Hannah sees a quicker way out. Befriend her new roommate, no matter what sent Lucy to her, and they'll all see that Hannah is nothing but the perfect best friend. But what Hannah may find through her time with Lucy may unravel her whole plan.
This is the first book I've read by Alyssa Sheinmel, and wow, her writing style is wonderful. I was unable to put this one down, and it's a book that's relatively out of my comfort zone. I don't read a ton of realistic fiction, but this story sucked me right in. Hannah is an unreliable narrator, and even admits to lying at the very beginning. It puts kind of an unsettled feeling in the pit of your stomach when you're not sure if you can take what the narrator is saying as truth, and that was something that was done really well in this book. The way Hannah speaks about her experiences, she sounds like a well put together, highly intelligent, relatively popular girl who has all her ducks in a row for a very successful future. But if that's the case, why was she placed in an institution, labeled as "a danger to herself and others"? Because what happened is all a mistake. Or so she says. But can you believe her when she lied at the very beginning? ANYTHING AFTER THIS IS A SPOILER
At first, my feeling towards Hannah was that she was a sociopath, that she could not feel responsibility or remorse for things she did to others. The matter of fact way she talked lightly around what happened to Agnes, which we weren't even really sure as readers until quite a ways into the book, and the clearly traumatic experiences she had as a child led me to believe she was unable of showing any empathy. All of her thoughts were very calculating on what she thought other people wanted from her, and did not really show her true personality. Maybe it's just the true crime junkie in me, but it made sense that empathy was not a trait she was capable of. When Lucy became part of the story, I started to realize that something was off when they "snuck her out" so she could have her audition with the Dance Academy, and then came back in without any orderly following her or sending her to a different room. It made me realize just how unstable Hannah really was, and it was more than just being unfeeling. I realized that Lucy was a hallucination before the realization hit Hannah, but only moments before. It was also interesting to have this perspective of Hannah and Agnes being such amazing friends in the short time they knew each other, and then hearing the voicemails Agnes had left her parents about Hannah talking to herself and other people calling her strange after her diagnosis. The sense of loss of self and control was really heavy towards the end of the book, and I shared in Hannah's anxiety when she was let go from the institute. I wanted nothing but the best for her, but it seemed like a long slow road with how her parents were treating her. I understand that learning your child has a mental illness like psychosis is hard, but it was like her parents really didn't care at all, that learning their child was sick was a hindrance to them and like Hannah said she "no longer fit in their lifestyle".
I think it's also important to read the Author's Note at the end, which I typically don't, but for this one I think it was important. I don't know a ton about severe mental illness like Hannah had, but Alyssa goes on to say in her note that she is no way trying to educate people on mental illness or say that what happened to Hannah would happen to anyone else, especially the time line. It also ends with a hotline for mental illness if anyone is struggling, which I think was very important to add to something with this type of story.
I would HIGHLY recommend A Danger to Herself and Others. It was well written, an interesting story, and worth it.
This is the first book I've read by Alyssa Sheinmel, and wow, her writing style is wonderful. I was unable to put this one down, and it's a book that's relatively out of my comfort zone. I don't read a ton of realistic fiction, but this story sucked me right in. Hannah is an unreliable narrator, and even admits to lying at the very beginning. It puts kind of an unsettled feeling in the pit of your stomach when you're not sure if you can take what the narrator is saying as truth, and that was something that was done really well in this book. The way Hannah speaks about her experiences, she sounds like a well put together, highly intelligent, relatively popular girl who has all her ducks in a row for a very successful future. But if that's the case, why was she placed in an institution, labeled as "a danger to herself and others"? Because what happened is all a mistake. Or so she says. But can you believe her when she lied at the very beginning? ANYTHING AFTER THIS IS A SPOILER
At first, my feeling towards Hannah was that she was a sociopath, that she could not feel responsibility or remorse for things she did to others. The matter of fact way she talked lightly around what happened to Agnes, which we weren't even really sure as readers until quite a ways into the book, and the clearly traumatic experiences she had as a child led me to believe she was unable of showing any empathy. All of her thoughts were very calculating on what she thought other people wanted from her, and did not really show her true personality. Maybe it's just the true crime junkie in me, but it made sense that empathy was not a trait she was capable of. When Lucy became part of the story, I started to realize that something was off when they "snuck her out" so she could have her audition with the Dance Academy, and then came back in without any orderly following her or sending her to a different room. It made me realize just how unstable Hannah really was, and it was more than just being unfeeling. I realized that Lucy was a hallucination before the realization hit Hannah, but only moments before. It was also interesting to have this perspective of Hannah and Agnes being such amazing friends in the short time they knew each other, and then hearing the voicemails Agnes had left her parents about Hannah talking to herself and other people calling her strange after her diagnosis. The sense of loss of self and control was really heavy towards the end of the book, and I shared in Hannah's anxiety when she was let go from the institute. I wanted nothing but the best for her, but it seemed like a long slow road with how her parents were treating her. I understand that learning your child has a mental illness like psychosis is hard, but it was like her parents really didn't care at all, that learning their child was sick was a hindrance to them and like Hannah said she "no longer fit in their lifestyle".
I think it's also important to read the Author's Note at the end, which I typically don't, but for this one I think it was important. I don't know a ton about severe mental illness like Hannah had, but Alyssa goes on to say in her note that she is no way trying to educate people on mental illness or say that what happened to Hannah would happen to anyone else, especially the time line. It also ends with a hotline for mental illness if anyone is struggling, which I think was very important to add to something with this type of story.
I would HIGHLY recommend A Danger to Herself and Others. It was well written, an interesting story, and worth it.