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coffeekitaab 's review for:
Everyone I Know is Dying
by Emily Slapper
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book is hard for me to review. This is a brave, intense, authentic portrayal of a FMC with significant mental health struggles in the context of identity crisis, self worth and peer pressure and societal expectations that particularly women will face. Due to the nature of the book, it was very difficult to read to the point that I found my own mood transforming when I would pick this up in the mornings and unfortunately I did not enjoy this one - my rating is for the importance of mental health representation and quality of the writing itself.
The first 90% of the book is a brutal, raw insight into the day to day life of Iris, the FMC, as she struggles to find happiness and searches for it in her satirical judgement of others and often, herself. This was particularly hard to read, especially between the 50% -70% of the book and readers should be aware of major triggers in the book. The last 10% is the resolution/message from the author which ends on a positive and restorative note. The message from the author was clear and as mentioned, a crucial offering in this particular theme. I feel I did identify with some of the struggles Iris faced and there is resonance, depth and meaning within the pages for that reason. It is a tough one to rate because I didn't enjoy the read as Iris was constantly self sabotaging and toxic and yet is that a credit to the author for an addressing mental health struggles?
Thank you NetGalley and HQ for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest unedited review.
The first 90% of the book is a brutal, raw insight into the day to day life of Iris, the FMC, as she struggles to find happiness and searches for it in her satirical judgement of others and often, herself. This was particularly hard to read, especially between the 50% -70% of the book and readers should be aware of major triggers in the book. The last 10% is the resolution/message from the author which ends on a positive and restorative note. The message from the author was clear and as mentioned, a crucial offering in this particular theme. I feel I did identify with some of the struggles Iris faced and there is resonance, depth and meaning within the pages for that reason. It is a tough one to rate because I didn't enjoy the read as Iris was constantly self sabotaging and toxic and yet is that a credit to the author for an addressing mental health struggles?
Thank you NetGalley and HQ for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest unedited review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail