A review by briannareadsbooks
A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa Sheinmel

4.0

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Danger to Herself and Others pleasantly surprised me. As a person who loved the book We Were Liars, when I read the comparison, I was excited for another mind-twisting, creepy, psychological read but I was curious as to how this book was going to live up to the high expectations.

This book managed to satisfy my craving for a book that is a psychological rollercoaster. As a psychology student who plans to work with people of Hannah's age, I was instantly interested in how the story was going to turn out. I love how I was increasingly interested in what actually happened. Hannah sort of reminded me of Mara Dyer in that I almost never trusted her. Hannah is not a nice girl and she isn't always likeable. She believes she's better, smarter, and more mature than everyone else. She believes she's always right (at least until some key events in the story unfold) and this was at times annoying, especially since I found myself not really caring if she even got out at all. Hannah didn't seem to care about Agnes' condition in the hospital at all, even though they were supposedly best friends for weeks. But I also love how strong she was. She believed she was wrongly accused of the crime, and was put into a psychiatric facility due to a misunderstanding, but as the story unravels, she realizes maybe she was the one who was wrong all along.
I was surprised that both Lucy and Jonah were hallucinations, but with the comparison to We Were Liars, I wasn't as surprised as I would have been if I didn't know of that comparison. I liked how Hannah's hallucinations were "imperfect," and managed to show the diverse set of hallucinations that people with this illness can have.

I also like how the story is not wrapped in a pretty bow. Hannah was right. Her life is changed forever and she will have to learn to manage her illness. Surprisingly, I felt the most anxiety during the last few pages when Hannah debates not taking her pill at all, when she considers keeping Lucy and Jonah around. I really wanted to shout "Hannah, take your damn pill!" at her! But it goes to show that this will be a journey for Hannah, and even though there were lots of times I didn't necessarily like her, I found myself wishing the best for her. I hope that she manages her illness. I hope that her parents manage to understand her illness better. I hope this experience was humbling for her. I hope she can move forward from this. I hope Hannah can live the full live she's always wanted.