A review by chloeeereads
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Sorrow and Bliss is an anti-love love story with a widely unreliable and ultimately unlikeable narrator, Martha. Martha’s moods are like a severe weather system - unpredictable chaos and darkness with interspersed periods of questionable calm. Her whole life, Martha has been fiercely loved by those around her - her parents, her sister, and her childhood crush turned husband. But she has never felt normal, and it’s not until she nears her 40th birthday that she starts to properly understand why.

This was not your average story about a woman with depression. Yes, it provided a bleak insight into the realities of living with a mental illness and trying to navigate life and love and relationships. But it was also funny and witty and littered with sarcasm and humour. I enjoyed how well Mason wrote about the tumultuous nature of mental illness, and the intricacies of trying to survive day by day when all you want to do is stop existing. I related to Martha’s experiences so much, and the inner monologue/narrative style of writing made me, as a person who has struggled with mental illness but also just as an intrigued reader, feel so connected to Martha. 

This was not a heavily plot focused story, but mainly focused on Martha as a person, a woman, a sister, a daughter, a friend, and a wife. She’s a hard character to like and she does some awful things, but by the end of the book you can’t help but understand her and you are left with a glimpse of hope - not hope that things are automatically better, but hope that things will start to improve bit by bit, and hope that maybe you might start to enjoy living a little more.

Definitely recommend this one!
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