A review by laflormorada
The Dark Matter of Mona Starr by Laura Lee Gulledge

3.0

Mona Starr is a bit of a loner. When her best (and only) friend moves away, life gets even more difficult. The "dark matter" is always there feeding her negative thoughts and even making her sick. When her counselor encourages her to study this "matter", she starts a visual journal, illustrating her thoughts and feelings in pictures and words. This logical approach begins to make sense to her, but is it actually enough to make her feel better?

This book is part story, part mental health guide. At times for me it got to be a little too much of a self-help manual. Mona's character seemed to speak at times with the voice of an adult who had conquered their mental health issues rather than a teen who was struggling. However I do think this book has worth as a way to help teens and adults better understand what it feels like to deal with anxiety and depression. The illustrations are phenomenal and creatively illustrate what this "dark matter" would look like and how it would manifest. The author also gives the reader some great strategies for dealing with mental health issues and includes a self care checklist in the back.