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A review by lapis
Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
My blog has a more in-depth essay of how I related to this book.
https://blogs.booktoot.club/lapis/on-being-seen-in-stories
What I love about this book is that while there is a romance, that really isn't the point of the book.
It's a mental health book that made me feel extremely seen.
Now I will warn you: One of the viewpoint characters struggles with anxiety and intrusive thoughts. If you also struggle with those things, reading this becomes a really unpleasant experience, but I highly recommend you tough it out if you are in a mental place where you are able to do so!
This is the best depiction of intrusive thoughts and anxiety I have seen. I don't know if Jennifer Dugan personally has anxiety problems, but if she doesn't, she really did her research. Seriously, as Nebraska's most anxious person, I felt very seen.
I also felt very seen because of its frank discussion of suicide. I know not everyone can handle that, but I could really use more books that discuss it and make me feel like less of a freak for having had these problems. And books that teach you how to talk with suicidal people (spoiler: it's not by demonizing them).
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Medical content, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
Please understand while I included a lot of content warnings, I felt Dugan knew what she was doing. Everything felt very deliberate and measured.