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I will not kill myself, Olivia
Danny Baker. | 2018 | Health & Fitness, Mind, Body & Spiritual
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Raw, emotional, outstanding
From the second I started this book I couldn't put it down, what an emotional rollercoaster of a book. Following the story of a man's journey with mental illness and his romantic relationship with his first love.
I fell in love with the characters, I felt their pain, their joy and their love. I cried, alot, happiness and sadness. This book was written with so much insight and knowledge showing the reality of mental health issues and the impact on the individual their lives and their relationships. Danny baker is an author I admire and who can really create an intense and a read that you just can't put down.
  
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ClareR (5841 KP) rated Furiously Happy in Books

Feb 11, 2018 (Updated Feb 11, 2018)  
Furiously Happy
Furiously Happy
Jenny Lawson | 2016 | Biography
9
8.7 (15 Ratings)
Book Rating
Not to be read in public places, unless you're good at describing ridiculous things succinctly!
This book has been hours of me laughing out loud, sometimes hysterically, then having to explain to my husband why I'm laughing and him not getting it at all, because he hasn't read the book! So entertainment all round then!
I really liked how Jenny Lawson mixes her hilarious ramblings in with the sensible, sobering stuff. I would say that I'm hugely impressed with how she has exposed herself to the world, telling them about her mental health issues along with the other conditions she has, but I suppose this is the era of people starting to realise that 1 in 4 will have a mental health problem at some point in their lives. It's not a secret, and nothing to be ashamed about.
Anyway, this was hugely entertaining, and slightly embarrassing to read in public!
  
Turtles All The Way Down
Turtles All The Way Down
John Green | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.4 (60 Ratings)
Book Rating
Mental Health Issues (3 more)
Plot
Characters
Quoteable
It ended (0 more)
John Green Does It Again
I will start off by saying that I love John Green. His books have always been a favorite of mine. Looking For Alaska is a book I will gravitate towards over and over again. He has such a great writing style with the most beautiful quotes. I can't get over it if we're being honest.
Mental health is a big and important topic. With something so big comes a lot of responsibility when writing about it. John Green nails it. The way he talks about Aza's OCD and how he describes her thought processes is amazing. You really start to bond with the character and feel for her. BUT, not only do you feel for her, you get frustrated with her because you start to get invested. The way that she navigates her life, her thoughts, her relationships, her everything is so well thought out by John.
I think this book has started a lot of really important conversations. People are talking about OCD. How to cope with someone who has OCD. How to cope with having it yourself. How to seek help and know that there ARE great resources out there that people don't know about. Best of all, it's helping to take away the awful stigma that seems to be attached to mental illness and mental health.
Thank you, John Green. Your books bring me peace.
  
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AmyBee (4 KP) rated The Bell Jar in Books

Sep 5, 2018  
The Bell Jar
The Bell Jar
Sylvia Plath | 2014 | Fiction & Poetry
10
7.4 (23 Ratings)
Book Rating
I cannot believe I have only just read this for the first time! The Bell Jar is definitely deserving of it's status as a 'classic' in semi-autobiographical fiction. Plath really captures you with the stream-of-consciousness monologue of Esther Greenwood, a young woman who narrates her journey into insanity in the 1950's.

The Bell Jar is narrated in a similar vein to and is quite reminiscent of Virginia Woolf's novel 'Mrs Dalloway', although it has a decidedly more risqué tone as the narrator talks in great detail about subjects which would not have been deemed acceptable in the 1920's (such as losing her virginity!).

What particularly gripped me about this novel is that Esther's mental illness seems to sneak up on her and this is reflected in the novel, as it almost seems to take the reader by surprise that this seemingly normal young woman is falling deeper and deeper into her illness.

Mental health stigma is also clearly represented in the novel, as it almost seem is at points that Esther's illness is treated as a joke, and definitely not taken seriously by most. It's also interesting to read about the archaic means of treatment for mental health sufferers eg Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) AKA Electroshock therapy, and it's aftermath.

All in all, a very thoroughly enjoyable read. Highly recommended for lovers of classic literature surrounding mental health issues.
  
    Ada - Your Health Companion

    Ada - Your Health Companion

    Medical and Health & Fitness

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    Ada is your Personal Health Companion: Find out what's wrong if you or someone you care about is not...

Slaughterhouse 5: The Children's Crusade - A Duty-dance with Death
Slaughterhouse 5: The Children's Crusade - A Duty-dance with Death
Kurt Vonnegut | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.1 (27 Ratings)
Book Rating
Bizarre but brings up important themes
Kurt Vonnegut's renowned novel focuses on the destruction of war, the long term mental health issues at the same time how death is trivialized throughout.

Or so it goes.

It borders on ludicrous at the same time reveals the fragmentation of the mind after such trauma. It is unclear how much of the narrator's account is fact or fantasy.

While I'm usually drawn to these themes, the general oddness may have been a step too far without background explanation.
  
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Gail Honeyman | 2017 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
10
8.6 (80 Ratings)
Book Rating
Pros: ▪ Character is relatable ▪ Laugh out loud moments ▪ unpredictable storyline (although I did catch on pretty quick)
▪ Realistic mental health
No cons today!
Oh Eleanor! What an absolute incredible story. She is the most relatable character I have read about so far in any book.
Like many others this book isnt what I had expected, I'm not really sure what I was expecting but this certainly wasn't it, I avoided reading this for so long because it had been hyped up so much I didn't want to be disappointed. I was not disappointed, actually pleasantly surprised!
I have to admit, I did catch on to the plot twist that is revealed at the end, quite quickly, but even so once I had read it I put it down and thought wow, such clever writing!
This is the first 10 rating I've given since Alex Michaelides, The Silent Patient, after reading that I didn't expect to find another 10 rating so soon.
Gail Honeyman has such a unique yet genuine way of writing, she perfects the descriptive writing concerning mental health and loneliness and keeps it extremely realistic and relatable. I have read many books now where the main character has complex mental health issues but usually the authors get a bit too unrealistic with it, however, Honeyman keeps it realistic, so much so it almost feels like reading a memoir. I wish it was a memoir because I'd love to meet Eleanor in real life and just give her a big hug!
Nobody should ever feel lonely, even more so whilst dealing with mental health, unfortunately that is reality for too many people nowa days.