Separation Anxiety by Laura Zigman // ARC Review

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What’s Judy to do when her son Teddy is depressed (and won’t talk about it) and her husband Garrett wants to separate. With a peculiar living arrangement due to financial strain, the two have decided to be roommates as of sorts in the time being. The peculiarity only continues when Judy sees her son’s old baby sling and starts carrying the family dog inside it. Now this once famous children’s book writer can’t go anywhere without her dog (who she adamantly denies is a therapy dog).

As Judy reconciles with always feeling as if no one understood her (well really her mother), she tries to strike gold again with another book. But nothings coming and it’s so easy to write fluff articles about avocado to make a living.

I found Judy, sometimes exasperating, but relatable. Constantly wanting to validate her self worth and seeking it externally. Making assumptions about people even when she’s wrong. Being extremely judgmental in neoliberal fashion. She’s written with flaws and it works. I know a Judy in my life.

The hijinks she gets into among the suburbanites are entertaining. From someone pooping in her son’s school to going on a writer’s retreat. Judy along with her separated husband try to navigate their new relationship. Does this mean staying together or finding something new? There are a lot of interesting questions and some equally fun answers. I recommend this for fans of Where’d You Go Bernadette? and Finding Audrey.

Thanks to NetGalley and HaperCollins for an advanced readers copyin exchange for an honest review!

How It Feels to Float by Helena Fox // Book Review

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Biz has auditory and visual hallucinations. It isn’t until later in the book that she is diagnosed with dissociative disorder. She experiences moments of memory lapse as her consciousness removes itself from her reality. It can be hard for her to piece together events. Yet, this is how she copes with traumatizing emotions. Largely, this goes unnamed and so we also experience her confusion. The misunderstanding with Jasper, the almost killing with a brick. All of her misadventures are disorienting.

This book ultimately deals with suicide of her father. While she tries to come to terms, the hurt can be too much at times. I feel this gets lost admist the randomness of Biz’s social Life. Her momentary interest in photography to meeting in old woman who will cook her vegan meals. It makes sense to mirror the plot the same way as the disorder. I just don’t know if it’s the best approach.

Lo and behold, a road trip ensues to find herself by retracing the steps her father took in his final moments. Of course, Jasper comes along because there’s this sort of tension between them and I’m not sure if it’s sexual. I do like that her sexuality is written to be pretty fluid. I just don’t like the fact that she just left without telling her mom or at the very least without her mom’s permission.

What really gets to you is exploring her dad’s history of depression. His mental illness exasperated by the uncaring environment he grew up in. I would say this is a very disappointing book but necessary. I do not recommend this book if you’re feeling vulnerable because despite the choppy writing it has such an emotional impact.

The cover is generic but serviceable. I feel like I’m seeing a lot of covers with girls and blue filters with a face obscured by hair. It is what it is.

Destroy All Monsters by Sam J. Miller // Book Review

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The portrayal of people with schizophrenia is always in contention. They are often characters of criminal background or a quick solution to your murder mystery. So, for disclaimer purposes, I’m going to preface that I’m not sure how accurate the depiction is but there seems to be a lot of empathy as we’re made to follow Solomon’s adventure into his imagination. The relationship between him and Ash fuel this overarching mystery. While Solomon is spiraling further into his delusion, no one seems to be able to reach him.

I for the most part enjoyed the what Solomon calls the Otherworld. It’s a mix of clichés like Spiderman lore and X-Men power dynamics. Although sometimes it does get confusing to bridge the gap between Solomon’s fantasies and what is supposed to be happening in the physical world. There’s a lot of jumping back and forth and maybe that’s done on purpose to mimic his rapid flipping of realities. However, it is for sure disorienting. For the sake of clarity and storytelling maybe we could have put in key objects, characters, and events to ground it all. As it stands there’s just too much decoding and I felt that got in the way of me feeling for Solomon.

So this leads to the big reveal and it is definitely shocking as it presupposes trauma as an accelerant for Solomons hallucinations. We also have a greater narrative of a series of abuse Ash uncovers. Nearing the end, I consider the book to be tackling too much and not handling it with the proper care I would have appreciated. Maybe a secret society in the high school football team is a bit too much. Honestly, what the fuck would I know about football. Although I am impress with the ending and while it can be disheartening there’s a solidarity for survivors of abuse.

However everything seems to unravel and undermine itself with a very, again convoluted, ending. Solomon does a disappearing act. The photography angle doesn’t appeal to me because it clearly sounds like just inexperienced nonsense of someone who doesn’t know anything about photography. And while a happy ending would’ve been a neat bow, I think there could’ve been a lot more written in terms of what happens to people after the initial trauma. I recommend this book for representation but it doesn’t go where I would have wish it went.

It seems like they took a page out of young adult fantasy and made it into a vector from illustrator. I think the camera has a lot of visual appeal but the starburst lines are distracting and a little bit too thick. Maybe toning down the oapacity. I like the typography and the word “destroy” is satisfying the way it arches. Maybe a white background is what really makes me think that this book cover is under designed.