Whistle in the Dark by Emma Healey // Book Review

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No one ever said having children was easy. For jen, her daughter Lana continues to drift away. Wanting to form her own identity separate from the person mother knows, Lana disappears. Four days of worry has Lana safe back in Jen’s arms. However, Lana won’t tell her mother or the police what happened.

This leads us to jen trying to pry information out. Yet the more she tries, the more Lana becomes reserved. Are your children allowed keep secrets from you? Not satisfied, jen creates her first Instagram I account where she finds Lana is a completely different person online. The friend she thought she knew were not actually Lana’s friends. The people she’s talking to could be dangerous. We jump around theories from cult involvement to sex parties.

I would say the hardest theme about this book is sometimes you can’t truly know a person. Sometimes you have to trust that they can make decisions for themselves. Knowing that you’re there, it has to be enough when someone makes a mistake. Reading the reviews this book, don’t see a lot of empathy. I know it’s frustrating when you love someone and they act in ways that make you think it’s not enough. It’s not as if Jen or Lana is at fault. Depression is not a straightforward journey. There could be lapses in judgment but being able to pull yourself back together as a strength all on its own.

I recommend this book for maybe someone going through something similar. Maybe you’re the one who can’t see the light or you’re a bystander trying to offer support. I think this book deserves more credit because it’s not Nice and maybe we shouldn’t judge characters on how nice they are.

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.

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella // Book Review

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My first introduction to Sophie Kinsella was not one of her shopaholic novels but rather a quite funny and quirky book about a 14 year old girl coping with severe anxiety. With a dynamic family trying to understand what’s wrong, they just want to know how to help their daughter Audrey. Her older brother is more interested in his eventual pro-gaming career.

When I first read this, mental illness was not really openly written about in mainstream literature. Especially, one where a person with mental illness can manage their condition while finding someone who loves them for who they are. I appreciated the openness and how things weren’t so readily explained. It’s more complicated than a diagnosis. There’s the issue of medication and therapy where everyone has a varied reaction. The period of waiting to see if things are even working can be an issue in of itself.

I think this book for its time served a purpose. Now looking back, there’s this tone that romantic love is THE cure for mental illness. I wish there was more interaction between the family and maybe even friends to provide a counterargument. A pathway allowance so we aren’t relegated to simplistic idealization of the most important person is someone who is willing to love you. I still recommend this book for a light read and an introduction into the potential of mental health in young adult.

Simple and amazing. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was influenced by Where’d You Go Bernadette?

☟ Let’s Chit Chat! What are your favorite representations of mental health in fiction?

The Night Before by Wendy Walker // Book Review

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Can I just say that I’m glad no one’s an alcoholic this time around. We have an adult mystery/thriller that more or less follows the familiar plot. Centering on the one question, “Is Laura a killer?”. So of course we are presented with an unfavorable depiction of her. Her remarks about other women being whores and how she’s not like them make her immediately unlikable. It’s meant to act as a red herring so we’re constantly questioning her character. Otherwise, I’m not sure if I want to root for someone who has such horrible opinions of me.

However, there’s some truth to her statements because not everyone has such an intricate family history or such a dangerous kill streak. While the beginning was relatively intriguing, the middle dragged. There weren’t enough clues to keep me strung along. Instead, the pieces were insignificant and cumulated to a lack luster finish. I was also hoping for Rosie to have a more active role aside from being this roundabout detective. There’s something about the relationship between sisters that never fails to enrich a mystery and make the ending powerful.

Instead, we get Laura explaining her past to her date. I’m also confused if her date is the same guy as the womanizer Rosie was chasing. There was a lot of names thrown around but then there was a fake out and I couldn’t follow along. It was messy and didn’t serve a purpose. At best, this is a mediocre book. Laura’s mistrust of other men are validated by her past and I think there could have been an element to it. Yet, what we get is Laura being played off as the “unhinged” one and no one apologizes for anything.

The psychological exposition by a character solely written to do so at the end seemed heavy handed and flimsy. I suppose in this day and age it’s not helpful to spread mistruth about mental illness so the quick, retroactive correction was a haphazard attempt to not demonize people. I recommend this for people who just can’t get enough of thrillers and don’t mind reading something they’ve already read before but with a slightly different cover.

I actually like the blue filer and blur. It draws the eye and I wonder if the cover would be better to have that image entirely. The reveal of a plain white woman underneath is tired but effective. Maybe someone in marketing told the designer that close ups of white women staring into you results in the most sales and this is the compromise.

This Darkness Mine by Mindy McGinnis // Book Review

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How else can we turn the “good girl falls for bad guy” trope on its head? Well, why not have Sasha Stone, resident good girl, be ruthless and cunning. While we’re at it, how about add a twin sister absorbed in the womb.

It’s easy to find Sasha unlikable. She’s deceitful, unempathetic, and narcissistic (or pragmatic, level headed, and confident if she were a guy). However, Sasha is motivated by a fierce loyalty to people she deems worthy. She’s protective of them. If you cross her, make any moves that threaten her position, or use her you’ll be met with retribution. She’s not always in the right but she’s not indecisive. In this way, I want to read any book that has her as a protagonist. How boring would it be to read another bland “forbidden love” story with a veneer of “no one’s as they seem”. I’ve already read that and it ends with the couple getting together, she may not be on speaking terms with her parents (or they may accept him), and they somehow go to the same college or live together. It’s really stupid wish fulfillment because no one cares who you date and if they do they have a weird investment in your social currency.

As far as this book goes, it completely subverted all of my expectations. I don’t like the idea that you are not in control of your body and someone else is making decisions for you. It’s disconcerting to see other people ascribe a nonconsensual connection to you. So you can imagine I was not on board with the whole, “Isaac Harver is telling Sasha she wants him despite her having no memory of what he’s saying happened.” From his perspective, it seems that Sasha doesn’t want to admit she’s having sex with a bad boy. The thing is, she still thought she was a virgin. I was not comfortable with this premise and I’m glad to say it went somewhere unpredictable and less rapey.

The plot is really out there. A little far fetched but I still want to make an appeal that you won’t read another book like this. It’s convoluted and entertaining. I was on the throes of confusion and enticed to continue. I recommend this for people who can handle the gore and are a bit vindictive themselves.