Review: Broken (In the Best Possible Way) by Jenny Lawson

 As Jenny Lawson’s hundreds of thousands of fans know, she suffers from depression. In Broken, Jenny brings readers along on her mental and physical health journey, offering heartbreaking and hilarious anecdotes along the way.

With people experiencing anxiety and depression now more than ever, Jenny humanizes what we all face in an all-too-real way, reassuring us that we’re not alone and making us laugh while doing it. From the business ideas that she wants to pitch to Shark Tank to the reason why Jenny can never go back to the post office, Broken leaves nothing to the imagination in the most satisfying way. And of course, Jenny’s long-suffering husband Victor―the Ricky to Jenny’s Lucille Ball―is present throughout.

A treat for Jenny Lawson’s already existing fans, and destined to convert new ones, Broken is a beacon of hope and a wellspring of laughter when we all need it most.

Review: Oh this audiobook had me laughing so much I was crying which can be a little alarming for those around you when you're listening on headphones but it was so so worth it!

I love a Jenny Lawson book and I love her books on audio because she narrates them herself and so I get to listen in the gym or whilst doing the housework to what she is saying how she intended to say it. This book is possible the most random collection of personal essays and I loved that about it because I can now take the physical copy of the book and dip back into the bits I loved from the audiobook and read them again. 

Some of my personal favourite moments from the book were the stories of how she lost her shoes, the tweets about embarrassing moments and also her letter to her health insurance. I could relate to all of those particular sections on just so many levels and the story about the shoes in the elevators just had me crying with laughter as I was making dinner in the kitchen, it was just brilliant. 

What I love about Jenny Lawson's writing the most is how open and honest she is, she's like that no filter friends that says whatever comes into her head only her thoughts re super relevant and well thought out and you definitely learn a lot from what she has to say. This book makes it plain and clear that these thoughts are not unfiltered because she talks about her editors over the years and the process of editing this book in particular, another illustration of just how open and honest she is. 

Jenny Lawson never holds back when it comes to talking about mental health, suicide, depression, anxiety and a whole bunch of other chronic health conditions and we should all be talking about these things as openly and as frequently as she does. I loved this book, I'm already ready to go back and read it again, and I am sure you will too!

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Review: Coming Undone by Terri White

To everyone else, Terri White appeared to be living the dream, named one of Folio’s Top Women in US Media and accruing further awards for the magazines she was editing. In reality, she was rapidly skidding towards a mental health crisis that would land her in a locked psychiatric ward as her past caught up with her.

As well as growing up in a household in poverty, Terri endured sexual and physical abuse at the hands of a number of her mother’s partners. Her success defied all expectations, but the greater the disparity between her outer achievements and inner demons, the more she struggled to hold everything together.

Coming Undone is Terri’s documentation of her unravelling, and her precarious navigation back from a life in pieces.

Review: This book comes with care warnings for addiction, self harm, suicide, abuse and sexual assault. 

Those care warnings do mean that this book is a challenging read at times but challenging in the best possible way. This is not a book you will pick up and breeze through in one sitting. You have to take this book in decent doses and sit with it a while before moving onto a new chapter. And sit with you this book will, I am still thinking about all of the things that this writer has overcome and gone through in her life. This is a very transparent account of being a recovering addict and battling with mental health issues. 

Not only did it strike me how honest this book was, something i greatly appreciated, but this book is written so well it is almost poetic at times. It is tough to get your head round how something so horrific could be written in such a beautiful way and how things which might seem normal and even nice to some people can be so incredibly painful to others. 

I loved that this memoir is not necessarily linear but more of a reflection and so therefore events and experiences link back to others. I liked that we got a full account of what it is like to be hospitalized on a psychiatric hold and how childhood trauma can have a whole host of effects in later life. This book was an eye opener for me and I really recommend listening to the audio as it is read by the author. Take the care warnings into consideration when picking this up but I do recommend this audiobook to you. 

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Review: Every Colour of You by Amelia Mandeville

What happens when someone who lives every day to the full meets someone who can only see reasons to stop living?

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We had a story - short, but not a simple one. I couldn't stay here and explain it all to you. If you really want to know, you'll have to take time out of your day.

You'll have to read it...

Zoe's life is full of colour. A fan of impromptu yoga, inspirational quotes and experimenting with hair dye, she's on a mission to make the most of each and every day - even if she is currently spending most of her time behind a checkout till.

Then she meets Tristan. The rumour is that since his dad died, Tristan's life has fallen apart. No one has seen him for months. But now he's reappeared, does that mean he's back to 'normal'?

Zoe soon realises Tristan is struggling with a sadness that she can't possibly understand and becomes determined to bring a world of colour back into his life. But the harder she tries, the more she realises it's something she can't fix - and in trying to put him back together, a part of her is beginning to fall apart. . .

Review: I did not expect this book to make me cry so much, but it was just so beautiful, how could it not? I started reading this book and initially it seemed like just another contemporary romance between two complicated young people. These characters both had complications in their life, things they weren't telling each other, things they weren't telling me the reader, things they weren't telling themselves but when you start to peel back the layers, it was oh so heartbreaking inside. 

Zoe is a great character to spend a novel with, she is bubbly and takes risks and wants to live life to its fullest. She is definitely a zero judgement zone and I love that about her. She also seems to have more going on than meets the eye and you do slowly start to see her let her barrier down just a touch as the book progresses. Tristan also has his barriers up and his begin to come down in a very different way to Zoe's. He has some great morals but he doesn't necessarily always stick to them. We know that he is struggling with mental health, but again we don't necessarily see the full extent of that, but part of that is because he doesn't even seem to grasp the full extent of it. 

I love the fact that this book is set in the UK and not the US, I don't think the story would have felt the same if it were the other way around. The other characters in the book have some very British traits and all felt very real and I love the fact that our characters are talking about the kind of things that typical twenty year olds have to deal with; going to uni, working in a supermarket and saving up to buy a car. There are moments in this book that come out of nowhere to hit you in the feels and boy do they hit you hard, but there are moments of such positivity and such beauty too that you literally feel every emotion on the spectrum along with these characters. Mental health is dealt with well and so is the notion of kindness and friendship. 

I enjoyed this book more than I was expecting to and in different ways. If that sounds complicated then you'll just have to read it yourself, I recommend that you do!

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Review: On A Scale of One to Ten by Ceylan Scott

Tamar is admitted to Lime Grove, a psychiatric ward for teenagers, where the psychologists ask her endless questions. But there's one question Tamar can't - won't - answer: What happened to her friend Iris? A uniquely powerful, devastating novel of friendship, fragility and forgiveness

Review: This book comes with some serious trigger warnings so make sure you're aware of the content before picking this one up and the back suggests trying page 3 to get a taste of what the book is about, I think it's a pretty good representation of what's inside so definitely give that a go too. 

Obviously this book deals with the subject of suicide and all aspects of mental health. Tamar is convince that she does not deserve to be in this world any longer and is willing to go to extreme measure to make sure that happens. She is definitely an intriguing character, not necessarily someone to like or someone even to sympathise with most of the time but she is definitely intriguing and this is definitely a character driven novel. 

There are a host of other characters in this novel, all of whom are struggling with their mental health but are in a facility which should support them and give them the help they need. I do feel like a little bit more time could have been given to these other characters but then we would have lost focus off of Tamar and it would have become an issues based novel rather than a character driven book and would have been a lot more of a difficult read than it was. 

I think this novel deals with the issues of depression, anxiety and some of the other aspects of mental health that it covers well. It definitely did have an effect on my own mental health and gen real outlook and was difficult to read at times. It does very much go into the different ways Tamar, and others think about killing themselves and about the skewed view of the world that people have when their mental health is not 100%. The ending of this novel was hopeful but not everything was tied up neatly in a bow, which I found fitting for the content but the kind of books I read, I would have liked more of a conclusion, however overall I think this was a good representation of teens with mental health issues and it was good that this book's release coincided with mental health awareness month in the UK.

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Review: She Must be Mad by Charly Cox

The powerful new collection of poetry and prose from social media’s answer to Carol Ann Duffy, Charly Cox.

She Must be Mad explores coming-of-age: the pain and beauty of love, the relief and the agony of turning from girl to woman, the isolation of an untethered mind and the power and subjugation of the body.

Charly captures the formative experiences of today’s young women from the poignant to the prosaic in writing that is at once witty, wry and heartfelt. Wayward nights out that don’t go as planned; the righteous anger at those men with no talent or skill or smarts who occupy the most powerful positions in the world; the strange banality of madness and, of course, the hurt and indecision of unrequited love.

For every woman surviving and thriving in today’s world, for every girl who feels too much; this is a call for communion, and you are not alone.

Review: The synopsis hits the description of this book just right when it says that this book is for every women surviving and thriving in today's world. This book is for more than just them though, this book is definitely for us!

This book is a mixture of poetry and prose and just comments on everything we are thinking and feeling in today's society right now. I love how honest this writers is and how she really picks up on those little insecurities we all have, those dark thoughts in the deepest corners of our minds and lays them out on paper here, opening them up right there for everyone to see. 

I love the balance of poetry and prose as well, I read this book in one siting but will definitely be adding it to my shelf so that I can pick it back up and look at specific thoughts or feelings again as and when I need to. 

There were moments in this book that were so true, it was funny and then others where it was so true it was sad and it sparked a lot of thought and discussion in my own life, some of which I shared with others and some of which I didn't. If you are put off by the pink cover of the reference to 'she' on the front, don't be. This book has so much depth and feeling and is really for everyone. I urge you to add it to your collection now too. 

To pre-order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Review: Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Sixteen-year-old Aza never intended to pursue the mystery of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett’s son, Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

Review: It's always really hard to review a book that has had a lot of hype around it isn't it?

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was a real hon eat take on what it is like to be a teenager in today's society. It is also a good account of what it is like to be a young person struggling with mental health, and anyone struggling with their mental health really. It is very appropriate that it came out on World Mental Health day because I really think that this book tackles the issues surrounding anxiety and OCD really really well. It was encouraging to read, gave m hope and educated me to some extent.

I really loved Aza as a main character. She seems to have much more of a handle on life the  other people do, I have to admit I was a little bit jealous of that. She can recognise when she needs help, she doesn't always make the right decision when it comes too seeking help, but she also has a great relationship with her mother, which I love. There are far too many books out there that have main characters who have awful relationships with one or both parents and so it was really refreshing to read about a young person who has such a good relationship with hers.

Aza also has some great friends and these make for great characters to read about, whether they are new friends or old friends. The friendships are realistic and it is good to see them going through the usual ups and downs of high school life together.

This book gave me an education of not only someone else's mental health issues but also what a tuatara is! I loved the fact that i learned so much from this book as well as having it take me on a journey with a character and entertain me. A lot of people think that John Green's books will only make them cry but I did not cry over the course of this book, I did laugh though. Proper laughing out loud, this was definitely entertaining.

Of course one of the main selling points of this book to me was John Green's writing, i just love the way he writes, his turn off phrases is just lovely, there are so many beautiful metaphors and nothing is ever dumbed down, language that should be used is used. And then of course there is the fact that he is so honest with his audience. We don't need another story about someone with issues over coming them, we don't need a story where nothing realistic happens, this is honest writing about being in high school and all that that entails. It is about having issues in your life but learning to live with them and showing how the can affect your life.

I really did enjoy this read, it is a very different from John Green's last book but different isn't always a bad thing, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone out there.

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Review: Chase The Rainbow by Poorna Bell

Punk rocker, bird nerd and book lover Rob Bell had a full, happy life. He had a loving wife, a big-bottomed dog named Daisy and a career as a respected science journalist. But beneath the carefully cultivated air of machoism and the need to help other people, he struggled with mental health and a drug addiction that began as a means to self-medicate his illness. In 2015, he ended his life in New Zealand on a winter’s night. 

But what happened? How did a middle-class Catholic boy from the suburbs, who had an ocean of people who loved him, and a brain the size of a planet, end up dying alone by his own hand? How did it get to this point?  

In the search to find out about the man she loved, and how he arrived at that desperate, dark moment, Poorna Bell, Executive Editor of The Huffington Post UK, went on a journey spanning New Zealand, India and England to discover more about him.

A month after his death, she shared her personal tragedy in an open letter to Rob on the site, which went on to be read by hundreds of thousands of people across the world. This is Poorna’s story, not only of how she met the man of her dreams and fell in love, but also Rob’s story and how he suffered with depression since childhood and had secretly been battling addiction as a means to cope with the illness.
Suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 and a staggering 1 in 4 of us will experience mental illness disease at some point in our lives, but the stigma surrounding mental health means that millions still suffer in silence.

Chase the Rainbow is an affecting, poetic, and deeply personal journey which teaches to seek hope and happiness, even in the most tragic of circumstances. Shattering the stigma surrounding depression and suicide, Poorna Bell challenges us talk about what we most fear, and to better understand the personal struggles of those closest to us.

Review: This really is, as the tagline says, a life-changing book! I was lucky enough to read this book with a friend so that we could discuss what we were reading and how we were feeling as the book went on, I would really recommend reading this book with a friend or as a group so that you can discuss your feelings because you are going to have a lot of them. 

First of all, this book is beautifully written and I loved the structure of it. Obviously Poorna is a journalist and so the things she wanted to find out and the things she wanted to share dug really deep but also, were beautifully put. This is a book about someone who struggled with depression and ultimately takes their life, but no part of this book felt depressing or made me feel down and I think that this is down to the way the book is structured and the writing that went into it. The book features two parts, Poorna telling her story of her relationship with Rob and then parts where she is in New Zealand stepping along that path that he took, meeting his family and the feelings that she experiences there. Her own story, told in the first person almost feels like a novel rather than a memoir because of the beautiful writing. 

As I have mentioned above, the issues dealt with in this book are obviously serious issues, but they are issues that a lot of people don't want to and don't talk about and so sometimes when we get a book like this, it can feel like these issues are being forced upon us and can be a little heavy to read but this book is not like that. This writer combines her own personal experiences with her own research and the accounts she has from speaking to others. She is honest with us but not graphic, she is frank but not overly so. I really loved the way the issues surrounding mental health were dealt with in this book and I would urge anyone wanting to know more about these issues from a first/second hand point of view to read this book now. 

And finally this book truly was uplifting. Obviously what these people in this book went through, all of them is hear breaking and life destroying but this book is more than that. This book is about facing those issues and how to deal with them during and after the event because this is not something that can just go away. The way this writer has been brave enough to share her experience is truly insporational and I would urge all of you to pick this book up now. You won't be able to put it down and I am sure that you will feel as positive about life afterwards as I did. 

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US

Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up. Now a major motion picture starring Emma Watson and Logan Lerman.

Charlie is a freshman. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix-tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But Charlie can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

Review: Ok so this one had been on my TBR for a long time! I had wanted to read it and kept picking it up but putting in down and I really wanted to watch the firm so I chucked it on a readathon TBR and off I went. I have to say I was a little disappointed in this book. I don't think it has a lot of hype around it but I may have built it up a wee bit too much myself before reading it and I may revise my opinion of it when I finally do watch the film, but right now I'm feel a little left out in the cold by it. 

I really like the format that it took, Charlie writing letters to someone and telling them about his life and what is going on around him. I felt like he was speaking directly to me and so that is a deifnitely positive for the book, I'm looking forward to seeing how that is done in the film! But at points, because Charlie is the character that he is, I felt like he was whining at me...

Charlie is an interesting character, he clearly struggles with some mental health issues and anxiety and he sometimes seems aware of this, but not always. He is constantly seeking the approval of others and, like many teenagers, makes some bad choices in order to fit in with the crowd. The two friends that he makes are interesting people. but I can';t help but feel they are 'interesting' and 'quirky' just for the sake of it and not because that is actually who they are! Therefore I really struggled to bond with the characters in this novel, or have them make me feel any real emotion.

This is definitely a coming of age story and I managed to follow Charlie's journey of self discovery but it, again felt like some of the things happened to him just for the sake of them happening and not for any real purpose. At no point did I want to leave the book without finishing it, I wanted to find out what happened to Charlie in the end but I won't be recommending this book to anyone anytime soon. 

To read this and find out for yourself, just click here...

Review: Where Am I Now? by Mara Wilson

A former child actor best known for her starring roles in Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire, Mara Wilson has always felt a little young and out of place: as the only kid on a film set full of adults, the first daughter in a house full of boys, a Valley girl in New York and a neurotic in California, and a grown-up the world still remembers as a little girl. Tackling everything from what she learned about sex on the set of Melrose Place, to discovering in adolescence that she was no longer “cute” enough for Hollywood, these essays chart her journey from accidental fame to relative (but happy) obscurity. They also illuminate universal struggles, like navigating love and loss, and figuring out who you are and where you belong. Candid, insightful, moving, and hilarious, Where Am I Now? introduces Mara Wilson as a brilliant new chronicler of the experience that is growing up female.

Review: This was a really interesting read. As soon as I saw this book in the bookshops, I knew I had to read it. As I do with most autobiographies/memoirs, I listened to this on audiobook which I downloaded from the library. This was a very interesting read because I've always been a little bit fascinated by Mara Wilson. When you grow up watching somebody in films, really good films that you love and then they just disappear, you really do want to know, where are they now and this book allowed me to answer that questions, along with a few others I had about this actress!

One of the other interesting aspects about this book is that it deals with the subjects of death and anxiety, two very serious subjects, but two which were dealt with honestly and sensitively in this book. Mara talks about the death of her mother, as well as the death of her friend Robin Williams. It is really interesting to hear her talk about these deaths that happened at very different times in her life, and also to hear how differently they affected her. It was also great to hear how honestly she talks about her anxiety, right down to describing her trips to the doctors and how she spoke to her family about it. 

I was also interested to hear how acting at such a young age affected her, how she dealt with school and how she chose which parts to take and which to turn down. All of the different essays in this book contain honesty but also a lot of humour. I really enjoyed listening to Mara tell these stories in her own words, and laughed along with her as she laughed and felt for her when things weren't going so swimmingly. I think that if you enjoy memoirs and autobiographies in general, even if you've not seen many of Wilson's films, you'll enjoy this one because of the structure, the content and the writing. 

To get your copy now click here!

Review: Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson

In LET'S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED, Jenny Lawson baffled readers with stories about growing up the daughter of a taxidermist. In her new book, FURIOUSLY HAPPY, Jenny explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea. And terrible ideas are what Jenny does best.

According to Jenny: "Some people might think that being 'furiously happy' is just an excuse to be stupid and irresponsible and invite a herd of kangaroos over to your house without telling your husband first because you suspect he would say no since he's never particularly liked kangaroos. And that would be ridiculous because no one would invite a herd of kangaroos into their house. Two is the limit. I speak from personal experience. My husband says that none is the new limit. I say he should have been clearer about that before I rented all those kangaroos."

"Most of my favorite people are dangerously fucked-up but you'd never guess because we've learned to bare it so honestly that it becomes the new normal. Like John Hughes wrote in The Breakfast Club, 'We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it.' Except go back and cross out the word 'hiding.'"

Jenny's first book, LET'S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED, was ostensibly about family, but deep down it was about celebrating your own weirdness. FURIOUSLY HAPPY is a book about mental illness, but under the surface it's about embracing joy in fantastic and outrageous ways-and who doesn't need a bit more of that? 

Review: you've probably heard me talking about this book on social media, or talking about wanting this book on this blog, or heard me laughing at this book in the gym! This book did no disappoint. I didn't read Jenny Lawson's first book, but this fabulous cover caught my eye in Target, then I heard people talking about the premise of this book on Twitter and I knew that I had to have it. Sometimes books like this that pop up again and again in front of you can be a disappointment when they actually arrive but I loved this books so much, it did not let me down! 

The structure of this book is a collection of essays and a bit like a good comedy show, they link together and gel together well to form this fabulous book, these essays deal with all sorts of thing that life can throw at us concerning personal life, professional life, family life, mental health, food, transport, travel, work everything under the sun. This book will also provide you with amazing facts about creatures you knew little about before, about taxidermy and about all sorts of health (physical and mental) issues. It really could be a go-to guide it is that interesting. The authors style is somewhat erratic and chatty but that is just how I like a non-fiction book and so this was absolutely perfect for me. If you like your books ordered and very much 'by the book' (excuse the pun) then perhaps you will not like this style of writing, but for me, this was absolutely perfect. 

This books does deal with all sorts of mental, and other, health issues and so there is a serious side to it but Jenny Lawson is so open and honest about everything, at no point does it feel heavy or preachy or scary. She is open about her anxiety, she is open about how her depression makes her act, she is open about the struggles she faces but the stuff that she does anyway. There are moments in the book where she perfectly sums up society's attitude to depression and how frustrating it is and she challenges all of that right here in this book. It seems crazy to say that I was laughing along at a book that deals with mental health issues but I seriously was. I could identify with so much of it and Jenny Lawson's anecdotes are just the funniest and because she narrated the audiobook, which I listened to,  the way she tells each story and structures each chapter is just so on point. 

Even if you have no interest in the subject of mental health, even if you have never even heard of some of the things discussed in this book you need to get this in your collection now. The structure means that you can dip in and out of it and when you need a pick-me-up (which we all do) jump to to the chapter that is right for you. You won't regret it!