Mental Health

Book review

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“Love follows you. It goes where you go. It doesn’t know about social divides or distance or common sense. It doesn’t even stop when the person you love dies. It does what it wants.”

Part Of Your World follows Alexis and Daniel, two people who couldn’t be more different on a journey of love, hope, and finding true happiness within yourself and with others. Working as a ER doctor, Alexis is perfectly content with how her life is now even though her ultra rich parents want her to carry on the family legacy of being world renowned surgeons and while she doesn’t want to disappoint them, she knows that it will be inevitable. But, her life changes in ways that she couldn’t have expected when she meets Daniel Grant and the more time she spends with him, the more she is learning to let go and enjoy being present in the now. But, she knows the longer this goes on the more she will have to make a very important decision? True happiness or sacrificing her new found love for what her family expects from her.

What a beautifully written story about hope, love, and finding true happiness in yourself and others. I really enjoyed this book even if it did hit home at times because of Alexis’s trauma and relationship with her parents which I despised the more I read about them. I think what I found myself feeling for Alexis so much is because of how her parents treated her and it was really great to see her grow into a more confident, assertive, and self-assured young woman by the end. The relationship she has with her parents was difficult to get through because it reminded of my own issues with my mom. I really felt for her and I was glad that she had Daniel, I found their romance very real and steamy. The book flowed really well together with heavy and light moments, it felt very relatable to many issues that people are facing right now. In the end, I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone.

FEBRUARY TBR

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I can’t believe it’s February! Very excited to share my tbr for this month, I have some good ones picked out.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Fantasy, Romance, & YA

Deliah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, LGBT

Don’t Overthink It by Anne Bogel
Genre: Mental Health, Non-Fiction, Self-Help

Digging Up Love by Chandra Blumberg
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Group Therapy by BB Easton
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

House of Earth & Blood by Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

House of Sky & Breath by Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

How To Fail At Flirting by Denise Williams
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

John & Hazel’s Guide To Not Dating by Christina Lauren
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Make It Sweet by Kristen Callihan
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Not The Witch You Met by April Asher
Genre: Adult, Fantasy, Romance

The One Night by Meghan Quinn
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Novella

Opposites Attract by Camilla Isley
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

One True Loves by Elise Bryant
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Rosaline Palmer Takes The Cake by Alexis Hall
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, LGBT

Sincerely Confusingly, Yours by Hailey Gonzales
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction, YA

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Weather Girl by Rachel Lynn Solomon
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

When You Get The Chance by Emma Lord
Genre: Adult,Contemporary, Romance

Yes & I Love You by Roni Loren
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Non-Fiction Wrap up

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I’m trying out something new with my book reviews so we’ll see how this works out!

For many of us, navigating the stress that comes with the pressure of our daily lives can force us to take on patterns that aren’t healthy which can impact our lives in the future. While it can be difficult to develop healthy patterns or strategies, they are crucial for our own well-being. The Age of Overwhelm provides readers with techniques, skills, and strategies to help improve our well-being while still being present in our every day lives.

I don’t normally read self-help that much those kind of books are hit and miss with me but I enjoyed this one quite a bit. I found it relevant for the times especially with learning to be more present, learning to say no without feeling guilty, and cutting people out your life who drain your energy. All of the issues that were discussed in this book struck a cord with me especially being more present. I think these are all things that most people struggle with in their daily lives as many of us come from home environments where we learned unhealthy strategies and coping skills. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to better themselves as I found this very helpful.

Have you ever wondered why you can’t control some of your emotions at times or why people do the things that they do? If so, you’re not alone and it’s nothing that has anything to do you as a person but the events that occurred in your life that altered your ability to deal with them in a healthy way.

This book has been on my tbr for a long time so I was glad to finally have a chance to read it. I have read a lot of books having to do with trauma and this was the first one I read where I got clarity on the experiences I went through as a child. Before reading this book, I had watched a few interviews with Oprah and Dr. Bruce Perry and I was hoping that I would enjoy the book and I did. It’s very difficult to navigate through life when you have a messed up childhood and when you can finally make sense of the events that happened to you and that last part is so important. It’s not what’s wrong with you but what happened to you? It’s such a simple yet profound statement. I would highly recommend this book to anyone!

ACE

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“The label of asexual should be value neutral. It should indicate little more than sexual orientation. Instead, asexual implies a slew of other, negative associations: passionless, uptight, boring, robotic, cold, prude, frigid, lacking, broken. These, especially broken, are the words aces use again and again to describe how we are perceived and made to feel.”

This book was not only en-lighting but made me feel seen, heard, and validated in ways that I can’t even begin to explain. I had herd about this book from other people who had found touching and informative. I went into this book not expecting much but just wanting to learn more about asexuality and I ended up leaving with not only being more informed but being more empowered. From the time that I entered high school to a few years ago, I felt confused with my sexuality as I wasn’t sure if I liked both sexes or just one, or if I wasn’t interested in sex at all. I can always remember my friends talking about relationships and sex and it made me a bit uncomfortable because I just didn’t feel very interested in it. Because of that, I always felt misunderstood and bullied and it wasn’t until a few years ago when I started finding out more about asexuality that I finally felt like I found what I was looking for as a teenager.

This book really made me feel understood and I can only hope the same for others who are dealing with similar feelings like I had and not being sure if they are asexual. I think asexuality is very misunderstood and even though more information is being introduced, there is still a very long way to go. But, I felt the way it was written in the book was well done and not over the top in anyway. In addition to how it was written, I did enjoy the feminism aspect of it because as someone who is white, I’ve never considered or even thought about the unique struggles if you’re a POC or trans. I think that’s very important to include when talking about issues like sexuality as you can lack privilege in one area and make up for it another. It’s important to know and understand the issues that others face as it helps bring more awareness to certain issues. Overall, this was a very informative, empowering, validating, and excellent book so I highly recommend checking it out.

Reality Check

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The word crazy had never meant more to me than any other word in the English language. It wasn’t a curse, and it wasn’t derogatory in my mind. That was before my diagnosis. Now, the word felt dirty, cruel, and everything I was trying my hardest not to be.

In ten seconds Priya watched her lover, Dimitri get fatally wounded yet while she watched his life slip through her fingers. Except there’s only one thing: Dimitri never existed and was created by Priya in her mind as she has been recently diagnosed with schizophrenia. While Priya is still mourning her loss and coming to terms with her diagnosis, her clinical team decides that she needs to learn how to be a normal teenage to find her footing in reality. They give her a checklist and with the help of her best friend Eli, she is able to discover that being a teenager can be fun and exciting. But as she finds success with checking things off the list, she also struggles with her own mind and being able to live life to the fullest with the good and bad. Will Priya be able to stay grounded in the real world or will she fall back into the one inside her mind?

This book really is a reality check and I was very impressed and glad to see Schizophrenia in YA book handled the way it was. I was a little nervous especially since I think Schizophrenia is misunderstood as a mental illness and sadly not done the way it should be. I found myself learning more about the disorder and that was something that I appreciated the author for including in the book. I think it’s important to provide readers with accurate information about mental disorders as it can help lessen the stigma and create a bigger conversation. But, it was interesting to see it in a YA book and while there is heavy subject matter in the book in addition to mental illness, there are also heartwarming, emotional, and light-hearted moments that help drive the plot. Priya is a very real and relatable character and you find yourself rooting for her to find a peace of mind while coming to terms with her diagnosis. She’s witty, funny, strong, and is passionate about what she wants to do with her life and not be defined by her diagnosis. Singh did a fantastic job as it showed that the things discussed in the book were detailed and thought out to be portrayed in a way that felt raw and very real. I highly recommend this book!

Set Boundaries, Find Peace

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“People who use guilt trips are trying to get their needs met, but their needs may violate the requirements you have for yourself.”

Boundaries? They so simple and easy, all you have to do set and implement one and you’re good to go. Except that’s not how boundaries work and it is easier said than done as being able to assert your own needs and being able to feel confident with setting the boundary can be tricky as not everyone is going to respectful that the boundary the other person setting. Whether it be family, coworkers, friends, loved ones, toxic people etc., setting boundaries can be a challenge because many people don’t fully understand what healthy boundaries are until much later than in life. The focus on this book talks about a variety of different obstacles that can impact boundaries and how to set them with others in your life.

As someone who struggles with boundaries, I found this book incredibly helpful and enlightening as it helps things make sense for why I struggle with boundaries so much. I’ve been following Tawwab on Instagram for the last year or so and I have enjoyed her posts and find her words encouraging so I decided to start reading her books. Boundaries are something that many people struggle with and that struggle begins in their environment and how they raised and that follows people in adulthood and comes out in behaviors such as having hard time say no, ignoring your own needs for others, people pleasing among others. Many of of us including myself have grown up in dysfunctional environments and aren’t aware of how the dysfunction impacted the environment and only become aware of it when other issues are brought to light. I found her words, examples, stories that she used throughout the book very relatable and real and I did learn more about myself and how I can do this without feeling guilty. That is something that I’ve been trying to work on my my whole life and all we can do is take one day at a time and embrace growth.

Am I Normal Yet? By Holly Bourne

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Rating: 5/5

“Everyone’s on the cliff edge of normal. Everyone finds life an utter nightmare sometimes, and there’s no ‘normal’ way of dealing with it… There is no normal, Evelyn.” 

For Evelyn, all she’s ever wanted to be was normal. That’s what she hopes will happen as she starts a new college while adjusting to life off her meds. She wants to start over, make new friends, and have stability and not be seen as the girl who went crazy. But, life doesn’t always work out that way as relationships are messy and what you think will make you happy doesn’t always happen in the way that you want. Evie begins to see that being normal isn’t all what it’s cracked up to be and embracing the messy side of life and stepping into who you are is a terrifying yet rewarding experience all in one.

It’s very rare for me to give a book a five star rating but this book totally went beyond my expectations and even though I may overreacting when calling this one of the best ya contemporaries I’ve read, it’s absolutely true. I laughed, cried, cheered, and went through a rollercoaster of emotions and enjoyed every minute of it. I found the mental health rep particular fantastic as some ya books can be hit and miss with mental health rep. But, I thought the way mental health was portrayed in the book was really well. The story was interesting but it was really the characters who were well-written and interesting in their own way. Evie is definitely someone that I really resonated with in particular her struggles with her mental health but I felt like she was very well. The dynamics throughout the book also added to the individual characters and it helped with the story. I am excited to read the next book and hopefully I’ll enjoy it as much as I did this one.

Burnout: The Secret To Unlocking The Stress Cycle by Emily Nagorski

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Rating: 2/5

“The moral of the story is: We thrive when we have a positive goal to move toward, not just a negative state we’re trying to move away from.”

I have mixed feelings about self-help books as I find that some of them can be a little preachy and while I did like the material covered in book, it did feel that way at times. I am finishing up my master’s degree and will be going into counseling field shortly after so I have been reading up on burnout quite a bit and I found this book while searching for self-help books. Since Emily Nagorski’s is well known in the counseling field, I thought that this book would be focused in that area and I was wrong. Seeing the title, I was anticipating that this book would be about burnout and how we can handle stress in our daily lives and what we can to combat it but I was wrong. While the book does provide information that can be useful and other parts were about feminism and patriarchy that I felt had no relevance. in the book. Look, I love reading about feminism and patriarchy but if the title of the book is about stress and burnout then that’s what I want. With that being said, I felt like this book was a little all over the place and I would’ve loved more of a focus on burnout and how we can as women fix that and do better with helping others do the same.

So, aside from that I probably wouldn’t recommend this unless you want to check it out on your own and see for yourself. I wish it was different because I was actually looking forward to it.