Firstly I have to say that I personally have a history with mental illness. Except that no body really has a 'history' of mental illness. Mental illness is not something that ever truely leaves. But today is a good day, and so was yesterday and last week. I spent the later years of high school lost in the underwater haze of Depression and my PTSD and Anxiety still greatly effect me today.
Most people do not know. Most who do know do not understand. Mental illness is so stigmatised and this book allowed a personal look into the mindset that most often occurs. When you tell somebody that you are sick but it's in your head and not something physical they usually don't see it as the same as saying, whilst laying in bed with a body temperature to prove it, that you are not well.
This book was just so incredible and I cannot believe that I had it sitting on my shelf with all it unexplored brilliance for so long. The idea that people can be more than they appear is so strongly presented in this book and is so important because unlike physical illness, mental illness is not noticable.
What was so important was that yes, Finch met a girl and everything was good and he fell in love and she was everything he needed. But she did not magically fix him. People cannot fix people. In the end he was still broken and a girl, no matter how pretty and understanding, was never going to snap him out of his mental illness and make everything perfect. And that is just so unseen in mental illness stories. But just because someone makes you smile and feel okay again does not mean that you are magically cured.
And the way that Finch and Violet slowly fell for each other and their amazingly crazy adventures was just fantastic and made me want to get out there and explore everything while I still can.
This review is all over the place but so is my head after reading this book. Just, please read this book. It is the most accurate description of mental illness I have come across and an excellent read.