I can recognize a book’s importance while also recognizing that it wasn’t for me. I picked up this book because I do enjoy a good memoir and have always loved reading books with complex mental health aspects, and in terms of the latter, this book definitely delivered. 

The reader gets a very in depth experience of what it’s like to live with someone who has crippling OCD and social anxiety, someone who has depression and a gambling addiction, and someone who suffers from alcohol addiction, and the person who carries all of their burdens. I think it’s that last part that I struggled a bit with this book. While the memoir was extremely informative and provided great discussion points for how health systems fail their people, especially regarding mental health, that’s all it felt like sometimes, lots and lots of information. At times, it did become extremely repetitive and I personally felt like it could have been 100 pages less and still be just as impactful. Additionally, though it’s a memoir, the focus seemed to be much more on the men in her life, than on herself, which I guess it’s pretty telling in itself.

All in all, I think if you know someone who suffers from some form of mental illness, this could be helpful to get an idea of what those real experiences could be like. If you do choose to read this book, please be mindful of the trigger warnings at the beginning of the book to make sure you’re in the right headspace to read it.