Author: Justice Serai
Release date: April 7th 2015 Pages: 218
Genres: Contemporary, Young Adult
My rating: 4/ 5 stars
Source: Xpresso Book Tours
Synopsis:
Hope is an illusion meant to convince the broken to keep on living.
That’s me. Broken.
My father pays heaps of money for doctors at the Norfolk Psychiatric Center to fix me. I’ve spent six months of my prime teenage years at this residential facility – a place for teenagers who’ve gone mental.
That’s me. Mental.
Just when I begin to feel myself fade away, a boy with a wolfish smile and mischievous eyes reels me in. Julian is broken too, but he believes in me enough for the both of us. Through him, I begin to experience this thing called hope. Doctors can’t fix me, my parents can’t either, but maybe it’s not me who needs fixing.
After all, mental is only a state of mind. It all depends on who’s doing the thinking.
Review:
After a baptism accident when she was a little girl, Lucy lives in fear of things like the colors red and orange and the number 6. She suffers from schizophrenia and is a patient in a psychiatric ward. She is trying to get better but things just aren't that easy. She feels like a constant disappointment to her parents and feels guilty for the things she has put them through.
It was very intriguing to read from a character with schizophrenia's point of view. Lucy, was such an intricate character with so many feelings suppressed inside of her. Every word of hers was riddled with pain and It was very easy for the reader to see that. She suffers so much because of her own mind and it's sad to see how not many people understand her. Especially her parents. I found them to be a little bit ignorant and insensitive toward her daughter's illness. To me they could have been a bit more open minded.
As for the romance in this book, which did play a big part, I found that it didn't really work well. I mean, the romance itself was fine, it's just the way in which it happened that didn't really appeal to me. Primarily due to the fact that it was sort of an insta-love situation. Julian just happens to show up in the ward and calls Lucy pretty once and they instantly fall in love. It just didn't feel all that genuine to me. However, I did like the fact that Julian really tried his best to help her and he seemed to have her best interest.
Lucy really grows as a character. Especially towards the end. She realizes that, while it is important to have support from others in order to make the best out of her recovery, she can't rely on other people and depend on them. She accepts the fact that the only one who can save her is herself. And to me that was one of the most important things.
This book turned out to be very moving. The writing was lyrically beautiful and fluid. And it portrayed this terrifying circumstances in a very real way. It really gives you a sense of hope. I really hope that this book doesn't go unnoticed because it deserves appreciation.
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