This wrecked me. Well deserving of being shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year Older Readers.
"And yes, I do think that's something you struggle wi
This wrecked me. Well deserving of being shortlisted for the CBCA Book of the Year Older Readers.
"And yes, I do think that's something you struggle with - finding a place between throwing bowls at your brother and being too frightened to let yourself feel anything at all."
What happens to Stella in the book, happened to me when I was an adult.
"my dead boyfriend who was never actually my boyfriend"
I was once talking to a friend about a person whose boyfriend had died in the same way. I compared myself to that person and my friend said, "Well it's not quite the same, is it"
SC died 14 yrs ago, and I don't often think of him these days. But the other week I saw his friend when I was out. I wasn't sure it was him and I didn't say hello. I wish I had....more
This is amazing and surreal and The Flood is a very clever metaphor for trauma and PTSD.
"We don't just talk about terrible things to purge them from o
This is amazing and surreal and The Flood is a very clever metaphor for trauma and PTSD.
"We don't just talk about terrible things to purge them from ourselves. We talk about them so that the people who love us can tell us when we're wrong. That we're being unkind to ourselves, or unfair, or that the things that have happened to us are not our fault. Because fear turns the world a different color and we don't always see clearly through it."
2) Did you enjoy it? Yes! But it made me cry in between laughing.
3) What rating would you give it out of five? ★★★★
4) Was there anything in your book that touched you /resonated with you in some way? Liberty's love of the stars and her remapping of the constellations. It's heartbreaking when things get so bad for her, she can't draw her maps anymore.
5) What was your favourite part of the book? The meteorite. Who doesn't love a talking rock. I still don't know the difference between a meteor and a meteorite.
6) Who would you recommend read this book? Children 10-13 whose parents are divorcing
7) Try to sum up the book in one sentence: When your world falls apart, the stars will always be above us, returning to the same place in the sky a year after we fell from space....more
I read during covid first lockdown 2020 and last year I booktalked it at the WA CBCA Shortlist event. It's shortlisted for the CBCA Book of The[image]
I read during covid first lockdown 2020 and last year I booktalked it at the WA CBCA Shortlist event. It's shortlisted for the CBCA Book of The Year Older Readers 2021. Wish me luck! Its on zoom and I still have to clean up my dining room so I have the perfect background of bookshelves ...more
CW: psychoanalysis; appalling portrayal of mental illness & treatment; SUICIDE; why did i do this Rant incoming:
f*&¤ problematic psychiatric treatment
CW: psychoanalysis; appalling portrayal of mental illness & treatment; SUICIDE; why did i do this to myself???
fuck all the reviews saying the psychological theories are just so great. Psychoanalysis is psuedo-science with no basis in facts.
Talking to my brother about psychoanalysis, he said its really useful in literary criticism. Lmao! not laughing - it is no use in treating mental illness. my brother and i both have severe mental illness (diff ones, yay for diversity) and we've both had multiple hospitalizations. we both take our meds and have never killed anyone. Oh yeah, as a bonus, I suffered from selective mutism as a child. There is treatment for this disorder - the actual treatment is nothing like the drivel Alicia is subjected to.
Note to authors everywhere: stop propagating harmful stereotypes about mental illness and how dangerous us mad people are.
Here's some of my fun highlights from reading this waste of paper:
p.14 There's a reason psychiatrists don't like using the word 'mad' - it's not a medical term and never used for diagnosis. guess what! Alicia was never diagnosed with anything other than: she's mad.
p.18 Theo: a personality disorder is not a mental illness. It's - wait for it - a disorder.
p.29 Every mental illness is not caused by abuse - case in point: me
p.38 Someone didn't do their research on side effects of Risperidone. Alicia being "too thin" is extremely unlikely - severe weight gain is a common side effect of anti-psychotics. Except the really expensive ones that aren't prescribed in public hospitals.
p.45 Professional ethics? What's that?
p.87 There's a good reason "psychiatrists tend to be wary of psychodynamic thinking." Theo's mind reading is not going to help his patient (I use the term patient very loosely). Magical thinking belongs in fantasy - basically the genre I'm currently reading.
p.91 Theo doesn't like the cup of pills prescribed to Alicia, while he's self medicating with pot. The word for that is BIOCHEMISTRY Theo. Omg it works!?
p.92 Turns out babyhood is full of terror. I always wondered why babies cry ALL THE TIME. Google Bion for a laugh. This is his actual theory in psychoanalysis. Please someone, kill me now, I haven't got over my babyhood terror. 😨
Some page I can't remember: Alicia is NOT "Borderline." The term is Borderline Personality Disorder Dr Christian, which you would know if you were a doctor. I doubt Alicia has BPD. Cluster A personality disorders are more likely, except (view spoiler)[the finale when all her paranoia is proven as actual events negates this and implies she has no personality disorder. Oh well, she must be mad. (hide spoiler)]
p.213 Let's all "sit with the madness" just for fun. Bet you can't last 24hrs....more
I read this years ago and could never think of Rochester as a kind man again.
I saw a GRer say this is just about Antoinette going mad and not much elsI read this years ago and could never think of Rochester as a kind man again.
I saw a GRer say this is just about Antoinette going mad and not much else. Nailed it - don't be confused, this is exactly what happens. Antoinette had a family history of mental illness, but Rochester's horrific treatment of her is the triggering event that lead to her (most likely) schizophrenia. And then he locks her in an attic. WTF is all I can say about that. And I'm pretty sure, as well as her life and freedom, Rochester took away her name and called her Bertha. Why the hell not - he does own her afterall. Slavery, anyone?...more
I liked this more than my first P.D. James. I'll be reading more from her. Yes, the storyline is generic, the sexism and mistreatment of psychiatric pI liked this more than my first P.D. James. I'll be reading more from her. Yes, the storyline is generic, the sexism and mistreatment of psychiatric patients is rife, but that blackmail machine - pure gold.
You kids and your LSD. I'm surprised anyone survived the 1960s....more
I was getting annoyed that everyone talks about Aza having Anxiety, when she has OCD. Then my therapist did this, kinda. I'm doing grouUpdate 10/05/18
I was getting annoyed that everyone talks about Aza having Anxiety, when she has OCD. Then my therapist did this, kinda. I'm doing group therapy (CBT represent) and Therapist put Miss OCD & I together in a task because we both have so much anxiety to work on. Ok, we have a lot in common, but what we do with that anxiety - miles apart. Therapist also gave me a book to read about Panic Attacks. Firstly, has she seen my TBR!? Secondly, I don't have panic attacks. She's really good at her job, I just like to whinge.
CW: self harm, OCD
Will you look at that. DNF 16%
Should have listened to myself!? Tomorrow is my book group. Did I finish the book? Did I have a very good reason? Yes and yes. I fully intended to read all the bloody turtles, but there was only a tuatara and I'm pretty sure John Green made that up.
So anyway, if you're triggered by self harm and you think "She'll be right, how bad can it be?" Do Not Read. Do not pass Go. Do not collect $100,000
I'm sure I'm missing out on enormous amounts of greatness, but shit happens, (view spoiler)[also pus (hide spoiler)]. I hate pus, I will never read or think or emit pus again. My body hates pus so much, I've ceased to produce it. If my body has an infection, I embrace it.
Quick question: Doesn't Aza have OCD? Why do ppl keep saying she has Anxiety? They are not the same thing!!!
Aza talks about CBT #therapygoals
-------------------- Initial thoughts: -------------------- Not so much that I want to read, but my book group's doing it, and then I accidently bought it. Then I saw it has self harm, um, we'll see what happens....more
"We need our monsters to know what it is to be human."
I came to Ballad for a Mad Girl wishing for another magnificent tale woven through my soul by th
"We need our monsters to know what it is to be human."
I came to Ballad for a Mad Girl wishing for another magnificent tale woven through my soul by the hand of Vikki Wakefield. The story is entirely more strange than I anticipated. I still can't work out if Grace could see unquiet ghosts or if she had one of those annoying mental illnesses. Grace is as confused as me.
"That's the difference between us: Gummer desperately wants to believe in things he's never seen, but I've seen things I don't want to believe."
First, to my pre-reading thoughts. That title. Seriously, more madness slurs? I should have realised Vikki Wakefield isn't that way inclined. It's more a play on words. The characters talk about the different meanings of mad: insanity, being angry at someone, Grace's dare-devil antics. Grace's friends are mad at her when she cuts herself off from them, as the ghostly occurances mount.
"The fragile possibility of ghosts means everything."
Grace's fear and the mounting horror is very real. And Diesel the dog sees/feels something. Can't dogs pick up on paranormal activity? Or are they just scenting fear pheromones from their humans? Is Diesel's strange behaviour actually a reaction to moving house? Dogs don't handle change as well as we'd like.
"There's something awful there, waiting for me. You can't see it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist."
I guess the following is a spoiler, but also my main gripe with the book. (view spoiler)[
'I think you're depressed,' she says carefully. My gaze snaps back. 'I think I'm possessed.'
There's a somewhat good interaction between Grace and her doctor. (Once, towards the end.) Doc describes Grace's experiences as symptons of her mental illness. Meanwhile, I'm clawing my hair out over here - a diagnosis is never named. Why do you do this to me? It's not that hard when you've gone to the trouble of bringing a skilled psychiatrist into the narrative.
A clearly stated diagnosis is important for readers experiencing mental illness who want to find themselves in the stories they read. And even more important for mentally-well readers to know mental illness is not an unamed monster.
I assume from Doc's explanations, Grace is bi-polar, although I don't know how common hallucinations are in bi-polar. Can anyone enlighten me? This thought is telling:
"I'd rather be terrified than feel nothing."
One medication a bi-polar patient could be prescribed is a mood stabilizer. This lessens highs and lows and might be described as "feeling nothing." While that sounds awful, it's very necessary to allow functional living. And not the full picture: my experience is more of a flattening of feeling. All the feels are still there, just at a more manageable level.
Back to Grace, neither she, nor her Doc ever mention meds - Grrrrr
"How easy it is for people to believe my lies; how hard for them to listen when I tell the truth."
So is the supernatural in this story real, or just in Grace's head? Grace's mother had similar "visions" but is that because she also had a mental illness or did she pass her paranormal abilities onto her daughter? Is the man who killed her just a coincidence, or something more?
"She said they were everywhere. She said at least out there she could see them coming."
Shades of Liar by Justine Larbalestier? I don't know, my Book Group doesn't know, does anyone really know? Please tell me and help end my torment...
"I've had so much time to think that my words have deserted. All that's left is the ache and frustration of being alive - it must be the worst kind of hell to be dead, and not to be heard."
Declan is depressed when his girlfriend Lisa’s Kraken of a mother packs her off to family in Hong Kong. While waiting for a train he decides to end hiDeclan is depressed when his girlfriend Lisa’s Kraken of a mother packs her off to family in Hong Kong. While waiting for a train he decides to end his pain, but somehow his life cleaves and he experiences both the consequences of his untimely death and his life if he didn’t jump.
"The Pause" shares themes with More Than This and Wasted, both of which wrenched my heart in jagged pieces. I wanted as much from "The Pause" but my expectations didn’t match the page.
About when Declan ends up in hospital, reality crashed back down and "The Pause" never reached those lofty heights. Things became kind of pedestrian: thank god for second chances, blah, blah, blah.
It's very funny but the inacurracies in psychiatric treatment really annoyed me.
I was looking forward to reading this since its release in May last year. I was hugely disappointed. There are so many problems with the depiction of I was looking forward to reading this since its release in May last year. I was hugely disappointed. There are so many problems with the depiction of schizophrenia and psychiatric care. Francesca Zappia didn't do her research AT ALL.
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