This review may contain very small spoilers (not enough to hide the entire review)
Five stars! This book touched me deeply. It made me feel very emotional and cry, it is relatable, horrifying and beautiful.
This is my second Mathews book and again I am not disappointed. Where the first (Keeping Secrets) gave me a thorough history lesson, this book was mostly lots of recognition. Mental health issues hit close to home and although I don’t have them to the extend like Dani in this novel it still is relatable. In my young 20’s I was hit hard by depression, anxiety and all. Luckily nowadays all that is left is a funky feeling in wintertime, come spring my world brightens again. One in four people suffer from mental health problems at least at one point in their life and yet you almost never hear anyone talk about it. This book gives you an insight into the struggle of Dani and Andrea in the ’90s. A day and age where being gay alone was hard enough, let alone suffer from mental health problems …
About the story: there is nothing rushed, the tempo is just right for the topics. Characters all have their flaws and I loved them for it: Andrea is mostly thinking she’s coming up short for her life-partner Dani. Dani thinks Andrea deserves better than someone like her. And we’ve got Andrea’s colleague Tommy who secretly crushes on her. At about 30-40% in the book, you will hit a rough stretch which made me cry my eyes out. At first, it made me feel confused, I seemed to be in the same level of denial as Andrea appeared to be in. Looking back on it that part is very well written by Mathews. I don’t want to give away to much…
The way Dani “works” her mental health expert is spot on how I’ve seen it happen in real life. Mathews does a great job in letting you see all those layers of someone with mental health issues. Also, she does a great job showing you all the layers of grief.
The ending of the book wasn’t rushed, but it did feel abrupt. It is a happy and romance is found (again). All in all it is worth the five stars for me because of the very respectfully, gracious and beautiful way Mathews wrote about this very difficult topic.
Read the blurb before you start this book, although not all is said in the blurb, if you can count, you can count on an emotional rollercoaster.
When you feel you need to talk to someone while reading or after reading this book, know that you
can find all the contact information you’ll need in the back. Don’t hesitate to use it.
You can buy this book on Amazon or your preferred store. I was provided with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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