Mental Health

Everything/Nothing/Someone / Alice Carrière

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment 
Everything/Nothing/Someone
By: Alice Carrière
Genre: Memoir
Number of Pages: 288
Published: August 29, 2023
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Dates Read: August 15, 2023 - August 19, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

Trigger Warnings: sexual abuse, false memory, inherited trauma, mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction

In this memoir of Alice Carrière, she tells the story of her unconventional upbringing in Greenwich Village as the daughter of renowned artist Jennifer Bartlett and European actor Mathieu Carrière. Growing up in the bohemian 90’s, Alice must navigate her mother’s recovered memories of ritualized sexual abuse that she turns into art, and her father’s odd and confusing attentions. For the most part, Alice is left alone with little-to-no enforcement of boundaries or supervision.

When she enters adolescence, Alice begins to lose herself as a dissociative disorder begins to take over. She bounces in and out of mental hospitals and takes up various roles around town while bouncing from one experience to another in a medicated state. Eventually, she finds purpose in caring for her Alzheimer’-afflicted mother. With the help of a recovering addict who loves her, Alice also finds the courage to confront her father, whose words and actions splintered her. 

I haven’t read a lot of written memoirs (I’ve read a few graphic novel memoirs/biographies). But, this year I’m trying to make sure I branch out and read a different variety of genres. This one caught my eye because of the mental health aspect and growing up in the 90’s. Mental health and the stigma around it has drastically changed within the last few years. I grew up in the 90’s/00’s and I remember you didn’t talk about mental health – now I make jokes with my coworkers about our crippling depression/anxiety almost daily.

This memoir won’t be for everybody. Everything/Nothing/Someone deals with a lot of heavy subjects, but it is very thought-provoking and a look at how mental health was tackled and the stigma with it in the 90’s, early 2000’s. 

*Thank you Spiegel & Grau, Publishers Weekly, and NetGalley for a digital advance copy of this memoir in exchange for an honest review

The Coldest Winter I Ever Spent / Ann Jacobus

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The Coldest Winter I Ever Spent
By: Ann Jacobus
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Number of Pages: 352
Published: March 7, 2023
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab
Dates Read: July 26, 2023 - July 29, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of suicide, mental health, alcoholism, hospice, end of life, death

Eighteen-year-old Del is now sober, her depression and anxiety are being treated, she’s volunteering at a suicide-prevention hotline, and she’s living with her amazing Aunt Fran. Her own suicide attempt last year is in the past.

But, when Aunt Fran is diagnosed with terminal cancer, Del’s world is flipped upside down. She’s spent all her time now saving people, but she can’t save Fran – only help her prepare for what’s coming. On top of that, she’s got a crush on a boy she’s known since childhood, her first semester of college is quickly approaching, and she still has shifts at the crisis line. When Aunt Fran asks for Del’s help with her final request, Del must face her demons head on and rethink life and death.

Everyone handles grief differently. The Coldest Winter I Ever Spent talks about Del’s. It was a bit nice to see Del’s outlook on a lot of things, especially when it came to her talking about her suicide attempt and where’s she’s at mentally now. Is she a little callous when she views what happened to her and where she is now? A bit – but I’m also thinking that the mindset of her generation is a lot different than older ones. Shoot, I’m a millennial and our humor and mind set is dark, yet alone Gen Z’s.

I believe this is a good book for teens about both mental health and grief. Throughout this novel, I would remember my aunt passing away from breast cancer and the hospice she received at the later end of her time here on Earth. This also talks heavily about <spoiler> assistant suicide / death with dignity </spoiler>.

Overall, this is a heavy book, but one that will let others feel seen, especially during a time where they may have a loved one dying.

*Thank you Carolrhoda Lab and LibraryThing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

The Quiet and the Loud / Helena Fox

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The Quiet and the Loud
By: Helena Fox
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Number of Pages: 383
Publisher: Dial Books
Dates Read: March 13, 2023 - March 17, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

Trigger Warnings: Domestic violence, emotional abuse, addiction; alcoholism, anxiety, depression, gaslighting, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), complex PTSD, and catastrophic fire

George’s life is loud. Her best friend, Tess is about to become a teen mom at 18, her friend Laz is in despair about the world and the climate crisis, her gramps would misplace his own head if not for her, and her moms fill the house with constant chatter. Then, to top it all off, her estranged dad says he needs to talk and won’t stop trying until that happens. This novel explore the contours of friendship, family, forgiveness, trauma, love, and the hopeless verses hopefulness of the world.

How It Feels to Float carved a place in my heart when I read it back in 2019, and Biz, the main character from that story, has lived there ever since. Of course, as soon as I heard Helena Fox had a new book coming out, I tried to get my hands on it as soon as I possibly could. George has her own place in my heart too – she’s a people pleaser through and through and I can relate to her so much.

As like her first book, Fox dives in unapologetically into the exploration of trauma and mental health. I never felt like anything was sugar coated or unrealistic, things happened and the results of those events would lead to what happens and what is talked about in this book. As someone who has battled with mental health most of my life, a lot of the ways George would handle (or not handle) situations are ones I have found myself in as well.

I appreciate how open dialogue these characters were about mental health and getting and receiving help. George tried it when she was younger after stuff with her Dad, and it didn’t work out then, but she’s willing to give it another shot. All the characters acknowledge the fact that yes, talking with one another and those you care about can help, but sometimes it’s so much better if you talk with someone outside the group. Therapy is a scary thing, especially when you first begin and Fox does a wonderful job at showing all of that.

I adored George and Calliope’s relationship, the way it bloomed and was heartfelt. They were so cute together and I was rooting for them the entire novel.

I also appreciated the way George and Tess’s relationship was handled. George was always doing everything for Tess and she kind of steamrolled her… a lot, especially when it came to her deciding to get pregnant <spoiler> which, I did not like at all</spoiler> and that George was just automatically going to be her partner through it

*Thank you Dial Books and Edelweiss+ for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth / Zoe Thorogood

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It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth
By: Zoe Thorogood
Genre: Graphic Novel, Memoir
Number of Pages: 120
Published: November 15, 2022
Publisher: Image Comics
Dates Reads: February 20, 2023
Format: eBook

Trigger Warnings: Mental health; depression, mentions of suicide and suicide attempts

Cartoonist Zoe Thorogood records 6 months of her life as it falls apart and she tries to put it back together, all while trying to battle the inner demons of her depression.

By now, I’ve read my fair share of mental health battling graphic novels. Sometimes the writer’s battles are not quite the same as my own, Zoe Thorogood’s battle is still not 100% me, but my goodness, did she mention stuff that hit my gut and gave me tears. Growing up, talking about mental health wasn’t a thing quite yet – I remember after my dad passed, being asked by my mom if I wanted to speak with a therapist and being horrified about even the thought of it. Now, my siblings and I are pretty open about our mental health, but I still don’t always talk to my mom about it though, and this quote from Thorogood was me:

“…But now that I’m an adult I feel like I can protect them (parents) from it now, or at least I should. That’s the isolating part of mental illness- It seems to come after the ones you care about most.”

This isn’t an easy read, and it’s not going to necessarily be one you would probably read for the enjoyment aspect either – though there are pieces of art in this that are phenomenal. Thorogood captures the embodiment of depression, and the different stages and types of depression. She even has versions of her depression from when she was a little girl and at different stages of her life, that all still hang around with her today. It’s very well done.

Overall, this is an excellently drawn and written graphic novel that explores the inner battles of one cartoonist’s battle with depression.

“I can’t change my brain chemistry, but I can change how I choose to interact with the world around me… Life is merely a collection of good and bad experiences loosely held together by the void in between- and that void is your space to mold, a space to harness and create in. Just be careful not to get stuck there.”