Leanne Toshiko Simpson's Never Been Better is a book I picked solely on its cover, and while the cover is appropriate to the content of the book, it is said content that I just cannot get behind. This book dealing primarily with mental health is a heavy read, and while that in itself is not a deterrent for me, the execution of this book was. The characters, their personalities, and motives were less than memorable, and I unfortunately found myself disengaged with the majority of this book due to its failure to connect with me on an intrinsic level.

My first thought seeing this cover was romance especially when I read a destination wedding on the Turks And Caicos was at the center. But this was not romance in the strictest sense, and definitely not romcom - it's a story of unrequited love, it is also a story about mental health written by an author who is open about her own struggles with bipolar disorder.
This background made me careful with this story because I have lived my life as the child of someone with that same disorder but it has been handled delicately and accurately here, I just needed the courage to start reading ! Out since March 5th !
Dee, Matt, and Misa met a year prior to this story taking its start when they were patients in a psych ward. Now, Matt and Misa are getting married which is causing Dee to spin out. Dee is in love with Matt (and has been for the past year). They've both been each other's rock when they were at their lowest. Her feelings are unrequited and she doesn't want to lose him.
Through flashbacks we watch the relationship between Dee and Matt develop and begin to understand why she feels the way she does about him but also see where things went wrong ... feeling needed and being loved is not the same thing. But, it's easy to get confused about love and being a crutch or an enabler.
Friendship with Misa is another big point in this story, where did things go so wrong ??
Not wanting to ruin the special day for her two friends, Dee is torn on how to deal with her feelings for Matt while trying to be happy for Matt and Misa.
With her sister Tillie the biggest advocate for telling the truth and the advice and support of various people she meets at this destination wedding it's up to Dee to decide what's right for her even if it means that she's going to have to risk her friendship.
Heartbreaking at times and lighthearted at others this story about friendship, the relationship between sisters, acceptance, and love was definitely a worthy read !

The mental health representations and discussions in this book aren't like anything else I've read before and it was really refreshing to see such vivid descriptions of thoughts the characters struggled with, depictions of treatment and recovery, and to have them work out a lot of their issues with mental health stigmas directly on the page. I liked that this focused more on the friendships and relationships Dee had with those around her and how those were impacted by improvements and setbacks in her mental health, rather than solely focusing on the love story between her and Matt. However, I have seen this book marketed as a romance and I think that it can't really be called that by genre definition as the main couple that we follow throughout the book is not really Dee and Matt and they don't actually end up together. I think this book very heavily leans women's fiction and could be labeled as a love story but would definitely be misleading readers when pitched as a romance, and especially at that a romcom given how heavy some of the mental health discussions are. I love that those discussion are there, and I do think there's a lot of dark humor there, but I think it's very different than a reader's usual expectations of a classic "rom-com".

I thought this was an interesting story of three friends who met while they were on an inpatient unit and two of them fall in love while the third friend Dee is in love with the guy Matt. She’s invited to their wedding and is hoping to get Matt to fall for her and cancel his wedding. The story sagas their journey of mental health and how coming to recognition in one’s journey.

When a group of three people Dee,Matt & Misa meet after being in a psychiatric hospital they soon become very close. But a year after being discharged Matt & Misa
Decide to get married Suddenly Dee feels left out and her feelings for Matt might jeopardize their close friendship.
This story does dive into mental health issues and the struggles that go along with it. And how it affects family and friends. You will find yourself laughing one moment and crying the next. The author did a great job with the characters in the book.
Thank you netgalley

This was really a great book! I don't think I have laughed so much with any other book as I did with this one! Friends from the psych ward, what could go wrong!! I definitely would recommend this book.

Never Been Better
by Leanne Toshiko Simpson
4 stars

Three friends that met at the psych ward, Dee, Misa, and Matt. After a year of discharge Dee wants everyone to think she is better, and nothing is ever wrong. Matt and Misa are about to be married.
Dee is determined to put an end to the wedding. After getting to the weekend wedding fun, Dee and her sister are on an adventure to figure out what to do to stop the wedding or keep Dee's feeling locked up.

I enjoyed this after the first half it got a lot better and was much more entertaining. Dee's sister is my favorite she is supportive, loud, crazy and does what she wants and is always watching out for her sister.
Thank you, Net Galley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC for an honest review

Dee, Misa, and Matt were inseparable during their stay in a psychiatric hospital. A year after being discharged, Matt and Misa are getting married and Dee can’t help but feel left behind. At their beautiful Turks & Caicos destination wedding, Dee finds herself struggling and wanting to confess her feelings for Matt, but also doesn’t want to jeopardize her friendships.

This book is not the rom com I was expecting from the cover/marketing - it is much more focused on mental illness and life after hospitalization. I suggest going in prepared, because it was much darker than I was expecting when I picked it up. That being said, it is an incredibly vulnerable book about finding yourself and learning to deal with your traumas. It is heartbreaking yet hopeful and I definitely needed tissues at the ready. While it was not what I was expecting, the ending really made up for my surprise.

Thank you to Putnam Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

This is a story that combines humor, friendship, and family with hard won wisdom about mental health. The dialogue is sharp and concise with amusing scenes that will put a smile on the readers face.
Many thanks to PENGUIN GROUP Putnam and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Never Been Better is a decently entertaining read. I found Dee a bit unlikeable and therefore hard to root for, but I appreciated the mental health rep side of the story.

Thank you Leanne Toshiko Simpson, G.P. Putnam's Sons, and NetGalley for providing this ARC for review consideration. All opinions expressed are my own.

This book was surprising because while it was labeled as romance that was the secondary plot. The author did a great job of developing the characters throughout the story and had such great representation of different mental health struggles.

Dee, Misa, and Matt met in an unlikely place - the psychiatric hospital. All struggling with bipolar, they each ended up in the same hospital and forged a friendship that is deeper and more complicated than most. When Misa and Matt end up getting engaged, Dee feels left out and like she’ll never recover. After ignoring their invitation and phone calls to come to the wedding, Matt shows up on Dee’s front step to convince her to come. The only problem is, Dee is in love with Matt and just wants to sabotage the wedding by telling him how she feels. After finally convincing her, Dee and her sister Tilley travel to an all inclusive resort for the weeklong wedding festivities. Lots of hard feelings come to the surface and there are lots of moments it looks like the 3 won’t remain friends. But hopefully they have learned and grown enough to figure it out.

This book is a great look at bipolar disorder and the ways it affects friends and family. The author has her own struggle with bipolar and writes from the heart. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book shines a light on the struggles that come with mental illness but still maintained a lighthearted vibe. The tropical setting was fun, but I am not into love triangles so I took a star away for that. But overall would recommend this.

First, I have to say this was not what I was expecting at all. Not my typical genre, I guess I didn't read what it was about and jumped right in. I kept expecting it to be a thriller. That said, it is a beautifully written book, about a very tough subject for some to talk or even read about...mental health. While being wrapped around the subject of mental health, it was also a very fun read, I definitely laughed and cried at times. Well done!
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for the chance to read this advanced copy.

Dee is off to Turks for the wedding of her two friends, Misa and Matt. The three of them met in the psych ward and are still navigating life post hospitalization a year later. What does it mean to have your life together, how do you keep from comparing your journey with someone else’s and how do you speak up when you need help are all deeply embedded in this story of friendship and self-discovery. What I liked was there was no sugar coating the grittiness of life. There were a few parts that help a bit long and dragging but it also mirrors the mind a bit when it’s processing in a neurodivergent way.

This book is about navigating mental illness, love, and real life. It's never easy, to stare down the worst parts about oneself, but Dee has to if she wants to get through the revolving door that is her life. After attempting suicide, Dee finds herself in a mental institution for treatment. While there, she meets Matt and Misa who become her two best friends and her entire motivation for getting better. The two of them fall in love in front of Dee, who has done her best to keep her feelings for Matt on the down low this entire time. Now engaged, Dee is invited to Matt and Misa's wedding one year after her discharge. She sets out on a mission to quietly sabotage the wedding and win Matt's love, but her plan quickly falls apart when she comes face to face with how she's truly doing on her road to recovery.

This book was a very honest peek into the mind of someone battling mental health issues. The protagonist has bipolar disorder, and is constantly at war with her emotions, her self, and her treatment plan. She wants to be better, but she doesn't know how. She wants to be loved, but she pushes everyone away out of fear and self hate. She realizes she is stuck holding onto a fantasy to protect herself from reality. Having been diagnosed with depression and anxiety, a lot of her internal dialogue hits home. I saw a lot of myself before I got diagnosed in Dee.

What I loved most about this book, however, was the sister Tilley. She's the voice of reason and Dee's biggest advocate. Despite her own burnout, her love shines through every action she makes. That type of unconditional care is what one needs to have when at their worst. It's what every sick person fears never finding -- that everyone will get tired and leave because of their mental illness. I know I feared that and self sabotaged a fair bit when I was at my sickest. But luckily, my husband is a lot like Tilley.

Dee is an interesting character who keeps you turning the pages throughout this book! I enjoyed reading it.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book & after reading it, I’m glad I did! I really enjoyed the mental health representation & seeing how it was portrayed with the characters. While I couldn’t necessarily personally relate to the MC, it felt like her life could be relatable. Overall I just wanted a little more from the story itself.

I didn’t love it, but didn’t hate it. I felt like this was an unrealistic tale of life in and out of a psychiatric facility.

🧍🏻‍♀️🧍🏻🧍🏻‍♀️
📖Review
4🌟🌟🌟🌟
📖Book 12/100
📚Never Been Better
💫Genre: Fiction
✍️Authors:
Leanne Toshiko Simpson

📝Synopsis 📝
Misha, Matt, and Dee build a friendship at the psychiatric hospital and once out two of them decide to tie the knot. Only problem is Dee is in love with Matt too, and her mission is to stop that wedding from happening. She decides to take them up on an offer and travel to an island in which the wedding will take place. Will this be a good vacation or a bad vacation? Will she get the guy she loves or let her best friend marry him???

My thoughts 💭
This book gave me My Best Friend’s Wedding mixed with Girl Interrupted vibes. It was more general fiction than romance and essentially focused on character development. It had me laughing with so many quirky things happening because our girl Dee is a hot mess and falling apart. I enjoyed that it had a happy ending for all, but I loved that it focused so much on mental health and self love. I adored all the characters especially Tilley😆 If you want an off beat story that focuses on love, friendship, and mental health, this is for you🫶🏻
✨✨✨✨✨
Trigger Warnings⚠️
Depression
Suicidal Thoughts
Suicidal Tendencies
Mental Health

🩵Thank you so much @netgalley and @penguinbooks for approving this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

✨Publishing Date:
March 5, 2024

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