this was a wonderfully done novel, it had a great feel for today's world and glad I got to read this. The characters felt like real people and enjoyed how everything felt like a real concept. Alana Saab has a great writing style and worked with this story, I can't wait to read more from Alana Saab as this was a really well done novel.

Absoulety loved this book. It really puts into prospective the struggles that come with mental illness. As someone who struggles with a few mental illnesses, I truly felt seen through the main character and absolutely loved how the book is told through her inner thoughts. Something I usually don't see in books is that internal dialogue of the characters, so this book telling the story mostly through the main characters inner thoughts was really compelling.
The only critique I truly have about this book is that I got a little lost on the plot at times. However, the confusion was usually cleared up eventually.

I did not finish this book, I stopped at 51%. I am not the intended audience for this book, it was hard for me to follow the stories and thoughts of the narrator. She suffers from significant mental illness and it was hard for me to put the pieces of her life together for a narrative. I found the subject matter to be disturbing in several instances, the narrator is brutally honest and upfront with her life experiences.

This book is focuses on a woman and the sessions with her therapist. It is difficult to discern when the main character is dissociating in her mind or speaking with her therapist. Quotations would help in discerning spoken words. The scattered train of thoughts was hard for me to follow, there may be people who can relate to the young narrator and her mental illness.

Thank you Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

so amazing and smart i ADORED this. Like wow i can’t describe this it just must be read. And once it finds its audience it will become their favorite book ever.

thank you to Netgalley and Vintage for the ARC!

i struggle with this one.

i wanted to read it because i was told that it was both queer and focused on mental health, the degree to which i perhaps wasn't expecting.

anyone going into this should know that this book reads a little bit confusingly - no quotation marks are present and we're primarily dealing with a main character, norma, via conversations with her therapist. and the writing is, well, unhinged. it's not fun to be in norma's head most of the time, because her thoughts are constantly obsessing over how she needs to break up with her girlfriend and her writings. from what i gather (i told you, the writing is a little complicated) we are jumping from therapy sessions to memories to stories that norma has written that are basically bastardized memories from certain traumas that she has experienced.

i'm telling you now: MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNING FOR CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULT/RAPE. though not super explicit, it's there and present in one of her stories and it came out of nowhere and it upset me a lot. i was upset because immediately after in a therapy session norma says she wasn't raped as a kid which made me angry at its inclusion... for norma to ultimately reveal that her father had actually done this to her.

ultimately, i think this story lost me about 30% in when there was some weird description of a kid's nipples and a quote from donald trump. later on, normal also obsesses over joe biden. i don't know. there was also a very weird chapter where norma is in a bathtub, gets her period and starts doing pelvic exercises to get the rest of the blood out... i? i think some of this skewed on the side of weird for weird's sake instead of any logical relation to the story.

norma is never properly diagnosed, but she's clearly going through a severe mental health crisis. i don't really know how representative this story was of an actual mental health crisis, but i can't help but feel like the portrayal was kiddish for a person of norma's age and also kind of romanticized in a way. norma experiences what she calls "oblivion" where she imagines all life from the planet has been snuffed out and she's in a black, alone place, which i guess i'd refer to as disassociation. that felt real, but the tangents and rants and saying "i want to break up with my girlfriend" every five seconds felt... i don't know. it was a hard perspective to read.

i do thing that the writing was technically immaculate and there's some good one-liners in this - i even liked the style of how norma would harp on certain facts or tell a story through these tiny, bite-sized vignettes, but the story for me and the sheer confusion of what was going on most times just didn't work for me. i don't think any reader should go into this expecting a likable character or a character that makes any amount of sense - you'll be disappointed - but if that's your bag, then this is probably the book for you.

2.5/5. I wanted to love this book so badly, but I just didn’t. As a queer female who has experienced depression and anxiety and is a mental health professional, I thought this book was perfectly up my alley. Unfortunately, I felt the book kept derailing from the main topics at hand making it confusing to read. I LOVED the concept and think that it had so much potential, but every time the story derailed, I was frustrated because I wanted the story to keep going. I also found it hard to root for the main character at times because she was not handling any of this the way someone her age would. Again, I know this character is going through a severe mental health crisis, but she is so resistant to help and change that it is confusing to why she is seeking treatment. Of course there are plenty of people who are scared of therapy and treatment and resistant to it at first, but their want for getting better overpowers all of that. I did not see this with this character at all. It also drove me crazy that the dialogue was not in quotation marks, but maybe that is me just being picky. This book took too long to find the light at the end of the tunnel and I found it hard to keep reading, but I think with some adjustments and focus on the main story, this book could be amazing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Please Stop Trying to Leave Me is, at its core, a story about learning how to live and love through trauma. Norma is the unreliable narrator, who is telling the story through therapy sessions and her novel that she can’t finish. She has a rap sheet of psychological diagnoses and is trying to learn how to overcome them.
I had a hard time reading this and I would definitely recommend looking at content warnings before reading. The main character goes through a myriad of trials that are not easy to read about, nor should they be.
There were times when the writing was very lyrical and poetic and then there were other chapters that I struggled to get through. From my perspective, trauma makes memories and the way you view your life skewed and the author does a great job portraying that.
My favorite story within the novel was Fertile Ashes. The way metaphor is used throughout the book but specifically in this part, is really beautiful and touching.
I was happily surprised by the ending and I think the way it was wrapped up was very well done.
My take away from the book is that even when you feel broken or that your past will only dictate your future, you are still worthy and capable of love. Love should not be conditional or divisive. Love is lunch with friends who ease the burden of anxiety. Love is coming home to find your one in your favorite shirt and being happy to see how good it looks one them. Love is the release from oblivion.

I think this book is just not for me. The writing style makes it hard for me to take in anything that I was reading. It feels like a bunch of random thoughts put together as a book, and maybe that’s the point but I didn’t want to keep reading.

Thank you NetGalley and Vintage Anchor Books for an advanced digital copy of Please Stop Trying to Leave Me.

Twenty-seven-year-old Norma suffered a nervous breakdown and is stuck in what she calls, “Oblivion.” Something she has experienced since she was a young girl. But Oblivion isn’t what brings Norma to a new therapist - She needs to write again, The Last Story to complete her manuscript. Should she listen to the supposed signs telling her to break up with her girlfriend? Will that help her finish her writing?

The line between fiction and reality becomes blurred, along with mental illness and state of mind while exploring the past. These pages bounce between Norma’s manuscript and therapy sessions, both of which are beautifully crafted. I love slow-burn, character-driven novels where you feel like you’re inside the mind of the narrator - And this reads like a lyrical stream of consciousness. Her unraveling became my unraveling, and I began to carry her trauma in my heart. The ending to this story is what truly got me.

I was thoroughly impressed with this debut novel as it encompassed a wide scope of topics and emotions. Family, love, relationships, mental health, trauma, societal issues and more that will take you on a rollercoaster ride of laughter, tears, and heartache. It was messy and realistic in a number of ways. You could tell that the author has a background in psychology AND is a very gifted writer.

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of Please Stop Trying to Leave Me through NetGalley. I was captivated by the first 100 pages, the writing felt sharp, as in able to cut, and held the promise of a truly unique reading experience. Unfortunately, that initial spark didn't quite translate into the rest of the book for me.
The author's attempt to push boundaries and play with form was admirable, but in execution, the messiness became a drag and ultimately fell short.
Despite this, I can't deny the initial brilliance of the book's opening. The author's talent for wordplay and their willingness to take risks are commendable. However, for me, the experimentation didn't quite land, leaving the story feeling unbalanced and ultimately unsatisfying.

a very messy book with a messy main character about mental illness. definitely relatable (not sure if that's a good thing), and saab created a beautiful story.

This. This is what I love about NetGalley. The chance to see the titles who will be some of the biggest hits of the year. Thanks so much for the arc

Content Warnings: Depersonalization, Disassociation, Depression, Anxiety, Child Abuse (Sexual, Verbal), Suicide, Self Harm, Existentialism

This is not a book I thought I would like, but once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I read to about the 60% mark in one night and then plowed through the rest in a few hours.

When I say Saab’s novel is ‘readable,’ I mean it captures attention and pulls the narrative forward. It’s a story that feels like it wants you to read it. The novel shifts stylistically to mirror shifts in main character Norma’s mental state, which I found compelling because there was more to uncover as time went on. It puts readers behind-the-eyes and offers insights to Norma’s unreliable mind. Some might find these shifts and the stories-between-therapy sessions approach off putting, but I think it allows Saab to oscillate between gravity and levity fluidly.

I also enjoyed how Norma’s queerness featured in the book. While not a simple or happy story, it felt genuine, showed growth, and also showed how difficult embracing queer life and joy can be, particularly when struggling with mental health and other stressors.

If you don't like books where writers-write-about-writing, where the narrative layers unevenly but eventually completes, or are super sensitive to depersonalization, disassociation, and/or existentialism, then you may struggle with this book. However, I found it a riveting read and recommend it.

Norma has experienced 'oblivion' since she was a little girl. A moment where every living being disappears, leaving her with a blank, bald planet floating in a lifeless outer space. Now an adult, Norma finds herself explaining oblivion to her therapist, and how it relates to the novel she's having trouble writing, signs from god in her Instagram advertisements, and most importantly--her girlfriend, and how as much as she loves her, the universe seems to want Norma to break up with her.

'Please Stop Trying to Leave Me' is a messy book, and I mean that in the most loving, genuine way possible. Alana Saab provides an unfiltered look into the mind of someone who is dealing with severe anxiety, depression, trauma, all while trying to stay afloat in an era where too much information is available at your fingertips. It's not pretty, and Norma's instinct to push her girlfriend away is painfully real. If you've ever dealt with mental illness before, either yourself or from someone you love, you will probably see yourself reflected in this novel--doubly so if you're a queer millennial.

Despite the serious subject matter, 'Please Stop Trying to Leave Me' is hilarious. Norma's constant observations of her therapist's shoes and asymmetrical pillow arrangements led to some genuine laugh out loud moments for me. Saab's humor helps to relieve some of the painful sadness of the book, but not enough that the moments lose their punch.

Overall, this book is an ugly, beautiful, and most importantly sympathetic look at mental health, and one that I'll definitely find myself revisiting in the future.