Great character growth, interesting characters, really enjoyed it.

I had a difficult time getting through this book. The main character's voice grated on me. The diary entries in particular made me cringe. However, I can see myself at that age writing and thinking exactly like that so the narrative is believable. There is a tragedy that Amy experiences in this book that brought me into the story-line. I felt more connected once the event unfolded and interested to see how Amy would react/adapt to the situation. I say give it a chance.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I work with people who have serious mental illnesses everyday, so I always like to read books about mental illness. I usually find my self reading these sensationalized stories that aren't the reality for most living and even thriving with these diagnoses (although I've come across one or two that make some of those "sensationalized" stories seem tame in comparison, it's not a dull field to work in!). I am happy to say, this was not one of those books. I don't have a serious mental illness myself so I can't accurately say that the author portrayed it in a realistic and relatable way, but it didn't feel over-the-top.

There were a couple things about the treatment centre that I found just a little bit off. Chapter 31, for example, was wonderfully written a great chapter, but Amy was having a full on meltdown and nobody sedated her? Used restraints? Not that I'm a fan of chemical or physical restraints, but if a teenage girl is posing that much risk to herself something should be done to help calm her (I mean come on, they had time to run in and cut her underwear off!!).

The only other thing with this book that I need to get off my chest is the transgender character. Although congruent with reality, this character should not have been in an all female treatment centre when they identified as male. Not very therapeutic. Also, it irked my that a coupe of times when referring to him, amy would say "she... or he". This character was described as looking and acting male, can't be that hard to keep the pronoun straight!

Anyway, those were two small details of the book that my brain seemed to stick on because they bothered me. They aren't huge plot points in the story though, so they don't ruin it or anything. It's a wonderful story about a young girl coming to terms, not just with her mental illness and addiction, but with her relationships and her life. It is well worth the read!