{My Thoughts}
What Worked For Me
Much More Than a Mental Illness Story – The core of Everything Here is Beautiful is certainly the mental illness of younger sister, Lucia, but the book itself is much more. It’s a story of immigrants, those coming to and those leaving the U.S. It highlights the differences in the quality of life for immigrants and for expats in different parts of the world. It’s a story of family, big and small, those we’re born into and those we create. It’s a story of love tested by the rigors of life. And, yes, it’s a story of mental illness in the midst of all that. It’s a story of how mental illness can sap the life out of everyone it touches, especially those who love the affected. Lee’s spotlight on Lucia’s schizophrenia/bipolar disorder is done with a delicate hand, never overwhelming the rest of her story, but always present.

“That first hospital stay, I was a compliant patient, a Sweet Asian Doll, and for this I was branded with a Severe Lifelong Mental Illness. Later, I would be told I had a twenty percent chance of maintaining a full-time job, a twenty-five percent chance of living independently, a forty percent chance of attempting suicide, a ten percent chance of succeeding.
I was twenty-six years old.”

The Humanity of Her Characters – It’s not every writer who can so thoroughly imbue her characters with life. Miranda, the older, responsible sister was so much more. She wanted her own life, but it was constantly tainted by her fears for her sister. The push and pull between those two parts of herself felt vividly real. Lucia, wanting so much from life, but facing demons often out of her control made the core of this story. Manuel, the father of Lucia’s daughter, was the character I most admired. An undocumented immigrant from Ecuador, Manny took responsibility when Lucia could not. Tied to a woman he wasn’t sure he loved, Manny did the very best he could to make a good life with Lucia and their daughter.

“He remembered still, that promise he’d made all those years ago. For my daughter, I will try. He had kept that promise a long, long time. He had stuck by Lucia. This was love, or this was duty, he could no longer tell the difference.”

Multiple Perspectives – Everything Here is Beautiful unfolds in long chapters with alternating perspectives. I loved those of Miranda, Manny, and Yohan (Lucia’s husband). Two that were more focused on places were also excellent. I liked Lucia’s sections slightly less, but overall the different perspectives served to weave together an exceptional story.

The Last Chapter – Though there was nothing shocking about the last chapter, it came together with such emotion and finesse, that I’d be remiss not to mention that it felt just right.

What Didn’t
Epilogue – I tend to not to care for epilogues, and the one here is no exception. There was nothing wrong with Lee’s epilogue. It just wasn’t needed. In my opinion the story was complete without it.

{The Final Assessment}
If you haven’t already guessed, I really loved this story. The characters were so rich, so vivid, and the story both hopeful and heartbreaking. It was a book I couldn’t put down and I know it’s a story I’ll not soon forget. Grade: A-

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.

Everything Here Is Beautiful is a story about family and mental illness. Each family member has to make tough decisions in their lives yet they still manage to stand by each other.

Lucia has a “normal” childhood until her 20’s when the serpents start talking to her in her head. Her mental illness takes her life into directions that no one would want to take. What I took away from all her mental issues was how much her sister, Miranda, stood by her. Even when on a different continent Miranda manages to keep in touch and find ways to support Lucia. I loved how Miranda stands up to her husband to help her sister when she needs it the most yet she doesn’t allow Lucia to take advantage.

By reading this book I was able to better understand how mental illness can affect a person, a family, and a society. The points of view of Lucia without the serpents and Lucia with the serpents opens my eyes to how helpless a person can be when really they just want a life with love, support, and family. Miranda, Manny, and Yonah also get their turns sharing their stories in alternating chapters. This gives the reader a total look at the life of Lucia and how it appears to those who know her best.

Mira T. Lee is amazing. This is a debut book from her and she has already secured a spot on my MUST-READ list. I highly recommend picking up your own copy of Everything Here is Beautiful.

Older sister Miranda is fiercely protective of her younger impulsive sister, Lucia. When their mother dies and Lucia starts to hear voices, Miranda fights for her sister's needs and a proper doctor's diagnosis. Lucia goes through a marriage, leaving her husband, having a baby and making other life-changing decisions all while trying to escape her own mental illness. Meanwhile her sister struggles with when and how much to help.

Let me preface this review by saying I am very critical with books about mental health or a chronic illness. Even with a fiction genre, it is important the author stays true to fact and not wing it when describing a diagnosis, character's actions or symptoms. Because I have done a lot of personal research, I can easily tell when an author is bluffing their way through. I am relieved to report that Mira T. Lee seems to have done her research in Everything Here is Beautiful.

But mental illness was not the main story line. Family drama took the driver's seat. The main characters had to make tough decisions, know when to take a step back, and when to intervene on a relative's behalf. And sometimes, we have to let go and save our damn selves.

The author did a good job with pacing the story but it was just okay. Nothing about this novel stands out. It was not a page-turner but more a steady read. I recommend it for readers that don't mind taking a slow journey through a book. The bond between these two sisters will eventually grip you.

Happy Pub Day, Mira T. Lee! Everything Here is Beautiful is now available.

LiteraryMarie

EVERYTHING HERE IS BEAUTIFUL, Mira T. Lee's debut novel, is a fascinating story told from multiple points of view. The various characters, as well as the switches between first and third person, add depth to the novel. It also allows the reader to see the characters and their relationships through different perspectives.

The novel focuses on two sisters, Miranda and Lucia, and their devoted but strained relationship. Miranda is the older sister, and she has always felt responsible for Lucia. So responsible that she has frequently sacrificed her own happiness and peace of mind to focus on taking care of her younger sister. Lucia suffers from a mental illness, and it's Miranda's insistence that she take care of herself and do as the doctors say that continues to fracture their relationship. There are times when Miranda meddles too much in Lucia's life, and there are also times when she fails to interfere when she should. All of this builds resentment in Lucia. Lucia's mental instability not only tests her bond with Miranda, but with everyone else she has a relationship with - including her first husband, her boyfriend, and her young daughter. Despite her mental illness, the voices that she hears, and the pills that help but don't cure, Lucia attempts to live her life to the fullest until that moment when she accidently (or perhaps on purpose) meets her end.

Lee's mastery of language paints a beautiful picture as she tells the story of Lucia's life and her mental illness. She brings to life the settings (New York City, Ecuador, Switzerland, and Minnesota), placing the readers in each location with vivid descriptions that bring the places to life. She also masterfully portrays Lucia's mental illness (part schizophrenia, park bipolar disorder) in a way that shows it from Lucia's (internal) perspective as well as from the (external) perspectives of Miranda and others. But what Lee really does is show the relationships between the main characters - the devotion, the struggles, and the ups and the downs - and how these relationships affect the characters' lives and shapes who they are.

Review here: https://angryangelbooks.com/2018/01/16/everything-here-is-beautiful/

It took me a little while to get into this novel about two sisters over many years. The older Miranda always looked out for her younger sister Lucia. Initially, they are close, but after Lucia’s first breakdown, tensions begin. If Lucia goes off her medication, she might have another break, and she resents Miranda’s, to her mind, patronizing way of trying to force her to take medication that makes her drowsy and clouded.

Once I got into the unique, dazzling style of storytelling, I was gripped. It becomes a tense story in a very different way than the suspense novels I read. This was because of the tension of waiting for Lucia to have another breakdown. I was rooting for all of the complex characters in this novel, so I wasn’t only worried for Lucia, but on the strain this caused for Miranda and her relationships, and the relationships Lucia had with her two great loves, both immigrants like Miranda and herself.

If you’re looking for a light, funny read, this is not the book for you. If you’re looking for well-drawn characters that will stay with you long after you reach The End, I highly recommend this beautiful novel.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.

This book clarifies the harsh realities of a people living with mental illness. The main character Lucia suffers from schizoaffective disorder and possible bipolar disease with psychotic features. If she doesn't take her pills, she becomes a very frightening person to live with; harmful both to herself and others. For such people, it is very important to avoid stressful environments and get proper sleep. Above all else, they must take their medication and have periodic appointments with a psych doctor to maintain their condition. This is a genetic disease. People are born with it and cannot help it. Of course, navigating the disease is a nightmare that their family and loved ones endure.

This is a story of two sisters of Chinese descent who emigrated to the US with their mother. The younger one, Lucia, was a few months away from being born. The elder sister is Miranda. The mother bravely emigrated in her very pregnant state, along with daughter Miranda, leaving an unhappy marriage behind which ended in her husband's death. With the mother's strength and determination, she obtains an educational degree to attain employment that provides a good home for herself and her daughters. When the sisters are older and making their own way in the world, the mother is battling cancer. During Mom's years fighting cancer, Lucia experiences her first crisis with mental illness. In Miranda's role as older sister, just as she watched over Lucia when Mom was working or going to school, she continues in that role after Mom dies. As the sisters' pathways in life shoot in wildly different directions, Miranda is always a phone call away when Lucia is in mental crisis. Miranda has all the pamphlets about her sister's disease, the medication list, and a fierce determination to look out for Lucia's best interests.

Mental illness aside, Lucia is a personality who takes chances, travels broadly, and is well-liked due to her non-judgemental nature. She is a the wild child in contrast with her more strait-laced and "adult-like" sister. Miranda often wonders where Lucia's personality ends and the illness begins.

There are also two wonderful characters in the book, Israeli born Yonah and Ecuadorian illegal immigrant Manny. Both are love interests of Lucia's and have their own endearing and admirable qualities.

My biggest takeaways from this book were regarding the topics of mental illness and illegal immigration. The author provided much thought-provoking insight to these very serious issues.

I thought this book was very well-written and a true depiction of mental illness. It needed to be written, it's something everyone should read, but I can't say I enjoyed reading it. It reminds me a lot of "We Need To Talk About Kevin" in that way. The nature of her illness made it so redundant and every time things seemed to go well, we all knew what was coming next. I expected more to be done with her sister in the second half of the book, though it is hard to articulate what.

The only word I could think while reading this book was "devastating." The story, while marketed as a story about two sisters, is actually about far more than that. Miranda and Lucia emigrated from China to the U.S. with their mother as children, and after their mother dies of lung cancer, they are each other's only family. Lucia, the firecracker of the two sisters, gets married to an Israeli man named Yonah at the age of 28. Shortly afterward, she becomes involuntarily committed and diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder (doctors can never agree). Miranda becomes her key advocate and takes care of her, but the relationship between the two sisters starts to fray.

We follow Lucia through her move to Ecuador with her boyfriend, Manuel, and daughter, and Miranda's move to Switzerland with her husband. While this book is predominantly about Lucia, we get a number of perspectives, including Lucia, Manuel, and Miranda. Lucia's narrative is by far the most painful to read, as you can see her slowly losing control over what is real and what is not. Lee shifts from first to third person in the second half of the book, which I don't think was necessary and actually threw off the pace of the story for me, but otherwise the narrative shifts were handled well.

There is so much contained in this book, including themes about the push and pull of familial responsibility versus living your own life, and where the line is drawn between a mentally ill person and their illness- none of these questions have easy answers, and Lee doesn't give us an easy story. The ending is optimistic, however, and I felt satisfied with it as a reader. I also have to say that I loved how multi-national this book is. There are multiple languages being spoken, multiple cultures merging, and it's done in a very organic way. It was a treat to read on that basis alone.

Lee is a gifted writer, and does a great job of crafting hard-hitting but simple sentences. I left a note in my Kindle at one point that just says, "Like Hemingway!" I look forward to seeing what else Lee writes in the future.

4 out of 5 stars for this emotional but well-crafted novel.

Thank you to Viking and NetGalley for providing me with a digital advanced copy in return for an honest review.

This novel is harrowing, but having a beloved sister with mental illness is not an easy thing. Miranda and Lucia struggle over the years. There's a child and several foreign countries involved over the years, as well as several very decent men.

But I wanted someone to get a break. Lucia does find some peace, briefly, at least, in Ecuador and with Yonah, her real soulmate. Miranda's whole life is spent on tenderhooks, waiting for the next call about her sister's condition. Mira Lee does a fine job of expressing mental illness in the experience of the person dealing with it. How everything seems great, until suddenly, it isn't. But it's all within you, so it seems completely normal. It's the people on the outside who see the changes.

This is a very assured debut from Mira Lee. You have the be in the right place for this story, in the mood to be reading a hard story about a family's struggle to maintain balanced life when a beloved member of that family is involved in a battle every day that is daunting to understand.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Paula Dorman Books, and Mira Lee for the opportunity to read and review this book. What an amazing debut novel.

At its heart, this book is about mental illness and the toll it takes not only on the afflicted but the entire family. Two sisters - Miranda, the oldest, and Lucia - immigrate from China to America with their mother. Lucia was always the more free-spirited child but when that personality turns into mental illness, Miranda does everything she can to protect and get help for Lucia, even when that causes issues in her own life.

The story is told through different points of view - Miranda, Lucia, Lucia's boyfriend Manny - as well as in different locales. This allows the reader to really see the world through Lucia's illness and what a scary struggle she faces.

Bravo to this author - while not every character was likeable, you truly fell into this story and felt so many different emotions. Heartbreakingly good!

I think I"m about a 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for this one. I loved all the characters and was moved by the realness of Lucia's struggle. I feel like it might be a hard one to recommend because it is so heavy, but for literature lovers it's got all the right stuff.

"'It's weird. In all these years, no one's ever told me I suffered from cancer. I'm a fighter, A survivor, you know.' ... It occurs to me that no condition covered in the DSM-IV is ever followed by the word 'survivor,' but I don't mention this."

I don't typically start my reviews with a quote, but this one just keeps repeating itself over and over in my head. Mental illness is just as much all consuming as a cancer, but we don't praise those who are surviving it every day or call them heroes. Instead we fear and scorn them, run from them and tear them down.

Everything Here is Beautiful takes us through the life of someone with a severe mental illness--a blend of bipolar and schizophrenic disorders that allow her to be high functioning and full of life for years...until she has to yield to her disease. We also get to see the perspectives of several people who love her, and through their eyes we understand how mental illness doesn't just affect the life of the person who is sick, but those close to them as well.

Everything here really is beautiful in Everything Here is Beautiful. There's so much love in this book. Don't get me wrong--there are parts of this story that are very painful to read--Lucia's life is a difficult and tragic one, as too many mentally ill people's are. But there are a lot of positive lessons here too--about support systems, about the value of steady therapy and pharmaceutical assistance.

The writing is spectacular, every single POV was magnificent--though I will fully admit to being 100% partial to Yonah. Can I please have a spin off story about his life, because I need it. Seriously though, I can find zero fault here. Everything Here is Beautiful is a magnificent book showing not only the tragedies and pitfalls of mental illness, but also the uniquely wonderous perspective that those who live with it experience.

While I was intrigued by the premise of the book, unfortunately I could not get into the story. The different POVs jumped around and it was hard to relate to the characters. With the author's descriptive writing style, I am sure the story will interest and appeal to other readers.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.

A big, heartbreaking yet hopeful story of two sisters, their complicated relationship, the people they love, and so much more. Told from multiple perspectives, which doesn't always work--but for these characters it did.
Lucy and Miranda, Yonah, Manny, Stefan, and Essy will be with me for quite some time.

Mira Lee is such a talented writer with a keen ear for dialogue and interpersonal relationships of the most intimate type. This story of sisters Miranda and Lucia explores the ties that bind us to each other and the boundaries of personal responsibility, especially within the context of mental illness. I enjoyed how the novel also examines the immigrant experience in such a lovely way even when it can be harsh or depressing. Those looking for a light read will want to search elsewhere. But if you like a well-written, poignant story about the sad truths surrounding mental illness in particular --and more generally, the human experience -- EVERYTHING HERE IS BEAUTIFUL is sure to please.

Every so often I come across a book that is so wonderful, so eye opening and so well written that I want to stand on a corner and press this book into everyone’s hands. This is one of them.

With a thumbs up from Celeste Ng, one of my favorite authors and some favorable reviews from my goodreads friends, I was anxious to get into this novel which publishes at the beginning of January 2018. I was not prepared for the power of this story, the incredible bond between two sisters, their ability to love each other but know when to let go and when to hold on.

Lucia and Miranda were born in New Jersey, the daughters of a Chinese American who came to this country after her husband died to begin anew. She studied accounting and raised her two daughters. Miranda is the oldest at 11 and Lucia only four.

Not much time is spent on their childhood but it was a good one and the girls prospered, did well in school and attended University. It isn’t until Lucia is in her twenties that she experiences her first full blown mental breakdown. She had been living with a much older man who loved her dearly but didn’t understand her mental illness. The diagnoses were mixed, schizophrenia, bipolar, or a combination of both. As so many people with mental illness she doesn’t like how she is when she is on medications. They make her feel dull, sleepy, not herself at all.

Throughout the book Lucia wrestles with the voices in her head, she calls them “the serpents”. In Lucia’s words after her first inpatient hospital stay states “Later, I would be told I had a 20% chance of maintaining a full-time job, a 25% chance of living independently, a 40% chance of attempting suicide, a 10% chance of succeeding”. She was only 26 years old, this isn’t reassuring news for any of them. Still she loves to write, she writes about the people in their neighborhood, their immigrant stories. She longs for a job at a newspaper but whenever her mental illness is discovered she never lands that dream job.

There are stories within stories. Lucia finding love but then abandoning it in search of a father for a baby that she desperately wants. She finds a form of love in Manny, an immigrant from Ecuador, and they return there for several years and raise the baby, Esperanza, in that bright and sunny place. They are poor in material things but compensated with the love of an extended family and a place where they all feel free for a long while, until Lucia once again is drawn down into her dark place with the voices and serpents she continually fights.

Miranda, the ever watchful sister, never abandons Lucia. She finds her own love with Stephen and they move to Switzerland. For many years she monitors Lucia from afar. She loves her life in Switzerland, the peaceful community where they live, her husband is a urologist and she is involved in the community and chairing fund raising events at the hospital. Her husband loves her and never holds her back even when she travels to Ecuador to try and help Miranda but he also stated “you can’t help her, you have tried, you’ve been trying all these years. What about your life Miranda?”.

I loved the Epilogue in this book which I won’t disclose, it’s beautiful, hopeful and strong. Buy this book, read it and maybe we can all understand a little bit more of what it must be like to live with a mental illness. The story is also told from multiple POV’s, including Lucia when she is “normal” and when she is having a “breakdown”, Miranda, Manny and Yonah,and these points of view strongly enhance the story. I also have to state that I am in awe of this author, that this is a debut novel is so impressive!

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley, thank you

Will also post to Amazon upon publication on 1/16/2018

Much as I wanted to love this book I could only call it OK. I thought this book would be about the evolving relationship between sisters Miranda and Lucia. However, that relationship was only a small part of the book. Most of the book focused on Lucia, and how her mental illness affected the people in her life, primarily her husband Yuha, and the father of only child, Manny. The story shifts from one point of view to the other, and this made it very hard for me to connect to any of the story, or to any of the characters.

Reading between the lines of the main story, this had some great insight into mental illness and how it affects the person who has it, and everyone in their lives. I just wish the whole book had looked more into this.

An engrossing tale of one woman’s life pre- and post-mental illness, and the casualties along the way. Told by multiple narrators, this story will pull you in to the childhood of sisters Miranda and Lucia, where you will stay, enraptured, until the last page.

Trying to understand the experience of mental illness is nearly impossible. We know some things about brain disorders that give people delusions, feelings of stuff near them that aren't there, physical symptoms that are debilitating. Some people with schizophrenia or associated disorders on the spectrum hear voices, have overwhelming feelings of paranoia and fear. It is a living hell to go through those experiences. That hell extends to family members, especially those who want to help. Mira T. Lee's debut novel <b>Everything Here is Beautiful</b> is thorough in its depiction of mental illness as it plagues Lucia and her older sister Miranda who is determined to care for Lucia when their mother dies.

Mother immigrated from Shanghai to the USA after her husband died in a car accident. They stayed with an uncle in Tennessee but it didn't take long for the mother to get a job in New Jersey and their life began again. They were little girls who stuck together and made the best of every situation. They had each other and Lucia was a joyful, spirited girl who knew how to make everything fun. She had bursts of energy and dragged Miranda, the serious-minded girl, into games of fancy. They were happy in their little world, somewhere between Shanghai and New Jersey.

The book's narrators alternate points of view; we hear the story from the main characters, Lucia, Miranda, Yonah, and Manny. All are interesting and quirky, even Miranda, the serious one who arrives from Providence for happy and sad turns in the lives of all the characters. Lucia's voice is clear and sharp, whether she is ecstatic with joy or driven to despair with fear from her mental chaos.

The most challenging aspect of reading about Lucia's illness is that even though there are times of relief when she takes her prescribed medication, mental illness is present for the narrative's long arc of a lifetime of experiences. And with that arc of pain, the people who care live in fear of the next episode. Lucia accomplished some beautiful things in her life and her story, though sad, is written beautifully in this novel. I am grateful I had the opportunity to read an e-ARC from NetGalley, the author, and Pamela Dorman Books.