Very emotionally heavy book, so be mindful of that going into it and ensuring you're in a safe headspace before reading. However, this book is very mindful of its topics and is extraordinarily well done.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. That is something odd to say when it's a book with a heavy topic of suicide. However, the family story was done very well. We didn't just meet a teenager who was struggling with life and the adults in her life not caring. We travel with her and learn why she hurts and that it's not easy to just get over the downs of life.

Toby has live with her mom for ten years. Her mom has a mental illness. When it overwhelms her, she doesn’t leave her bedroom and stop loving her.” She has never known her dad. Toby has only a tiny amount of information about dad. She took the only picture of him when her mom died. It is a picture of her dad and mom were teenagers. One day Grandma gets a phone call that upsets her. It is to tell her that Toby’s dad is coming to see Toby. Grandma tells Toby that her dad is coming but is not welcome at her home. Toby doesn’t want to see him as she has not ever got a birthday card or any type of communication from him ever. Why is he coming now? Grandma tells her he is gay. Grandpa gets to tell that he wears dresses. Toby finds that some what confusing. Why does Toby’s dad wear dresses? Will she see him? If Toby does see him, what will she do?

Thee author has written a novel with richly drawn characters. There is the mystery of her parents, the love Toby doesn’t feel, the relationship with her friends, death and Toby trying to deal with being a 15 year old teenager. I enjoyed this well written book.

This book was so deep and moving. There were times I had to put it down until the tears stopped. It is a HEAVY topic and I can see some people having a really difficult time getting through it. I'm so glad I got to read this and I can't wait to have a physical copy to add to my shelf. If suicide is a trigger for you, walk away. Otherwise, be ready for an EMOTIONAL story.

I found the beginning of this book very difficult to get into. The beginning of the story made me want to reach out and hug the main character and get her the help she needed.

I wish there wasn't a hundred character minimum because this review can be summed up into 6 words, I did not like this book.

An ARC of this novel was sent to me by NetGalley for reviewing purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I tried really hard to like this book- but I couldn't finish it. I personally dislike the author's writing style and I found it way too depressing for me.

Dark and sad, but also good. I was heartbroken for Toby - her depression, her suicidal plans, and her early recovery. This brought me to tears multiple times. I wish there had been more discussion of some treatment for Toby, but the mental illness pieces of this were well-told. (Language, sex, LGBTQ+) TW: Suicide and depression

This book is both heavy and hopeful. The whole thing is one big trigger warning though, so proceed with caution.
There is a lot of trauma in these pages, primarily focusing on suicide and homophobia in a small minded small town, but both were handled pretty reverentially. I do think that the "Drag Dad" situation was more of a way to get peoples attention for the book than it was an important part of the overall story, although the performance scene at the end was pretty great in the grander scheme of things, it just didn't feel terribly necessary.

I love a dysfunctional family story as much as the next person, but 5this one rubbed me the wrong way at times.

Although I respect the author's attempt to tackle the important subjects like mental health and suicide, his take on the LGBTQ+ community was poorly executed. I could see it being offensive even to many people in the community.

I felt a deep connection with the main character but unfortunately that's where it ended for me.

I do recommend reading the author's note, even if that's the only part of the book you read. It alone was powerful enough to earn this one a few stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

My heart broke for Toby so many times while reading this! She was fairly doomed from the start, given her family history and feelings of abandonment from both parents. Her character was brilliantly written, and I honestly was in tears pretty early on. She was relatable on so many levels. There were some themes and scenes that are too mature for my students, but this will definitely be a 5 star review on Goodreads and I'll be recommending it to friends!

I got an ARC of this book.

Drag queen dads? I'm in. Except the dad isn't even in the story for the first third. He isn't on page much after that either. 

The book itself wasn't formatted well. I couldn't tell when scenes would change. The MC would be talking to her grandma in the kitchen and then there would be a reference to the park and I realized the scene had changed and it was a totally different character. There were no page breaks or those fancy squiggles that would let me know that this was a new scene. 

The writing was eh. There was a chance for a story, the story itself wasn't bad, but the execution was pretty terrible. The characters were all flat. The plot wasn't engaging, since I couldn't get a feel for any of the characters. They could have been interchanged in pretty much any scene and the story would not have changed. 

There were some wonderfully dangerous ideas about mental illness in the book. So schizophrenia (which is clearly what the author was describing, but to be fair the author only ever seemed to mention voices) doesn't generally manifest in young teens. It is an older teen to young adult manifestation. The younger it manifests the more severe it is. So the fact that the mom was showing such severe signs at 14/15 shows either the author doesn't know a ton about schizophrenia or completely undersold just how mentally ill the mother was. Either way, no. Then there were the super graphic suicide attempt. There was the constant graphic planning of multiple other suicide plans with no warning. But don't worry, despite these graphic attempts and personally triggering me, the MC was able to stop being suicidal within a week of her attempt. She was happy and completely changed by the end of the book. The book takes place over about a week or two. So also, no. All the trauma that the MC faced would not magically be better because he dad visited her for the first time in 15 years. 

The first suicide attempt also was after a weirdly graphic almost sex scene. The sex scene was not necessary to tell the story. It just served as two random penis jokes later in the book. They weren't even good penis jokes. Instead one was an incest reference and the other was his penis looked like a pickle. If this sex scene was not the scene directly before the super graphic suicide attempt, it wouldn't bother me that the sex scene existed. 

This book felt like it was using the idea of gay, but without delivering on the gay through the whole thing. Here is this gay dad plot and he is even a female impersonator which is like high level gay. Yet, he never shows affection for his partner. At one point he is asked point blank if he is dating his partner and he beats around the bush. He doesn't even openly admit to  having a partner. Only the people around him talk about him being gay, outside of jokes he makes, most of which are about him being a woman not him being gay. There is constant homophobia and none of it is ever addressed. It reminded me a lot of a "trans" book that was told from the perspective of the cis sister and had so little to do with the trans character that I just felt cheated. Welcome to the gay dad version. 

I am just let down by this book. I almost DNF repeatedly.

2.5🌟

Thank you to Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

I wasn’t a fan of this one. I saw the cover and read the synopsis and thought it was going to be amazing. I appreciated the attempt at the harder subjects to write about. Suicide, mental health, gender nonconformity can all be tricky things to touch on and I feel like this one fell a little flat. If I was younger when I read this, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

This is a unique approach to the "reunited with your father" plot. Not just because the father is a female impersonator. Largely because of Toby's approach to her father. She's ambivalent. She's resentful of his absence, fearful that their relationship won't live up the her expectations. And the father is, in fact, something of a disaster. Add in mental illness and it's a complex read with a thread of raw reality. None of the characters are idealized. In fact, they are all deeply flawed constantly choosing the wrong way.

A heavy read that missed the mark. I didn’t mind how dark it was...not every read is a lighthearted one. It just wasn’t properly executed.

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

This is a heavy book. The things discussed in this book are hard and heavy and a bit triggering. It was a bit hard to swallow and I didn't love it. I felt it was a bit harsh.
I don't feel the queer community or the mental health representation was done justice at all.

Overall, not a book I would recommend.

Break in Case of Emergency is a contemporary tale of 15 year old Toby who is dealing with her mother's suicide 5 years ago. She is struggling, especially when her father comes into the picture for the first time since her conception. Her father is... interesting... and isn't what she was expecting - or wanting.

I did not love the LGBTQIA representation or mental health representation. I understand it was done with an explicit purpose, but I don't feel like they were represented properly. I feel it was meant to bring attention to depression and suicidality along with a country town's aversions to the LGBTQIA population (it's also set in 1992), but I feel that it misses the mark on both cases. Toby's mental health journey is a main plot point, but it's like it's set up so well and then just falls flat 2/3 of the way through and is finished too quickly.

I felt confused by this book a lot of the time, and I feel it just wasn't my style. I didn't connect with the characters, but I did like the use of flashbacks to present information. I felt that was done very well and provided needed context to what Toby was going through at any given point.

*3.5 Stars*

I really thoroughly enjoyed Break in Case of Emergency, so I'm not sure why this wasn't a 5 star read for me, I just never fully connected with Toby. It was a very raw story of mental health, suicide, family, and teenage angst. My favorite character hands down was Toby's father, even though he was unlikable at times, he was definitely the comic relief in this novel. I will say though, that even though I didn't absolutely fall in love with the characters, I thought the authors note was amazing. Definitely do not skip it, and major props to Brian Francis for going above and beyond in his research of teenage mental health!

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I really liked this book but it was definitely emotional. It felt like it was up and down and maybe even had an effect on my mood. But it is a powerful story of depression and acceptance.

***TRIGGER WARNING***
Suicide, depression, mental illness, parental abandonment

Despite it being a unique and interesting story idea, this was pretty average to me. This was another instances where an author tries to put too many plot lines into one story. The depression and suicide talk really had nothing to do with her long lost gay dad. Even after her father comes into her life, she still goes through with her plan—his presence doesn't stop her. I also think it all was wrapped up pretty quickly, especially for the severity of the situation. 

I truly think that if the two storylines were separate stories, then they would be really strong. The writing was impactful, even funny at times and could have been developed more. I would have liked to learn more about the mother's mental illness. It was kept kind of vague, but that could have also been because of the time period—late 80's/ early 90's. However, if it was its own story, you could put it during any time period and nothing would have been affected. 

If the plot about her dad was done as its own book, it would be a great unique story that especially reflected the time period. Those scenes were definitely humorous but still held a lot of emotion and dramatic moments—a great pitch for a dramedy.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.