Full disclosure: I am a long-time bloggess fan and have read all her previous books. This one did not disappoint. It was alternately laugh out loud hilarious and serious. There were a couple sections that weren't really for me (like the Shark Tank chapter), but overall, this was a joy to read, start to finish.

Make sure you check out her note on the art and the artist who made it. And all the bonus points for figuring out how to publish a book that doesn't have a lot of blank pages at the end.

I received a free digital ARC through NetGalley. Her books always have me uncontrollably laughing out loud.

Honestly, I'm not sure I would've ever believed that Lawson could get even better.

I've followed and adored The Bloggess for so long now, and have thoroughly enjoyed and loved her previous works. It was without any hesitation that I requested this ARC from Henry Holt & Co the moment I had the opportunity.

I don't recall, from her previous books, quite the amount of depth and focus on the darker stretches of her mental illness. Don't get me wrong - her dark stretches have certainly been expressed and discussed before, but never with quite the illumination here. It can be difficult reading; she is eloquent but also realistic and brutal. So often, Lawson expresses her frustrations with a deft entwining of humor and weightiness but there are chapters/segments in Broken that are just the weight, just the dark, just the seriousness, however well written and brilliant her turns of phrase.

These chapters are skillfully balanced with the dark humor, cleverness, and wittiness we've come to expect from Lawson, and, though it can be a high tightrope, I never despaired that she would keep me safe with the balancing act.

And, once again, every single time I was reading, my partner kept saying, "Okay, tell me already, what is so damn funny?" It's always a long path Lawson guides us down; already so many pages to get to the full on uncontrollable laughter that I always shake my head and say, "You just have to read it."

There's a chapter, towards the end, where she proposes (horrible) ideas for Shark Tank that was a huge miss for me; it felt like someone else trying to write like Lawson but really missing the mark. She does explain that these ideas were generated by herself in collaboration with some friends, so perhaps that's why. I definitely could've done without this bit - it felt like a genuine outlier to the rest of the book, though, and since it was the only one, it wasn't enough to ding my rating.

Only my second or third five star for this year, so far!

Jenny Lawson did it again! I don't know how she can write about her deep depression and make the reader laugh with her, but she does. She is brutally honest about her trials and tribulations and some of the minutiae in her life and in such a way the you say "YES! I get it."
Lawson says..."The World feels safer somehow if we share our pain. It becomes more manageable. And by sharing our pain, we inspire others to share theirs". Her chapter of others sharing their most embarrassing events had me rolling on the floor (not literally). We all feel better when we know we are not alone.
Kudos to Jenny Lawson!

My full review for this one is on Bookreporter.com. Here are the first few sentences: In her latest book BROKEN (IN THE BEST POSSIBLE WAY), Jenny Lawson focuses on her struggles with mental health and the ups and downs of living with severe anxiety and depression. She highlights the problems with the current United States health system that result in circular patterns of coverage denials created to avoid paying for necessary treatments and how that exacerbates mental health issues for those already struggling.

I laughed. I was offended. I cried.
I laughed. I was shocked. I cried.
I laughed. I cried. And I cried a bit more.
It only took 3 sittings to finish this book and that was only because I had to go to the restroom on occasion.
(Not, thankfully, an outhouse!)

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for allowing an advanced read for an honest review.
I am very thankful to have read this book. You see,, I am Broken and this little shard fits a space where another was missing.

Jenny Lawson cuts through the bullshit and tells it how it is. She's continually truth-telling and sets the shame of mental health stigma on fire. In "Broken (In the Best Possible Way), she details her treatment for depression and also goes on a few wild goose chases about Shark Tank and other fun stories. I'd definitely recommend adding to any adult (or mature high school) collection and consider her works as a go-to when patrons are asking for "something funny."

No one makes me laugh to wheezing and tears the way Jenny Lawson (aka The Bloggess) does. No one. I've never hidden that I'm a massive fan of Jenny Lawson's work, and have been since I discovered her blog long enough ago I'd rather not say. Her humor hits me in all the funny bones so hard I worried I'd get kicked off a plane once for wheeze-laughing.

OF COURSE I have examples from the current book Broken (in the best possible way).

From the chapter "Six Times I've Lost My Shoes While Wearing Them: A List that Shouldn't Exist" - "the bathroom emptied out, and when I went in my lone shoe was sitting on the sink and looking not nearly as ashamed of itself as it should have been." It's not funny because it's a weird thing that happened to her, it's funny because that sort of stuff happens to me all the time. I'm just not as good at writing about it as she is, and for that I'm SO grateful she writes these incidents down.

From the chapter "All of the Reasons Why I'm Not Coming to Your Party" - "I wonder if crabs think humans walk weird." Me too, and that's 100% something that is likely to pop out of my mouth when I'm nervous at a work function.

From the chapter "That Time I Got Haunted by Lizards with Bike Horns" - "I spent the rest of the day scrubbing butthole smears off every surface of the house." I suppose I should add a warning about her wide variety of inappropriate subjects, but this is Lawson's third book and you should know this already, honestly.

Broken is both an extension in the series of Lawson's memoir humor works (starting with Let's Pretend This Never Happened, and then Furiously Happy) and a new journey. You don't need to have read the first two (although honestly, if you haven't you really should) to pick up Broken. Her latest stories include vignettes about looking for galoshes for a tiny dog that somehow morphed into asking a pharmacist for dog condoms, her experience with TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation, a treatment for depression and anxiety), requisite entertaining fights with Victor, and of course the occasional surprise taxidermy.

Lawson isn't just a humorist, and Broken doesn't only include mortifying moments and ridiculous situations that seem too weird to be true and yet too surreal NOT to be true. Her not-funny commentary on the health care system and the raw reality of dealing with persistent depression and anxiety is infuriating (on her behalf) and will make your heart ache. I cried more than once out of sheer sympathetic frustration or sadness. Her candid chapter blasting insurance treatment of depression and anxiety is one of the most powerful admonishments I've seen, and it's delivered with compassion and understanding to anyone who is forced to deal with the red tape while trying to stay alive.

Lawson's writing style is consistently a mix of "matter of fact" and matter of "wtf". Her timing is on point for both comedic and serious impacts, usually leaving the reader with a "what just happened" feeling in the best possible sense. She relays these incidents in a way that is both horrifyingly funny and inclusive, and you can't help but nod and empathize and realize she's reflecting pieces of humanity we all share and just don't talk about enough.

The unique combination of hilarious and horrible situations Jenny Lawson recounts in Broken are a window into her reality, and it's a wild and unpredictable place to visit. Reading this made me glad I've never gone shopping for dog condoms, and reminded me that sometimes the best view of the wonders in this world is the "not normal" version. It also made my stomach muscles hurt from laughing so hard. This book is wonderful and cathartic and I can't recommend it highly enough beyond go pick it up as soon as possible.

I have been a Jenny Lawson fan for years now, so my review may be slightly biased, but also... she is an excellent writer! There was something more... genuine about this book. Something more nonsensical, yet more real. Her worries and fears, added with the random thoughts, are just so relatable even though I don't have many of the same mental health concerns as her. Jenny Lawson is just a people person: she's for everyone, and I firmly believe this.
Perhaps it's the year-long stress we've all been going through, but this book came when it was needed most. I'd like to particularly point out the "letter to my insurance" portion. This essay had me reeling, I was so angry for Jenny. The letter itself is humorous in a way, but it highlights a much larger issue in America. Hearing how she has to send appeal after appeal to get medication to live really made me love her more. It made Jenny much more powerful and strong in my eyes. I definitely have a newfound respect.
I also cannot thank her enough for opening up about such an experimental treatment for depression and anxiety: transcranial magnetic stimulation. This is definitely not a treatment many people will try in the near future, but Jenny is so brave in sharing her experience with it. And I'm SO excited to hear that it's working for her! It gave me so much hope for her!
Of course, in normal Jenny style, there were the nonsensical rants and conversations with Victor. These honestly were spaced out in a way that allowed for a breather from the deeper pain and trauma. I thought the organization of the novel was very well done! I never felt like it was getting too difficult to handle before another funny situation took hold. Also, can I just say, we all need a Victor in our lives! He seems so supportive, and I love that Jenny pointed out that it wasn't always rainbows and sunshine within their marriage, either. It's important to be honest with people who look up to you, and Jenny absolutely nails it!

Never disappointed in a single thing Jenny Lawson writes. She somehow manages to be hilarious about the darkest things in her life, but also brutally raw and honest, and occasionally wise (without being preachy).

As the author of an ultra-popular blog and multiple best-selling books, Jenny Lawson (AKA "The Bloggess") certainly has a devoted following. I've never read anything by Lawson before, so I was excited to pick up her latest, Broken (In the Best Possible Way).

Broken is made up of many different chapters about Lawson's life, some of which are more successful than others. The problem for me as a new reader of Lawson's was that I couldn't really tell what this book was trying to be. Some chapters were laugh-out-loud funny, others were poignant vignettes about Lawson's mental illness, and a few were just odd (like Lawson's Shark Tank ideas). At times, the author's writing seemed forced, like she was just trying to fill up the pages.

But of course, my opinion is in the minority. I'm still giving Broken a 3 out of 5 because there were quite a few parts I genuinely either enjoyed or found affecting.

MY RATING - 3

I have read one other Jenny Lawson book "Let's Pretend this Never Happened" and still re-read one particular essay about her memoirs of working in a corporate HR Department (as I do as well). It is absolutely hilarious and spot-on. Reading her new book "Broken - in The Best Possible Way" was also enjoyable with some very funny moments and some very heart-wrenching moments. She writes openly and candidly about her struggles with mental health. I very much appreciate her willingness to make herself vulnerable. One of my favorite essays is her struggle dealing with the red-tape of health insurance, which is unfortunately a common challenge for many of us who have chronic health conditions. While there are many great moments in this book, not all of the essays worked. It was like riding a roller coaster of emotions from one story to the next and for me some of the humor fell flat (was overly grotesque). Overall, I do think it is worth a read because I feel I gained more insight, compassion and understanding for people dealing with depression and other chronic conditions.

Another brilliant book by Jenny Lawson. Not only does she make me laugh hysterically with her writing she perfectly captures what anxiety and depression looks like in the chapter Strange New Weather Pattern. Her Shark Tank pitches had my kids asking if I could breathe I was laughing so hard. Thank you for writing a book that not only understands what dealing with a mental illness is like but makes you see that brighter days will come. I only wish I could sit on the back porch with Jenny and Victor and laugh in realtime with them.

Thank you for the ARC from #Brokeninthebestpossibleway #NetGalley

Can you love someone you've never met? Can you believe that you absolutely could be friends, sight unseen? I do. I think Jenny Lawson is amazing-not just because she makes me laugh so hard, I cried during this book and I forced my husband to listen to me read a whole chapter out loud (even though he didn't cry with laughter, I am trying not to hold it against him. To be fair, I was laughing so hard I'm not sure he could understand me). This book also made me cry-her letter to insurance companies should be required reading for every loser trying to fight against equatable health care and who doesn't understand what being denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions could look like. If her book does nothing else, it reminds us all that this will pass-that there is light to be found, joy to be had. What a gift is that?

I have thought long and he’d about my review for this. Mainly because I have no idea what to write. If this is your first Jenny Lawson book than your missing out. This is her third book and is just as good if not better than her first. I was reading whole chapters that had me taking off my glasses because I was laughing so hard, the glasses where fogging up. My husband would ask “are you going to be ok over there?” I would highly recommend this book to literally ANYONE. Her stories are relatable and Victor is a saint whom my husband and him would probably be like “how about the time she punched me so hard over a punch buggy she gave me a dead arm...” yeah.... good times.

Love Jenny Lawson’s mix of funny and inspirational stories in Broken. She will make you laugh out loud as well as cry because she touches your heart with her words.

Highly recommended - especially for anyone struggling with mental illness. You are not alone.

“Embrace your beasties. Love your awkwardness. Enjoy yourself. Celebrate the bizarreness that is you because, I assure you, you are more wondrous than you can possibly imagine... monsters and all.”
- Jenny Lawson, A Note about the Cover

Thanks to Netgalley, publisher and author for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a long time fan of Lawson so reading this book wasn't a reach for me. This book is a compilation of essays, some funny, some touching, all told with honesty and Lawson's unique point of view. Is every essay a home run? No, but nothing is the perfect fit for everyone. In the end, I laughed, I empathized, I felt like I knew Jenny Lawson a little better and like her even more.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I felt kinda meh about this one. Not really connected with the story, even though I did read the whole thing. I would read further books by the author. This one to me is bland. It wasn't as funny as I was hoping, and honestly a lot of it was just sad. Not the book for me.

2/5 Stars

Do you want to hear a story about how I almost went blind because of diarrhea rats? Of course you do.”

If that piqued your interest, you’re on the right track with checking out this book.

I’m curious what parts are verbatim from her life and what has been adjusted for humor, but either way, this lady lives a pretty crazy and hilarious existence that she has documented, unfiltered, in these pages.

Let’s just get this out of the way first: It’s increasingly hard to find clean comedy these days. So I’m going to assume that if you are considering this book then you are okay with a lot of swearing (f-words) and inappropriate humor. Because that’s somewhat of a standard for a lot of humor, though I don’t like it (hence 1 star detraction), I will not critique that here; but just be aware of what you’re getting into.

So that aside, I did think this book was pretty funny- more so the first half than the second. But I laughed out loud several times which says a lot.

I actually have no idea who Jenny Lawson is. In fact, as I read this book my brain kept reading it to me in Amy Schumer’s voice…

If you are already a fan of Jenny, I’m assuming you will find this book to enjoyable. If you, like me, are a Jenny-Lawson-newbie, here’s a brief summary of her niche: She deals with mental and physical illnesses of many forms including severe anxiety, agoraphobia, rheumatoid arthritis, pre-diabetes, and some memory loss (among others—don’t worry, she’ll tell ya about it; she says she “collects diseases like other people collect Beanie Babies”). She writes books and finds the humor in her ailments. Considering all that she has gone through, it’s an amazing feat that, like she says, is necessary to her survival. She is very transparent and honest and throughout the book she intersperses more meaningful and sober meditations on life, health, pain, and identity.

“It’s weird because we often try to present our fake, shiny, happy selves to others and make sure we’re not wearing too-obvious pajamas at the grocery store, but really, who wants to see that level of fraud? No one.”

“Human foibles are what makes us us, and the art of mortification is what brings us all together.”

Thus, we have a hodge-podge of embarrassing, surprising life experiences and musings from Jenny Lawson (who is not Amy Schumer).

One of my life goals is to write a memoir someday and I feel like a lot of the structure of her book is similar to what I would aspire to do when my time comes. I love that her chapters are random and don’t flow together and are often just lists of things— I think that’s also representative of her state of mind and how she lives life which adds to this book’s honesty and authenticity. I also love her super long sentences, use of caps and punctuation, footnotes, sidenotes to the footnotes, and parenthetical disclaimers and clarifiers— the humor and voice is spot on. The way she relates her conversations with her husband, Victor, is also hilarious. I can easily picture her writing this book and asking him questions as she’s typing and arguing about pointless things and then writing about it.

And I love her relationship with spellcheck:

“Spellcheck keeps underlining ‘kegels’ and saying that it doesn’t understand what they are. JOIN THE CLUB, SPELLCHECK.”

“Spellcheck keeps telling me that ‘buttworms’ isn’t a real word and I understand your disbelief, spellcheck, but just because we want them to not be real doesn’t mean that they aren’t. Ugh. I totally got distracted by my buttworms. Sorry. This chapter is not about buttworms.It’s about tuberculosis. Which the doctor also said I didn’t get from cat buttholes. In fact, she said it mostly comes from prisons and schools, which are pretty much the same thing if I’m being honest.”

“‘Because she’s a good person and that’s what normal people do,’ Victor interrupted interruptingly. (Spellcheck is saying ‘interruptingly’ isn’t a word because I guess it’s never spent time with Victor before. Also, it stopped me in the middle of writing this in a totally interruptingly way. Way to disprove your point, spellcheck.)

Also there’s a whole chapter about the editing process of her book and some back and forths she had with her editors:

“Editor: There’s no hyphen in ‘monkey waiter.’Me: How do you know? They don’t exist yet.Editor: They have them in Japan.Me: Clearly we need to hang out together more.”

“Editor: You switched from present tense to past tense here so we need to change so that the tenses match. I suggest you change ‘I was crazy’ to ‘I am crazy.’Me: Harsh. And accurate.”

“Me: If I got stabbed right now you’d find a way to fix this book without my help, right? Can we just pretend that happened and you can take over? Or do I need to be real stabbed?Editor: It’s gonna be okay.Me: Did you just use the word ‘gonna’?Editor: It hurt, but it seemed like you needed it.Me: You’re one of the good ones.”

And then her chapter where she takes truisms and makes them ‘better’:

“THE BEST THING TO HOLD ON TO IN LIFE IS EACH OTHER… Or the remote. Or the phone. I’m always losing those. But I almost never lose people, because I can just call them and be like, ‘Where are you? Also, have you seen the remote?’ Unless I lose my phone. Then I have to scream until someone comes and calls me with their phone so I can find my phone. So I guess holding on to each other is good too in case you need your phone.”

“IT’S ALWAYS TOO SOON TO QUIT… Unless we’re talking about smoking. Or spending all your money on lottery tickets. Or being a serial killer. Actually, skip this truism. I need more information.”

It’s the type of book that you read and then will come to mind in later conversations where you want to share one of her stories or comments and think “Oh, this one time, my friend Jenny…” and realize, oh yeah. I just read her book. She’s not actually my friend. But her simple and conversational writing will leave the impression that you know her intimately.

Here are some more quotes to illustrate her humor and diverse subject matter. (And then I conclude with a little look at her more serious observations.)

“And while I do prefer to be barefoot, I do not like to be wearing just one shoe, because then you’re lopsided and it feels like you have accidental temporary polio. (No one gives themselves polio on purpose, Victor.)”

“Apparently someone had called security to report the wayward shoe. I guess they’d kept the elevator stopped while they made sure it wasn’t a bomb or a maybe investigated how some trashy Cinderella had made it as far as the elevator. Then the security guard brought my shoe down to me and I gave him two dollars because I don’t know how much you’re supposed to tip for your own shoe, and I vowed to never walk out of my shoes in an elevator ever again, and I never did until I totally did it again one week later.”

“(Note: Fight or flight syndrome is what a lot of people with anxiety deal with during stress. My choices seem to be either shank the person who is making me scared or get rid of all my fluids so I can run faster. I choose peeing over stabbing. You’re welcome.)”

“Someone gave me a poster that says, ‘Let her sleep for when she wakes she will move mountains,’ and I think it’s a nice sentiment because it encourages people to not wake me up, but I already can’t sleep because tomorrow I have to go to the bank and I can’t turn off my brain and now I’m finding out that I HAVE TO MOVE MOUNTAINS? I’m probably only sleeping late because I was up all night worrying about mountain relocation. Maybe the mountains need to stay where they are. Why is this my problem? Screw this. I just scratched out the part about moving landmasses and left ‘Let her sleep’ standing. Because I don’t throw babies out with the bathwater. In fact, I don’t throw babies at all. Or move mountains.”

“Victor tried to make me feel bad because I never got Hailey a birth certificate, but in my defense I didn’t get one because they’re like baby receipts and I’m not gonna get a refund. Then Victor said that they’re not for returning babies, they’re to prove that you have a baby, but I already have proof that I have a baby and her name is Hailey and she lives here.”

“And that’s sort of what depression is like…like when your mom turns into Kathie Lee Gifford’s face on giant, murderous swamp puppies. If you don’t have depression this analogy might seem baffling, but if you have it, you’re probably pointing at this page and saying, ‘BINGO, LADY. YOU NAILED IT.’”

(Her being a ‘bad risk’ to insurance companies) “It’s like global warming for elderly people. They probably think it’s likely but they know they won’t live to see us invaded by polar bears and volcanoes (I don’t know how global warming works) so they keep committing arson with aerosol bottles or whatever dangerous things elderly people do for fun (I don’t know how elderly people work). Basically, I’m global warming. But faster. And with fewer polar bears. (I don’t know how good analogies work.)”

“Victor was like, ‘Why is there a disco ball on the credit card?’ and I said, ‘It’s not for me. It's for some famous retired monkeys who aren’t allowed to roller skate anymore.’ And that’s when Victor threatened to turn off my credit cards.”

“But I explained that if I were a dentist I’d bury all the extra teeth I pulled in a pit in the backyard and then maybe a hundred years from now someone would dig them up and be like, ‘Holy crap! A serial killer must’ve been here!’ And that would be nice because it’s fun to add a little mystery to strangers’ lives. I’m a giver.”

“Luckily, my TB was inactive, so it was as lazy as I am. Apparently I’d been exposed to someone with active TB at some point and now I carry it around, along with all my deep-seated resentment of girls who were mean to me in junior high.”

“I don’t know if you’ve ever had a trash-fire shower, but that’s pretty much what this whole week has been like. Literally and figuratively. And it makes you rethink a lot of your choices… like my choice to ignore things I don’t want to think about until they are literally on fire around me, which is probably the most American thing about me.”

“On the other hand, I don’t think I’m allowed to vacuum anymore, so I guess it all works out in the end. It still sucks though. Or blows. Maybe both.”

So yeah. She definitely has a gift for comedic writing.

But then she would also throw in some introspection.

Her letter to insurance companies was very compelling and probably speaks to the heart of a lot of people dealing with compounding medical issues and having to fight so hard for coverage of the medication they need to live.

I found it moving when she opens up about her memory loss and forgetting people or things that have happened. I am a very nostalgic person so memories are so important to me. I fear what it would be like to lose them. But I thought she said it well here:

“If one day I look at you and don’t remember who you are or how much you mean to me, know that your importance is still as real then as it is now. Know that you are locked away someplace safe. Know that the me who loved you is still sitting on that beach, forever feeling the sunlight. And know that I’m okay with not having that memory right now, because the me that holds it tight is keeping it safe and uncorrupted and glorious. And she loves you. And I do too. Remember that.”

She titled this book ‘Broken (in the best possible way)’ because she knows she faces a lot of obstacles in her life, but she has also seen the good from a new perspective and has insights on life that many would never understand. I love her honesty and transparency. I’ve not dealt with severe anxiety or depression so this was an illuminating read for me. Here is her world:

“The problem is that depression is my forever side dish to any period of convalescence and illness, and depression lies. It tells you that you are worthless. That life was never good. That you are a drain on the world and that it will only get worse.”

“I always told Hailey that being afraid of the dark was silly because the thing about darkness is that it’s not just a place for things to hide. It’s a cloak that hides you as well. The night can be a friend. And that’s a good thing to know, but only when your head is working properly and you can assure yourself that once you step back into the house you’ll cast a shadow again instead of being one. That promise doesn’t exist tonight and I hurry back inside, feeling claustrophobic in the darkness that seems as if it will consume or wash away what little bit of me I have left.”

“If I look closer at these stories that make up my life, a strange theme emerges. It’s the idea that something is only real if it’s damaged. I suppose it makes sense in a terrible sort of way. After all, we are changed by life… it puts its teeth in us, it leaves its handprints and marks and scars on us. And as much as we try to ignore those things, in the end they make us who we are. For good or for bad, we are changed and touched and broken and mended and scarred. And those marks (inside and out) tell a story. They tell our story.”

And then this concept she spends time on in her last chapter. It struck me and I can’t read these words and abandon them:

“I’m not much for organized religion, but I think we all have souls. Glowing half orbs… And as we live, our spheres crack. They splinter with sadness or loss or doubt or pain…Then we walk around with these slivers missing… these holes… Sometimes we try to fill these holes with things that seem to fill the gap but aren’t right. We wedge a square bit in a round hole, but it’s a large hole, so it fits, although inexactly… Sometimes the sphere is too broken for people to go on. It’s like when people say their God hole is empty. We’re all built differently, and maybe for you the missing piece is religion, or trust or love or acceptance, but we’re all shattered in our own way and we all pick up pieces that others leave behind… We are broken. We are healing. It never ends. And, if you look at it in just the right light, it is beautiful.”

First, this is her heart so I don’t want to take away from her sharing these pieces of her. I can’t fully understand everything about her that has shaped her viewpoint. But I can’t read this and leave it at that. What she finds beautiful is healing, however imperfect, seeing something good come from something bad. She sees a glimmer of something much brighter. She misses out on the real healing and redemption that can only be found in God.

I can’t help but be reminded of Lysa Terkeurst’s awesome book ‘It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way’. She says, "What if shattering is the only way to get dust back to its basic form so that something new can be made?" Throughout her book she uses analogies of dust, of pottery. Of the biblical truths that we were made from dust. God makes beautiful things out of dust. God uses the things that break us to make something new in us.

Jenny is right that we are all, indeed, broken. Truer words have not been spoken. But she is wrong to say that it never ends. There is a hope that awaits us that promises we will one day be whole and perfect. Jenny’s broken body, riddled with diseases and trash-fire, is a work in progress that God desires to redeem if she puts her trust in him.

“Some things won’t be fixed on this side of eternity; they just have to be walked through. But when my brain begs me to doubt God—as it most certainly does—I find relief for my unbelief by laying down my human assessments and assumptions. I turn from the tree of knowledge and fix my gaze on the tree of life. I let my soul be cradled by God’s divine assurance. His Son. Who completely understands. And who will walk me through every step of this if I keep my focus on Him. That’s how I survive the 86,400 seconds called today.” (Terkeurst)

Lawson’s book, Broken, is simultaneously light-hearted and deep, both humorous and sobering. It’s a finding of brightness in the darkness and of a real acknowledgment that there is something broken in us that we are all searching to heal.

**Received an ARC via NetGalley**

P.S. I was today years old when Jenny’s epiphany became my epiphany that the chicken crossing the road to get to the other side was because: “OMG, THE OTHER SIDE= DEATH. THE CHICKEN IS SUICIDAL,’ and suddenly I understood the joke for the first time ever and now I’m wondering what other basic things I think I understand but really don’t at all, and Victor says there are probably too many.”

Broken is part memoir, part humor and part commentary on living with mental health illness. Irreverent, sassy, quirky and wise, Lawson’s witty prose will have you cracking up, and thoughtfully reflecting from one chapter to the next. Her style is as unique as her stories. After all, Who hasn’t repeatedly lost one shoe in public places?