This is a decent political memoir. I have great respect for Jason but this could have been a better and more compelling book.

I am probably biased because I’m a big fan of Jason Kander. I’ve been following him since he first launched his podcast in 2016 and I remember vividly when he announced his PTSD. Since the. I’ve followed him and his wife on social media and I have developed total crushes on both of them. They are smart, interesting, people who seem to have similar interests to me and I just find them both charming.

I find Jason’s voice and tone to be very reassuring and he has been the person I have turned to when the political news seems overwhelming so it’s really jarring to read his book and learn that the face he puts forth to the world had been hiding a man suffering from PTSD, guilt, shame, anger, and worthlessness. You really can’t tell what a person’s truth is from what they are projecting to the world.

I think the book’s structure showing both his and his wife’s POV is excellent and gives a pretty complete picture of what was going on for them.

All in all despite the heavy subject matter it is an easy book to read and it’s threaded through with hope. I’m glad Jason is doing better, I’m pleased that he has found a job that he loves and and I’m glad he hasn’t shut the door on a political future because I think he could help lead us all to a better place.

Very well written raw book about PTSD which doesn’t hold back. As a spouse of a combat veteran I appreciate this book and his honesty throughout the good and bad.
I have also been lucky to be on zoom calls with Jason Kander and he is just as good of a speaker as he is a writer.

i understand the hard times and the journey this person had to go through but I did not enjoy it. I brought back memories of when my uncle served and the challenges he never talked about. I personally thought it was a lot to read and probably needs some trigger warnings on it. I wish I could have liked it.

One of the most intimate and candid political memoirs I’ve ever read. Kander’s story will resonate for veterans, politicians, anyone with trauma, and the people who love them.. Special thanks to Kander’s wife who does partners and loved ones everywhere a service by sharing her own candor.

Invisible Storm by Jason Kander is a heartfelt, emotional account of a former army officer's experience on the battlefield and with PTSD upon returning home. His experience within politics and the military frame his experience and offer not only his vulnerable experiences but potential advice for others. I hope that his candid, emotional story can help other veterans who are also dealing with depression, suicidal thoughts, and PTSD.

Invisible Storm by Jason Kander is a gut-wrenching story of PTSD and the repercussions of military service. Excellent follow up to Kander's first book. I found it particularly informative, as the child of a veteran with severe PTSD and agent orange disease to read the first hand account of how Kander navigated the insidious syndrome. I appreciate that he and Diane took the time to explain the impact of PTSD on their lives and their family. I would highly recommend that anyone interested in history, military service, or politics take a look at this excellent book.

This is a powerful memoir unlike many other political memoirs I've read (in the best possible ways!). Kander's raw honesty about his journey was refreshing and provides insight into his journey to deal with PTSD from his military service. I appreciated that he shared both the difficulties of dealing with mental health challenges as well as providing hope that you can heal from PTSD. Another interesting touch was the passages his wife Diana provides which give unique insight into what it's like to live alongside someone with PTSD. All of the above makes it seem like this is a very serious book (which it is) but there are also genuinely funny stories which help lighten some tough topics. I can't recommend this book highly enough!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

An absolutely brilliant and engaging read from Jason Kander. The vulnerability of the storytelling is a gift to the reader as Kander recounts his journey through PTSD. Kander has a rare ability to connect with others and this thoughtful memoir is a testament to that. I was deeply appreciative of the insights from his wife, Diana, throughout the memoir. An absolute must read.

Jason Kander's recollection of how he dropped out of political campaign and dealt with his PTSD. This act is as much an act of courage as his previous war record. The book has two voices in it: Jason's and his wife's. Addition of his wife's account of how his depression and struggles weight on her and what both of them had to contend with is also very interesting. Jason's honesty and his stated aim of helping his fellow veterans are admirable.
Wonderful benefit to the book is Jason’s writing style: introspective, with a dose of wry humor and great comedic timing..

Invisible Storm

I have been listening to Jason Kander on his podcast Majority54 for a while now and I even voted for him during his run for Senate here in Missouri. It’s interesting to me that someone can seem so normal and on the very cusp of a huge undertaking like running for US president but be in such turmoil on the inside. Truly, some of us can hide what is really going on inside our heads so well; but as Jason said in the book you can’t outrun the Monster. I think that so many people, especially men, find it difficult to admit they have a problem. Reading the stories of what he did during his deployment and how that bled into his actions once he was home and how it deeply affected his wife really makes you stop and evaluate your own actions and how what you do has such a ripple effect. I enjoyed the parts that Diana offered from her perspective, it also had me evaluating how I’ve reacted to similar situations in my past. I think it took a lot of courage to write about something so personal and from reading I feel that Jason will have a hard time accepting the praise that will surely come from those that read this book (that’s just the Monster Jason, don’t let it trick you!). I would absolutely recommend this book to everyone, we all know someone that is suffering (whether they’ve displayed it outwardly or keep it all inside) and I think that reading this may help plant the seeds for them to seek help or give their loved ones a way to reach out and suggest they seek help. My favorite line in the book was “Nobody builds avocado cellars”; and I think that whole paragraph really sums up how we should be treating trauma and mental health. On the podcast they always end with “Everyone has a platform, remember to use yours today” and I feel like this book is an excellent example of just that. Way to use your platform Jason, and thank you.

Jason Kander’s Invisible Storm is a refreshingly honest and vivid story of a promising politician coming to terms with having PTSD. Throughout the book, Kander learns more about himself and his limits. I liked the parts of the book that add both Diana and his therapist’s perspective. Although the book is about trauma and can at times be harrowing, it can also be unexpectedly funny, especially when the writer is most self aware.

Thanks to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book! Really vulnerable and vivid portrait of how Jason - and his family - suffered from his PTSD. Really striking to contrast what I experienced in the moment following his career vs the reality he describes. A lot of the warning signs and coping mechanisms he talked about apply to more than PTSD.

Jason’s books are always well-written and worth reading just for that. It’s a great read. But if you are someone who has experienced trauma, or just someone who has to be fine all the time, I highly recommend this.

Great read that provides a candid depiction of what PTSD looks like, and how it can impact all of those around the person learning to cope with it. While a great job was done tempering the story with humor, my favorite portions of the book were the insights Diana provided and her perspective from the outside looking in.

I very much enjoyed this book. Invisible Storm follows Jason Kander, an army veteran who was deployed in Afghanistan and also ran for a couple political offices in Missouri. The book also includes thoughts from his wife Diana, which gave two perspectives on different situations.
 
The book highlights many real hardships of relationships and normalizes those hardships. Diana and Jason went through many difficult times together (Jason’s deployment, depression, and running for political office) and they’re still together, and you can tell they have so much love for each other and are very strong. It really shows a lot of strength to support your partner and love them unconditionally through tough times.
 
Jason struggled a lot while running for political office due to PTSD. Throughout his time running for office, he wrote that he constantly had to keep working so he wouldn’t have thoughts of his time in Afghanistan. However, he longed to be deployed again so he could have war experiences on par with other soldiers. A quote that really sticks with me is “I fixated on that comparison, constantly downplaying both my trauma and what it did to me…PTSD is an injury. That’s all it is.” Jason also states that “the army wires every soldier to think what I did was no big deal. It’s an absolutely necessary form of brainwashing that helps keep you going.” If I didn’t already have the utmost respect for people who serve in the military, I certainly do now.
 
I love quote from the book “I’d become the guy who won by losing.” Jason realized that holding political office probably wasn’t for him, but since being exposed to US politics, he ended up getting more involved in activism and creating Let America Vote and Veterans Community Project, and meeting other progressive politicians eager to make positive changes in the US.
 
The openness of both Jason and Diana captured in Invisible Storm show how strong being vulnerable is. The fact that Jason told the truth about his PTSD when he announced he was taking a break from politics is something we need more of. Being honest about mental health is so so important. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Like most people, I first learned of Jason Kander when he ran for the U.S. and made headlines as the guy in the gun ad. I have been following him ever since. I remember being so baffled when he decided to run for mayor of Kansas City after so narrowly losing the senate race. His star power just seemed so much greater. And then not long into the race, he shocked the political world and announced he was dropping out of that race to take care of his mental health as he had PTSD from his time serving in Afghanistan. This book explains how he got there, how he healed, and how he is doing now. I found this book to be eye opening, stressful, heartbreaking, and heartwarming. Jason tells his story with such candor (see what I did there?) that you feel like you are in the room with him, from his dangerous intelligence gathering meetings to his therapy sessions to his patrolling his house at night because his PTSD has him believing that he and his family are in danger. Often you hear the term PTSD thrown around casually, and Jason does an excellent job illustrating what it really means. And his wife, Diana, gives him a lift in each chapter by telling her own experience as his wife and mother of their children. It’s clear that we need to do more as a country to support our vets with re-entry when they come home from serving their country. We spend a lot of money on weapons and vehicles, but where is the money for mental health? Jason does a tremendous job shining light on an important topic.

I have been a big fan of Jason Kander since his 2016 Senate run and I have followed everything he has done since since then from his previous book to his Majority 54 podcast. I even met Jason around 5 years ago. All that being said, I was very excited for this new book, and even I learned so much I didn't know about him while reading this book. I understood that Jason had moved away from seeking political office for a while to focus on his mental health, but this book described in great detail exactly what he was dealing with and how his PTSD evolved. This was a very intimate look at a mental health that I feel like is less understood and less talked about by the majority of the population among other mental health conditions, which are already not talked about enough. The way that Jason's perspectives on his life events and what he was dealing with were weaved with his wife Diana's perspectives of the same events and time periods provided an additional element to the portrayal that really worked well. I don't have many other memoirs about PTSD to compare this to, but I can't see another book being offering a better narrative and portrayal than this one. Jason really got real here, at possible risk to any future political aspirations, and in doing so gave a really important piece of non-fiction to the world.

This memoir is compelling and absolutely relevant to so many dealing with trauma in their own lives. Jason Kander’s voice is strong and relatable - there are even opportunities to laugh as trauma and challenge is not without humor or irony. The book is especially relevant for those who are feeling as if “working through” trauma is what is expected of them by society, their profession or their family. It is not only for those who have served in the military, but if you have someone in your life who has, this may also provide insight into their challenges, especially since Kander’s wife plays a role in the memoir as well, interjecting her voice into the book providing a real insight into how PTS impacted their home life and how getting help made for a better future.

This book exceeded my expectations. As someone who works in politics and has seen the devastating effects of mental illness close up in my personal life, I was excited to see how Jason Kander approached this book. I enjoyed his first book and like so many others, was impressed by his honesty when he announced he was seeking treatment. Even so, I was impressed and grateful for the honestly on every page. Sharing your interior life with the world is hard for anyone, let alone a public figure but this book is masterful. It doesn't sugarcoat the hard times and the process but still shows a light at the end of the tunnel. This is a book I'll recommend to many.

Wow this is an exceptional book. It expanded my empathy for what our veterans go through both home and away while giving me hope that we can fight to make this a better country for all. Thank you for your candor Jason!