As someone who has been watching DID influencers on YouTube for years, I was really interested in how this book was going to deal with the disorder. I don't have DID myself, but from what I've read and seen, it's super easy to get it wrong. I feel that with all the research Kate McLaughlin did, she addressed the stigma around DID with such care.

Some may say that the book was unrealistic because so much of her family was supportive and she had a boyfriend who easily understood. While this is likely unrealistic in most people's real life situations, it's also important to know what support looks like and understand that support is out there for people who need it and look for it.

I do feel like the process of Dylan being diagnosed, then remembering her trauma, then addressing her trauma and revealing her abuser, was SO quick. In reality, it likely takes years if not decades for people with DID to get that far (if they ever do). But I understand that it's a book and it needs to happen quickly, and it was done well for based on that fact.

From what I know (as an outsider to the DID community), this book was very well-written and I really appreciated seeing mental illness representation that wasn't thrown way out of proportion (like Split). I loved this book and I will be purchasing a physical copy for myself and my friends when it publishes in April 2023!

I really enjoyed this book and have posted a review of the book on our instagram as well as a reel/tiktok on both our Instagram and TikTok accounts below is the review as posted on Instagram.

"Thank you @stmartinspress for sending us an ARC of this book to review

4/5

A contemporary novel about the mental health journey of a young woman who discovers she’s not alone and what her diagnosis of DID means about her past and for her future.

This book starts with Dylan who has struggled with her mental health and is searching for answers as her health gets in the way of her day to day life. It follows her journey as she gets a diagnosis and faces the challenges of not being the only person sharing her body as well as learning to appreciate her system and all it’s done for her. It showcases how important healthy relationships and having people to trust is to healing from trauma.

I really loved the support Dylan gets from the side characters in this, with an emphasis on trusting Dylan and the system to be safe and keep eachother safe, while they learn what this revelation means. I loved Connor who always saw the best in Dylan and supported her and the rest of the “posse” to the best of his ability and the way it showed that despite her past trauma, she isn’t unlovable or damaged, but just as worthy of an adorable love story and new experiences.

I believe this book could have benefitted from a less linear storyline and been more impactful if it were set over a longer period of time as most mental health journeys rarely move so quickly and I wish we could have met more of the system and how they worked when Dylan wasn’t aware of them. However, it still managed to tell a good story.

I know that DID has had harmful representation in media in the past and although I myself am not an expert and have received most of my previous information about DID through the same youtubers the author acknowledged in her book, I feel that this was a positive depiction of the disorder and how the system functions to protect the body and each other. The author also had sensitivity readers with DID to read the book which is always very important.

#bookreview #ARC #arcreview #piecesofme #katemclaughlin"

I really enjoyed McLaughlin's previous novel, Daughter, and this book had a very different feel. Rather than being a thriller, it followed Dylan, who learns she is struggling with Dissociative Identity Disorder. I liked Dylan as a character, as well as her love interest. I also really liked how each of her personalities were their own characters. and Dylan was able to interact with them in their inner world just like she would interact with a friend or a family member in the outside world. The book ended on a hopeful note, which I really liked as it brings awareness to people who have DID and demonstrates that they can live a good life.

This book gives you an inside look on what it is like to live with a personality disorder. It’s very uncomfortable to think about what it would be like to lose time for days on end. From the moment I picked this book up, I could not put it down.

I started off enjoying this book, but then it became too intense and depressing for me, so I DNF. I think I just wasn’t in the right mind frame to read it. It’s definitely interesting, and I will go back and try it again in the future. I’m giving it 4 stars because the problem was with me and not the book itself. I’m sure other people will like it.

I don't know anything about the psychology of DID, so I can't comment on that aspect of the book, but the author's note states that Kate did a lot of research and talked to both people with DID and practitioners experienced in treating it. Presumably that means it's accurate, I just can't comment on that.

As a teen novel, it's an interesting read. There are a lot of kinds of relationship on view here. Connor, the love interest, is almost too perfect to be true. Much more interesting to me was Dylan's relationship with Max, her twin brother, which had up and downs but ultimately a strong base. Dylan and her mother had a good relationship as well.

I found the different alters interesting and would have enjoyed spending more time getting to know them. The journal was a clever mechanism to let us spend some time in their point of view, and I would have liked some more of that - but of course, this isn't really their story, it's Dylan's.

Overall I enjoyed this, and I recommend it to other readers. I can't wait to see what other people think, and I'll be watching out for more of Kate's work - she's good at contemporary stories and I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.

"Pieces of Me" is an intense story about the power of the mind and an extreme method of coping with trauma. The main character, Dylan, has been diagnosed with various mental illnesses in her young life (eighteen at the start of the book), some of which were probably accurate, some which were not, but none of which fully explained why she was the way she was. This fictional story involves Dylan learning that she has dissociative identity disorder (DID), what was formerly referred to as multiple personalities, and learning how to cope with it, as well as eventually remembering the trauma that triggered the fracturing of her psyche into multiple "alters." It is evident that the author has done her research, as she presents Dylan and her various alternate "personalities" -- Lannie, Kaz, Alyss, etc. -- in a realistic manner, as well as the problems that can be caused by different "alters" taking control at different times, the turmoil and confusion caused by having the "alters" and realizing that she has the "alters", the different ways people react to learning about the diagnosis and/or meeting an "alter"/recognizing that they are meeting an "alter", and the various purposes the "alters" serve.

The inclusion of Connor, who becomes Dylan's friend and later boyfriend, is one of the author's best choices. The level of acceptance and understanding that Connor shows is somewhat unrealistic (it is a work of fiction) but having someone who is willing to accept Dylan as she truly is, and who does not have the history with her that her family and her best friend, Izzy, have, is one of the factors that allows Dylan to come to terms with herself.

This book may a difficult read for some because of some of the subject matter, but if you can handle it, the story is worth reading.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of PIECES OF ME by Kate McLaughlin in exchange for my honest review.***

I’m a big Kate McLaughlin fan, but and enjoyed her previous books more than PIECES OF ME, which I felt tried too hard. McLaughlin did extensive research with people who say they’ve been diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and a psychologist, but not clinicians and researchers who know the disorder isn’t like SYBIL was depicted in the TV movies. Dylan’s friend is the first to diagnose her, using Dr Google and while googling diagnoses is common, it often results in false positives because psychiatric conditions are more difficult to ascertain than a Cosmo Quiz. The DSM was never meant to be read by armchair psychologists.

PIECES OF ME means well and I appreciate McLaughlin’s attempts to destigmatize mental illness by giving Dylan a perfect new boyfriend who has virtually no qualms about her serious problems and perfectly supportive divorced parents.

I think readers who enjoy mental health themed books will enjoy PIECES OF ME, I hope that they see this as fiction not a literal depiction of the disorder. Being a child psychologist I worry about accuracy though I’m don’t think most readers are as picky of me on this issue.

Writing wise, McLaughlin’s beautiful wordbuilding gets bogged down with extraneous dialogue that didn’t move plot or characters forward.

My lack of enthusiasm for PIECES OF ME doesn’t make me less of a McLaughlin fan.

WOW! I became very interested in this topic due to the influx of DID influencers. It was great to see a story about a real patient with DID, the diagnosis process, and how healing occurred. Even though it was fiction, it was very well researched and was consistent with actual DID sufferers that I have followed. The story was very entertaining and tragic but also redemptive. The author was phenomenal and did a fantastic job crafting Dylan’s inner world. I loved this story and could not stop reading it. I would love to see more from this author!

Would you like to know a secret?

I downloaded this book just a few hours ago and even though I was mid-read on another book I knew there would be no way to concentrate knowing this was sitting there just waiting for me to read it .

So…..

I took a time out and picked up Pieces of Me, you know… “skim a few chapters”

Sucker

There was no way I was putting this one down and my world completely stopped and was consumed by every word splayed out on the page .

This book is straight up addicting! I could not get to the next page fast enough !

Kate McLaughlin, you are a literary genius and you have made an instant fan out of me!

I read in an author bio (yes, I look up all author bios) that McLaughlin started writing at the age of 8 and let me tell you, it shows! This author knows how to pack a punch and the talent explodes on each page!

McLaughlin, has a way with words. The details and flow of this book will captivate any and all of whom decide to pick this book on up (which I highly recommend) the explosive twist was one I could never anticipate and before I drop a spoiler I will leave you with this….

Buy the book, pre-order the book, do what you have to do but you do not want to miss out on Pieces of Me.

I was riveted to this book immediately as Dylan wakes up in a strange bed with no memory of how she got there or how three days have passed! Of course she is terrified but even when she's home, she can't remember anything and is sure she wasn't drunk or high. And so begins a terrifying journey as she literally begins to unravel the past and is diagnosed with DID. It's a fascinating look at the world of this disorder where "alters" protect each other from some trauma the host faced in earlier life. I couldn't put this down! It's compelling as well as difficult to read as Dylan's past comes back to haunt her in ways she never imagined. Many trigger warnings but so worth it!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!