The perfect book. Amazing fairytale stories tell of the truth and struggle of clinical depression. Accompanying the tales are a soulful author’s note, descriptions of the fairytale characters, references for those experiencing depression, and a note to the reader. I was mesmerized by this verse novel and fell fully into the lush world created by the author’s descriptive text. AND…the cover is beautiful!

Wow! Wow! Wow! I loved this book! I love how Amber McBride used fairytales, stories, and folklore to tell this story about trauma, mental illness, and depression. Everything tied together perfectly. This book kind of felt like reading a fairytale. I loved that Amber included a glossary of the fairytales, stories, and folklore at the end of the book. I will definitely check out some of the fairytales that were referenced in the book because there were a few that I've heard about but haven't read yet. I also love that she included a playlist as well.

This book is so stunningly beautiful, raw, and imaginative. I’m blown away by how this story came together. Amber so beautifully weaved in whimsy and fairytales to tell a story about clinical depression. It’s so interesting how she uses fairytales, stories, and folklore to craft her own sort of whimsical tale filled with magic and sorrow. This book is phenomenal!

Some of the best books are when they use magic and help deal with real life issues. This was a beautifully done novel and I really related to the main characters. Amber McBride has a great writing style and appreciated the use of fairy tales and real life to help people deal with trauma. This was my first book of Amber McBride and I enjoyed it very much! I look forward to more from Amber McBride.

"I can see a bit again, a snapdragon dances near me, I grab one to collect & put it in the flannel bag, I swear it bites— reminding me, I am here— still alive, reminding me that words are not the only language."

I like the idea of exploring past trauma and mental illness through a journey through fairytales, and I liked the magical realism element that was built in. I wasn’t a fan of how, for lack of a better word, “whimsical” it was. But I can see how this would be very appealing to some people, especially fans of Francesca Lia Block. I was meh about it for the same reason I don’t care for Block’s books, the insertion of a random words that are supposed to sound creative or poetic, but end up sounding like a sentence made of bad Scrabble draws. At one point she describes I think it was “lemon drop fingers” (I no longer have the book to verify, but it’s something like that). The hell does that even mean? You can be metaphorical, but they should at least make sense. I just couldn’t get into the language in this book. But at least it’s another book about mental illness, and we can always use more of those.