Bipolar, a Gift of Thorns by Dale Zurawski was alright. I read this to better understand someone I used to have in my life but it was not for me, personally. I am still thankful that I got to read this!

I honestly love reading people's stories about mental illness and how they began healing.
Dale grew up with an abusive father who died when she was 7. While Dale has always been brilliant, she has always been quite unstable.
I was fascinated by her story and about when she decided that enough was enough. I found this to be insightful and am glad that I read it.
*I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

BIPOLAR: A GIFT OF THORNS
Dale Zurawski

Dale tells us the story of her childhood, full of abuse and neglect, and her adulthood, being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and some things in between.

I appreciated the author’s honesty and candor. I felt the author did a great job conveying their personal story and how they are dealing with bipolar disorder and its accompanying symptoms. I feel there is an elevated level of personal disclosure present in the text, and I liked that a lot.

Although I appreciated the candor, I didn’t feel that the writing added anything to the narrative. The text reads like a scattershot. It is extremely disorganized and lacks cohesiveness. I felt it could have been reorganized in chronological order and that would have improved my reading experience.

I had a middle-of-the-road experience but I’m glad I read it. I would recommend it to a specific group of readers.

Special thanks to the author, Dale Zurawski, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

BIPOLAR: A GIFT OF THORNS…⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Thank you #Netgalley for the copy!

Wow! This is a raw and honest memoir of Dale, a woman who is diagnosed with bipolar. During her therapy sessions she is forced to look back on her life, her father's legacy/mental health, her coping mechanisms. I think this read does a great job in bouncing back and forth one Dale gets her diagnosis and reviews her old journals and life experiences, she is able to connect the dots to the symptoms of her diagnosis. I wish more would share their journey's to normalize the diagnosis and support that is available. Thank you to Dale!

Thank you NetGalley & publisher for this eARC.

This is raw, very honest memoir from someone who has Bipolar, only to have diagnosed when she was 50 years old. The compulsive decision, the mood swings with ability to function smart especially in academics. Reading this feels talking to a friend in therapy session where you go one by one exchanging stories.

Definitely recommended for people who wants to know more about Bipolar.

'Bipolar, a Gift of Thorns' is a moving memoir of a woman's struggle with her mental health and the journey of healing that was decades in the making. Zurawski dedicates a lot of time speaking about the genetic and environmental factors that contributed to her diagnosis of bipolar II, some of which I could relate to.

There were many things in this memoir that were resonate. Zurawksi describes her bipolar disorder as "a gift of thorns" multiple times throughout the memoir. Those of us who struggle mental health issues are forced to develop coping strategies, both good and bad. When we heal we can take the good ones with us into the future. And sometimes even the "bad" signs of a mental illness can feel adaptive and good when you're in the throes of it. This memoir is frank about that reality.

Additionally, I really enjoyed that Zurawski focused so much on the methods of therapy she pursued (sometimes reluctantly) in addition to the psychiatric interventions she employed. As one of her doctor's noted, taking medication can often alleviate the symptoms of a mental illness, but cannot fully address the deeper patterns of behavior. Zurawski's description of her therapist Carl and her experience with EMDR in particular were absolutely lovely and matched with my own experiences utilizing bilateral stimulation.

This is a well laid out and well written debut book. The author covers a lot of personal stories and I applaud her for this. Her stories will be beneficial for many people with bipolar disorder or those who have a loved one with it. I learned so much from her honesty and descriptions of living with bipolar disorder. Highly recommended memoir.
Recommended For: Those who enjoy memoirs and also want to learn more about bipolar disorder from a first-hand pov.

This memoir gave some great inside to what happens when to adult when your world goes upside. After being told you have bipolar, late in your life. Bring back memories of your childhood and triggers along the way.