I Didn't Ask to Be Crazy

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Pub Date 05 Jan 2022 | Archive Date 27 May 2022

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Description

I Didn't Ask to Be Crazy is a collection of poetry and personal essays centered around mental illness. Sadee Bee shares her journey with bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and PTSD, through creativity and raw honesty. It is a collection designed to convey the message "you are not alone."

Sadee Bee is an up-and-coming poet with great interest in helping others understand that mental illness exists on a spectrum and not every experience is the same.

She hopes others in need find solace in her words and understand that even if suffering cannot be seen on the surface; it doesn't mean it isn't happening.

I Didn't Ask to Be Crazy is a collection of poetry and personal essays centered around mental illness. Sadee Bee shares her journey with bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, and PTSD...


Advance Praise

"As someone with severe mental illness that has struggled with self-harm and suicidal thoughts and attempts, fucking BRAVO. This was so stunning and raw and gut-wrenching" - Amanda Boisen (copyapothecary)

"As someone with severe mental illness that has struggled with self-harm and suicidal thoughts and attempts, fucking BRAVO. This was so stunning and raw and gut-wrenching" - Amanda Boisen...


Available Editions

ISBN 9780578394763
PRICE $2.99 (USD)

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Average rating from 28 members


Featured Reviews

3.5/5 stars

"Duality is necessary
Yet, it is tearing me in two.
The only thing I truly want
Is to fully love,
and to be loved too."

This poetry collection centers around the poet's issue with mental illness. I could definitely relate to some of the poems. I wish there were more positivity with some of the poems because it's pretty dark to read, but overall enjoyed this.

I received this free from Netgalley to review.

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Chilling and captivating.
A collection of poems about mental illness and the pain and strive that come with. Obviously the subject matter is dark but it was very well done.

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The poems in this are heartbreakingly honestly and raw.

This book gets straight to the point. Showing you what goes through the mind of someone with a mental illness.

I picked this one up because I have family and friends with bipolar and/or bpd. And reading this did really help understand it better.

I think this should be read by more people. It lets you in. Shows you what's really going on. The fact she feels she has to hide her illness is just proof of how society deals with mental health. And something needs to change.

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“Queerness within me will not be subdued
My brown skin, my wild spirit, my sensuality
They exist for me and no other
My femininity exists in the wails of those before me
Ancestors who fought for my strength
For theirs”

Sadee Bee's poetry is powerful, lovely, and complex, spanning everything from grief and devastation to comfort and joy, all at once. Her poem titles are also one of my favorite parts of this work! I received a copy of this through Netgalley.

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This book is a collection of poetry and short essays about mental illness. The author shares her journey with bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder and PTSD through creativity and raw honesty. It is a collection designed to convey the message "you are not alone.” Though the book theme is dark and so is the severity one face when they’re in their darkest phase of life.
I can easily relate to each poem as I was reading I was going back to my own memory lane which is not always rainbow. In order to write about mental illness, the pain and experiences with suicidal thoughts takes so much strength and one need to be brave to convey your thoughts out in the wild.
This book is beautiful you need to read this.

Highly recommended.

Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

Thank you @netgalley and @booksgosocialgroup for the #drc in exchange for a honest review.

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Thanks to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for the ARC of this!

I don’t read a ton of poetry, but when I do I love to see if focus on things that I find very relatable, in this case mental health. The poet struggles with suicidal thoughts, which is not something I’ve ever dealt with, but I found it moving all the same. I enjoyed the essays most of all, because I sometimes struggle to read poetry, though I wish I enjoyed it more. Overall, I found this to be a moving collection that gave insight into the author’s struggles.

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The poetry collection I Didn’t Ask to Be Crazy, written by Sadee Bee, raises awareness about living with mental health issues. It touches the emotional and dark side of life that can often get left out of people’s eyes. Because the collection is based on the author’s personal experience and life, it is transformed into an even more powerful work.
The order of the poems and essays in the collection is perfectly thought through. It is as though the story begins, told in poems and essays, with the author’s grey hard times of despair. The collection then continues expressing better times in the author’s life.
There is a good author-reader connection. That, I believe, is important, especially in poetry. That, as mentioned, creates a very personal aspect of the work, which helps the readers to realise and understand the struggles, thoughts, emotions, and actions expressed in the work.
The lining of the poems, from a reader’s point of view, is well done too, creating a nice reading flow with appropriate pauses. Here, it could have been an issue of the lack of punctuation marks, however, the author has dealt with the lining well.
My rating is 5 out of 5 stars! I was very impressed by the writing and the story itself. I don’t think there is anything negative to be said about the order, edit, or plot of this poetry collection. It is a powerful message, raising awareness of a significant issue.
I would recommend this book to every adult who loves a poetry collection, talking about an issue that is relevant everywhere around the world!

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So many of the pieces in this collection resonated with me. They were powerful, raw and heartbreaking. I encourage anyone who struggles with their mental health to read this so they can feel less alone. And then I encourage anyone who doesn’t struggle with their mental health to read it so they can better understand their loved ones who do.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with a digital arc of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: mental health disorders - depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, suicidal thoughts & tendencies, self-harm, mentions of death, racial stereotypes, gender stereotypes.

This powerful and meaningful novel dictates the harsh experiences that this personal representation of a Black woman, ensures with regards to her mental health. It is written in the format of free-form poetry, as well as narrative extracts, all of which outline the struggles that the persona is tasked with facing. The negative issues in this novel are what enhances its powerful influence, as the author manages to portray these detrimental issues in ways that evoke a myriad of emotion and understanding amongst her readers.

This book is beautifully written as it focuses on the poet's craft and how their writing style can effectively portray the societal issues faced in a modern day society. Mental health is not only discussed as a whole, but also specifically with regards to women, and how society treats the average Black woman, who behaves "dramatically" or "angrily." The personification that is littered throughout this book, is tremendously done, in my opinion, as it brings words to life - literally. The depiction in "Twenty-six letters" is significantly powerful, as well as the humanization and ironical feminization of Anger, and how it correlates with the views of mental health as a societal issue.

There could be criticisms with regards to the narrative and poetic techniques utilized, as well as the way that the author portrays such serious topics through her own methods. However, this stunning work of poetry impacted me in ways that caused me to resonate with the words being provided to me, as well as the deeper meanings between every statement provided to us, the readers.

Overall, this book is so beautiful and I highly recommend it to anyone, as long as they carefully heed the trigger warnings that I listed above. The topics in this novel are discussed magnificently, and I personally appreciate this novel so much, as I have strongly connected with it and the author's writing style.

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This was phenomenal! I will be picking up anything this author writes. The writing was so touching and brilliant, so provocative, it made me think a lot. The conversations with death got me shaking but also feeling so helpless and hopeful at the same time. Just wow.

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The cover is absolutely gorgeous! This is very good about explaining how mental health is and how you might act around other people because of it. I can relate to this, because I have my own mental health issues. This did make me feel a lot and the writing was very good. I would recommend to anyone who like poetry, learning or reading about mental health and how it affects people.

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Sadee Bee offers a frank view into her world, in this vulnerable collection of writings. Bee’s voice is strong and consistent throughout, with an intimate and conversational tone that instantly makes you feel like you are sitting talking to an old friend over coffee.

I found the essays to be more original and compelling than the poetry but both have an important message to share, provoking thought and empathy. Unheavenly Matrimony was a stand-out piece in the collection for me; sharing deeply personal reflections with a powerful sense of rhythm and many beautifully creative turns of phrase.

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Sadee Bee tackles the hefty topics of bipolar depression, medication issues, and suicidal thoughts with grace and brutal honesty. Through the lens of a black woman she describes how the words angry and resilient are thrust upon her and what they have grown to mean. Bee’s poetry is beautifully written and doesn’t glamorize her struggle with suicidal thoughts. Highly recommend this book and look forward to reading more from this author. Thanks to NetGalley for the early read!

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A hauntingly beautiful collection of poems.

Please read with discretion as there are some very sensitive topics discussed

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