Get Well Soon

Get Well Soon
written by Julie Halpern



You all know how much I adore books that address teenagers dealing with mental illness, so it's no surprise that this book struck such a chord with me. It greatly helped that it was also written in epistolary form, and if there's any form of book I love most, it's by far epistolary. I love letters, I love writing letters, I love getting letters (who doesn't?), and I love the small glimpse I get of another person's life by reading letters, even if they happen to be fictional. I had read this book and Ned Vizzini's wonderful It's Kind of a Funny Story around the same time, and they are the only two YA novels I've read that do take place in a psychiatric hospital ward. Vizzini's novel appealed to me more, but I was really glad I got the chance to read Halpern's as well. She brings up some really great points throughout the novel, such as the idea of eliminating stereotypes. Her character, Anna, finds herself in a psychiatric hospital ward, where she has to force herself to step back and stop making snap stereotypical judgements, since she's hit rock bottom and has no point in disliking the people who are sharing the space. Anna gets to know people of all walks of life and all kinds of personal struggles, and along the way, finds out a lot about herself. It's ironic--you'd think a novel set in such a depressing setting about depressed people would, in fact, be depressing, but it's really not! Halpern manages to show the humor in a really bad situation, and you'll find yourself laughing throughout the book. The ending was a little strange, but it does fit with what I've heard, that going home and readjusting to "regular life" after a hospitalization is the hardest part. The writing in this book could have used some work and still carried the same authenticity, but as a debut novel, Julie Halpern really proves herself to be in touch with the way teenagers function and tackles a very difficult and critical topic that I always say needs to be depicted in YA fiction much more than it is.

Rating: 4/5

I got this book from...:Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh

By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead

By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead
written by Julie Anne Peters



It is kind of difficult to review this one without touching on what happens at the end, so read at your own risk, I suppose?

I kind of have a thing for books with characters dealing with depression and other mental illnesses, since I have seen so many people go through similar situations. I am really glad to see the genre rising in popularity, written both well and not-so-well. It's amazing (and at the same time, sad) to see how an author can put themselves into that kind of mindset and come out with a great work of fiction. My point, I suppose, is that these books are what teens need, just as there's recently been an explosion of fiction featuring LGBTQ teens, teens have to know that there are others, even if they just exist in a book, dealing with similar issues, reassuring the readers that there is still hope. While Julie Anne Peters writes an incredibly touching story about a teenage girl struggling with extremely severe, debilitating depression, it's difficult to tell whether her story is one of hope. Reality, yes. Obviously, teens have dealt with and sometimes lost the battle to depression. Others have survived. So yes, the story's resolution is very realistic in its vagueness. And there's definitely the idea that not all books need to end happily. But the very first thing I wrote before even opening the book was the idea that I really wanted there to be a definite conclusion. I didn't want a cliffhanger ending, or an ambiguous ending. I wanted the girl to either die or survive. And I didn't get that. So I loved the narration. I loved the writing style. I wasn't a big fan of the romance novel interludes, but I still read through them. The ending just ticked me off though. I feel like the readers deserved to know what had happened.

Rating: 5/5 for writing, 3/5 for plot

Is this just me? Did anyone read this in a particular way, where they believed she definitively lived, or definitively died? I'd really like to hear other peoples' interpretations.

Also by Julie Anne Peters: Luna

I got this book from...:Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh