- FUN, CREATIVE APPROACH: If you love Ellen Forney’s Marbles: Mania, Depression Michelangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir, you will love this book! Both books are graphic memoirs in a similar cartoony style which makes it a fun and quick read.
- TRULY ENCOMPASSES THE COMPLEXITY OF ILLNESS: It is the portrayal of the mental health journey of a young woman with bipolar disorder dealing with ineffective medications, dangerous symptoms, strained relationships, wreckage of the consequences of the illness, and depressing hospitalizations. The book highlights many issues with being a patient in the current healthcare system. You can have the right diagnosis, take your meds as prescribed, go to all of your appointments… and still become manic. It is not fair. That is our reality.
- AS REAL AS IT GETS: This book is brutally honest, from the conversations included to the feelings captured. If you want a book that will sugarcoat mental illness and turn someone’s life into a beautiful struggle that ends with a classic happy Hollywood ending, go watch The Silver Lining’s Playbook instead. This one is real life, not full of rainbows and unicorns.
- RARE LOOK INTO BEING INVOLUNTARILY COMMITTED: Do you know what it is like to be involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital? Rachel Lindsay shows the emotional roller-coaster, from feeling shocked and betrayed to feeling hopeless and desperate. I know. I’ve felt it as well. I wouldn’t wish inpatient psych stays on anyone, but they may be necessary for one’s safety at times.
- HUMOR: As odd as it sounds, this book is funny. You know how Jenny Lawson made a book on depression just about the funniest book in existence? Well, Linsday managed to capture that vibe with her book on her bipolar disorder spiraling out of control. It takes a lot of courage to share one’s story and a strong spirit to be able to laugh at yourself and see the humor in one’s darkest moments.
I literally read this entire book within an hour. I loved it. I’m sure I will read it many more times. The art is so interesting and incredibly detailed… love the creative approach and the storytelling! Check it out!
The Calculating Mind 