aly_oop's review
4.0
As someone who deals with persistent SI, I appreciated Clancy's candor and frankness about his personal journey. It's an important topic that needs wider discussion, and I loved the incorporation of different philosophical viewpoints presented in the book. I also appreciated the tips and pointers, things that help. I would give the book 5 stars, but for about 1/5th of it that felt like "too much" and perhaps should have been separate articles- namely the chapter about the suicidal writers and some of the details of the author's marital issues and alcoholism. I understand that they're related, but they didn't seem to cohesively fit with the rest of the book. Overall though it was a great read with valuable insight and resources, much of which I found helpful and relatable.
devynreadsnovels's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Alcohol, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Infidelity, Self harm, Alcoholism, Panic attacks/disorders, Cursing, Grief, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Car accident, Confinement, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
sashathewild's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
my_name_is_jess's review
Its not you, its me - I DNF'd around 40%, but it wasn't due to the quality of the book. I picked this up because I wanted to read about someone like me - and this book delivered, but perhaps too well. While this in no way romanticized the subject matter, it put me on a ruminating path to do just that, thus I will likely never be able to finish.
fjette's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Interesting, more limited in scope/autobiographical than I realized. I found myself noticing a lack of reflection in the ways the author was allowed to repeatedly enter the justice system and also involuntary psych treatment but retained control over himself and his life, and I wish there had been a little discussion of involuntary psych treatment and the justice system and how both handle suicidality and addiction, and how the author as a straight white man was able to work within those systems in ways others were not. But that was not the specific focus of the book, it was very laser-focused on his suicidality itself, so maybe that’s more about me as a reader than the author as a writer.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, and Addiction
mercourier's review
The writing style wasn't grabbing me. He bounced between overly philosophical and very dry to conversational and telling me he'd tell me that story later.
hyzie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
I enjoyed this, though I didn't love it.
It's a very personal and philosophical look at the subject, so it was a rough read at some points. The author is HONEST about what he was going through, and that includes both his suicide attempts (in equisite detail in some places) and his alcoholism. Reader beware if you're not in a good place when picking this up. There's a full chapter he states outright that if you are not in a good place to skip.
I liked the philosophical bits and all the quotes/explanations of what other authors had said on the subject. I hadn't realized how much writing there was on suicide until I read this.
It's a very personal and philosophical look at the subject, so it was a rough read at some points. The author is HONEST about what he was going through, and that includes both his suicide attempts (in equisite detail in some places) and his alcoholism. Reader beware if you're not in a good place when picking this up. There's a full chapter he states outright that if you are not in a good place to skip.
I liked the philosophical bits and all the quotes/explanations of what other authors had said on the subject. I hadn't realized how much writing there was on suicide until I read this.
nmstettler's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Alcoholism
Moderate: Suicide attempt