Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

Ich bin nicht da by Lize Spit

1 review

susysstories's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Wow, gripping, suffocating, emotional. I cannot say I enjoyed reading this book, but then again it’s not meant to be enjoyable. Lize did manage though to elicit all kinds of feelings within me: anguish, sadness, sorrow, hope, anger, disappointment, frustration, hopelessness, compassion etc. To accomplish this she used quite (too?) explicit descriptions and the most severe case of bipolar disorder (which is an exception in the range of bipolar disorders). It shows however how hard it is for patients to function in our society, on the one hand due to their disabilities of course but also due to the limited understanding and tolerance of the impact of psychiatric disorders. Which on the one hand is quite understandable but which on the other hand doesn’t help the person who’s suffering from the disorder. I felt for all of the characters, Simon of course, his girlfriend, his “friends”. Quite complex and problematic and Lize portrayed that perfectly in her book. 
I do believe this book is not for everyone. There are a LOT of triggers and it’s a very heavy and depressing read. I actually felt sick a couple of times while reading it…

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