daisychaser's review
challenging
dark
fast-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Eating disorder
aeaves's review against another edition
3.0
While I ultimately found this a valuable read, I don’t think it’s as well put together as Wasted. And honestly it reminds me of a very messy essay I wrote a few years ago not long after I was diagnosed with Bipolar ll, which is not necessarily a great comparison to have come to. Although our lives/ trajectory of diagnoses/ coming to terms w craziness is certainly different between me and Hornbacher, I did still find comfort in this sort of commonality of experiences she shares. And for that I am grateful. I’d probably recommend if you want a deep dive look into real life bipolar, but would emphasize content warning.
reshyo's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
judereadsbooks's review
4.25
Hornbacker is a wonderful writer. She is so adept at drawing you into her madness that every twist and turn makes sense. You are not a watcher but a little man on her shoulder. My only gripe is that she resorts to shock value RE: cutting and weight and etc.
liralen's review against another edition
4.0
A similarity to and a difference from [b:Wasted|46815|Wasted A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia|Marya Hornbacher|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388181134s/46815.jpg|1256238]: In both Wasted and Madness one is left with the impression that no, she's not really better. Managing, maybe. But one suspects that it will not be long before things go to hell again. (Indeed, both in Madness and elsewhere Hornbacher has said that writing Wasted made her relapse, and that she did get very sick again.)
But in Madness it's clear that she knows she's not 'cured', and that's a pretty big difference from where I'm sitting. Many of the events, and episodes, Hornbacher writes about here are not too far in the past, and she's aware that similar ones probably loom not too far in the future. (She's also a lot more reflective on the impact her fluctuating mental health has, and has had, on those around her -- and perhaps more cautious about the impact words might have on a reader.)
This ends up being very raw and intense and immediate. It took me a little while to get into it (perhaps because I have limited interest in reading about bipolar...my interest was mostly curiosity, having read Wasted, which I suppose is obvious considering that this review is basically one long comparison of one book to another), but, well, I succumbed to the book's grip. I'd call it a better book than her first memoir, frankly, with more, oh, depth and growth (though perhaps it's less relatable? Or at least less sensational).
I really must get around to reading some of her fiction.
But in Madness it's clear that she knows she's not 'cured', and that's a pretty big difference from where I'm sitting. Many of the events, and episodes, Hornbacher writes about here are not too far in the past, and she's aware that similar ones probably loom not too far in the future. (She's also a lot more reflective on the impact her fluctuating mental health has, and has had, on those around her -- and perhaps more cautious about the impact words might have on a reader.)
This ends up being very raw and intense and immediate. It took me a little while to get into it (perhaps because I have limited interest in reading about bipolar...my interest was mostly curiosity, having read Wasted, which I suppose is obvious considering that this review is basically one long comparison of one book to another), but, well, I succumbed to the book's grip. I'd call it a better book than her first memoir, frankly, with more, oh, depth and growth (though perhaps it's less relatable? Or at least less sensational).
I really must get around to reading some of her fiction.