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A review by bhrtng
We Are All So Good at Smiling by Amber McBride
4.25
4.25 stars.
We Are All So Good at Smiling is a fairy tale novel in verse about depression. It sounds weird, and it IS weird, but it's also really good. The story starts with Whimsy in an inpatient mental health facility after her parents found a list she made of ways to commit suicide. It's clear that it's not her first time in this facility and that she's struggled with her mental health for a long time. During her time there she meets a boy named Faerry. They bond over their shared magic - Whimsy is a conjurer and Faerry is fae. After they leave the facility they share a few moments that build up their friendship and they bond as two of the few Black students in their school. In the background of their budding friendship, there's the ominous presence of a nearby forest and some clear buried trauma shared by both of them. Eventually Faerry goes missing in the forest and it's up to Whimsy to save him.
I didn't really know what to expect when I went into this book because the description is so vague and honestly I don't know how to explain the book myself haha. But this felt like great representation for depression, self-harm, suicidality, and mental health institutionalization (something that many of the teens I know have had to experience). I enjoyed the way the forest gave life to different fairy tales that also represented common struggles within the experience of depression. Topics of self-isolation, self-harm, racism, healing through community, and more were explored creatively within the bounds of Whimsy's magic and imagination. My only complaints were that the end felt a bit rushed and I felt frustrated that Whimsy and Faerry completely defeat Sorrow. I think a more realistic approach that left room for Sorrow to return and for them to have to fight through the forest again in the future would have made more sense. I understand wanting to have a tidy ending, but this book did such a good job of realistically displaying depression that I found it frustrating when the author chose a happy ending over a realistic ending. I also thought it was a little too convenient that they discovered what really happened to their siblings, when in real life those kind of magically provided answers aren't possible. If someone experiencing something similar was reading this book, I think they might feel disheartened by the fact that there isn't someone to give them all the answers to their grief. Overall this book was really creative, unique, and well-done. I think teens struggling with their mental health and hungry for something to really think on will love this book.
We Are All So Good at Smiling is a fairy tale novel in verse about depression. It sounds weird, and it IS weird, but it's also really good. The story starts with Whimsy in an inpatient mental health facility after her parents found a list she made of ways to commit suicide. It's clear that it's not her first time in this facility and that she's struggled with her mental health for a long time. During her time there she meets a boy named Faerry. They bond over their shared magic - Whimsy is a conjurer and Faerry is fae. After they leave the facility they share a few moments that build up their friendship and they bond as two of the few Black students in their school. In the background of their budding friendship, there's the ominous presence of a nearby forest and some clear buried trauma shared by both of them. Eventually Faerry goes missing in the forest and it's up to Whimsy to save him.
I didn't really know what to expect when I went into this book because the description is so vague and honestly I don't know how to explain the book myself haha. But this felt like great representation for depression, self-harm, suicidality, and mental health institutionalization (something that many of the teens I know have had to experience). I enjoyed the way the forest gave life to different fairy tales that also represented common struggles within the experience of depression. Topics of self-isolation, self-harm, racism, healing through community, and more were explored creatively within the bounds of Whimsy's magic and imagination. My only complaints were that the end felt a bit rushed and I felt frustrated