A review by ifigeneiatsa
Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen

challenging emotional informative medium-paced

4.0

I originally bought this book because I read online that it it has similar themes to the Bell Jar, although this one has a happier ending/ message than Plath's work. I was surprised when I learnt afterwards that it is a memoir. This characteristic makes the story more real and impactfull. Kaysen is very hinest about her time in the psychiatric clinic and she does a good job at balancing the emotions she flet and being obejctive and trying to analyze her diagnosis. My favourite part of the book was when she describes mental illness as kind of a schism between reality and one's own perceived mental states. Hows there is something inside the mind that is interpreting all the neurological activity that is going on and gives reasons to them and how with mental health that something is not always credible. I also loved the structure of the memoir, how it wasn't linear and the fact that the chapters were short.

Quote: "It is easy to slip into a parallel universe"

"I was in pain and nobody knew it; even I had trouble knowing it"
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