The Astonishing Color of After – review

Author: Emily X.R. Pan
Publication date: March 20, 2018
Genre: young adult, contemporary, magical realism, fantasy
My rating: 4/5 stars

In four words, this book is: beautiful, painful, vibrant, and important. I must admit, I had to stay up two hours past when I planned to go to bed in order to finish this one. It wasn’t because it was a page-turner; truly, I wanted to go to sleep and resume it in the morning. But it brought up some really vivid memories and deeply intense feelings of pain and sadness that I thought I was past by now. I needed to get to the end, because I knew I wouldn’t sleep well if I went to bed in that emotional state. It took some processing, and while I expected it to be good, it was even more devastating than I expected a book about a girl and drawing and a magical bird and mental illness and suicide and family and friendship to be.

When the Stars Lead to You – launch party!

Way back in May or June, I went to an event hosted by Epic Reads, with a couple authors talking about their recently-released books. At the event, I also met an author who was just there to observe and support some friends, an author with a book coming out later this year. I added it to my Goodreads TBR and made a mental note to keep my eyes peeled for it.

Well, folks, that author was Ronni Davis, that book was When the Stars Lead to You, and that release date was yesterday.

And, because Ronni lives in Chicago, my fantastic local bookstore, Anderson’s Bookshop, hosted a release party for her.

World Mental Health Day – 8 Books Depicting Mental Illness

As you all may know, I am a huge advocate for mental health awareness. So when I saw a post on Rae’s Reads and Reviews all about books featuring mental illness, since today is World Mental Health Day, I realized I could easily do the same. Here are some of my favorite books about various mental health conditions. (And you should definitely check out Rae’s list as well, because we only have one book in common!)