Please welcome Amber @ YA Indulgences to the blog today! You might recall seeing Amber around during #ShatteringStigmas in years past, both as a guest poster and a co-host! I am so glad that she’s back this year to share 12 wonderful books that made her feel less alone!
Hi everyone! I am so excited to participate in Shattering Stigmas again! This year I wanted to share some books that have helped me not feel alone. All of these have some sort of mental health storyline going on in them. I do recommend them all highly.
All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (Content Warning: Suicide)
All The Bright Choices has been a book that has been debated countlessly with it’s regard to subject matter for teens. I am well past a teen and was when I read it years ago. Despite it’s (very understandable) criticism, ATBP was one of the very first books I saw my own mental health being reflected right back to me. I don’t face one of the main character’s own mental illness, but the thoughts, those were very spot on.
Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
I have heard so many good things about Melina’s work but it took me years to read anything by her. I knew Saving Francesca dealt with the title character’s struggle with her mother’s depression. This was something I loved reading about. It is really stressful having a parent who has any sort of mental health issue that you can’t fully understand.
Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan
Verona Comics really dug to the heart of co-dependency and the line between helping and hurting someone flawlessly. I love how Verona Comics doesn’t end in a happily ever after of sorts because both characters have things they need to deal with.
Let’s Call It A Doomsday by Katie Henry
Honestly this whole year has felt like a doomsday so this is perfect. I am right there with the main character. For the anxious part of me that is always afraid the sky is going to fall, this is it. For the person who is so afraid that the world is going to end, you need to read this. There’s help.
Furious Thing by Jenny Downham+ Mary Underwater by Shannon Doleski + If These Wings Could Fly by Kyrie McCauley
All three of these involve main characters who have a pretty dramatic home life going on and they are all coping the best they can in their own various ways. As a teenager, my emotions were very out of sorts at times. My fuse was short. Like the main character in Furious Thing, I definitely used my own actions at times to try to distract from things I couldn’t control.
Girl In Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow+ A Breath Too Late by Rocky Callan (Content Warning: Self-Harm and suicide)
Girl In Pieces and A Breath Too Late were both really really therapeutic for me. Girl In Pieces is a description for me if I ever knew one. It was the first book I read where I could relate to the self-harm. These books contain girls who are dealing with much more than they should have to bear and when you can’t bear, you turn to other things. They are tragic and heartbreaking and important but very difficult to read.
You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone by Rachel Lynn Solomon + The Beauty That Remains by Ashley Woodfolk + Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi
These next three titles all contain main characters who are self-destructive in various ways; whether it’s messing around with a piano teacher, blowing things up with friends or blowing off your post-college finances, they are all here. I can be a somewhat self-destructive person if I’m not being careful. There are various factors that lead to this point. What I love about these three is that we get people calling out the characters for making harmful decisions and evrm%20and%20suicidal%20ideation.en if the characters don’t listen (at first), it’s nice to see.
About Amber
You can often find Amber quoting Veronica Mars and following it up with “That’s a Veronica Mars quote”. She enjoys watching Degrassi while convincing herself that she’s not actually in her 20s. “Honestly, I don’t even feel it”. Except when she does.
She’s constantly thinking of novels she rarely writes. Her bookish loves are YA Thrillers, mysteries and darker Contemporaries, please, send her them all. She is a peppermint mocha Frappuccino fan year round. Cruel Intentions and Heathers are currently her musical obsessions.
Every year Amber finds herself learning a bit more about her mental health journey. The online world, especially Shattering Stigmas has consistently shown her she’s not alone.
Enter to win these or any other MH books! International, THREE (3) Winners!
I agree about All The Bright Places. I totally understand the criticism, but the plot was so similar to something that happened in my real life that it freaked me out. Let’s Call It A Doomsday is on my TBR list. I love that cover.
The criticism for ATBP makes a ton of sense but just the inner turmoil and thoughts were spot on. Let’s Call It A Doomsday is a scary good display of anxiety.
This is a great list. One of my favorites dealing with mental health and anxiety is Queens of Geek. I also read This is How it Feels to Float and this book was eye-opening to me.
I need to read Queens of Geek! Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I forgot about How It Feels To Float! That is a great book too! I connected with it a lot. Thanks for visiting my post!
Love getting to hear about the books that helped others and have so many to add to my to-read pile! Books have been a big help for me in figuring out my identity too
There are so many books on this list that I want to read. All the Bright Places is a personal all-time favorite of mine.