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But not everyone knows
How to read me."
Despite modern medicine’s progress, little has changed with the way society and health professionals perceive mental well-being, unintentionally leading to the ostracization of those who suffer from an illness. The author’s book opens with an account of Fionna’s own fight with undiagnosed borderline personality disorder (BPD) and the impact it had on both her and those who came in and out of her life because they either did not comprehend it or want to. The book is not an autobiography, however, but rather a collection of poetry that speaks a simple but powerful message to others who also battle with mental illness and its stigmatization. This message is important since, as the author states, the general populous expects those who battle with mental illness to overcome their affliction with sheer mental willpower (or in other words, to “just get over it because it's all in the head.”).
Fionna’s writing is evocative and lingers with the reader long afterward. It speaks the language of the heart, and of empathy, in snippets of beautiful imagery. It tells of the seemingly unending alienation, the crippling self-hatred and anger, and the desire to give up. But it also extols the virtue of the almost-saving grace of a relationship that can make one rise above it all. Fionna’s poetry will resonate with not only those who suffer from mental illness but also with those who are going through a life-changing event such as grief. Her book provides that much-needed empathy and companionship—a light for when all seems dark.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review