Tag Archives: Mental Illness

Sure, I’ll Join Your Cult by Maria Bamford

From “weird, scary, ingenious” ( The New York Times ) stand-up comedian Maria Bamford, a brutally honest and hilariously frenetic memoir about show business, mental health, and the comfort of rigid belief systems—from Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, to Suzuki violin training, to Richard Simmons, to 12-step programs.

Maria Bamford is a comedian’s comedian (an outsider among outsiders) and has forever fought to find a place to belong… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicidal ideation
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder & intrusive thoughts
  • Bipolar Disorder
  • Eating disorder (bulimia)
  • Death of a pet

Evil Eye by Etaf Rum

Raised in a conservative and emotionally volatile Palestinian family in Brooklyn, Yara thought she would finally feel free when she married a charming entrepreneur who took her to the suburbs. She’s gotten to follow her dreams, completing an undergraduate degree in Art and landing a good job at the local college. As a traditional wife, she also raises their two school-aged daughters, takes care of the house, and has dinner ready when her husband gets home. With her family balanced with her professional ambitions, Yara knows that her life is infinitely more rewarding than her own mother’s. So why doesn’t it feel like enough?.. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Racism
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Anxiety & depression

While You Were Out by Meg Kissinger

Growing up in the 1960s in the suburbs of Chicago, Meg Kissinger’s family seemed to live a charmed life. With eight kids and two loving parents, the Kissingers radiated a warm, boisterous energy. Whether they were spending summer days on the shores of Lake Michigan, barreling down the ski slopes, or navigating the trials of their Catholic school, the Kissingers always knew how to live large and play hard.

But behind closed doors, a harsher reality was unfolding—a heavily medicated mother hospitalized… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Child neglect
  • Anxiety & depression
  • Parent with Bipolar Disorder
  • Death of a child from suicide

The Prince & the Apocalypse by Kara McDowell

Wren Wheeler has flown five thousand miles across the ocean to discover she’s the worst kind of traveler: the kind who just wants to go home. Her senior-year trip to London was supposed to be life-changing, but by the last day, Wren’s perfectly-planned itinerary is in tatters. There’s only one item left to check off: breakfast at The World’s End restaurant. The one thing she can still get right.

The restaurant is closed for renovations—of course—but there’s a boy there, too. A very cute boy with a posh British accent… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Depression

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Parental abandonment
  • Infidelity*
  • Divorce recounted
  • Miscarriage recounted
  • Emesis
  • Sibling with end-stage renal failure and autoimmune disease
  • Anxiety & panic attacks, on-page
  • Depression

*Context: The female protagonist’s ex-husband cheated on her with her friends.

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

One year ago, Isabelle Drake’s life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally.

Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Postpartum psychosis & depression
  • Suicide
  • Miscarriage
  • Death of a child
  • Kidnapping

Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

Clara’s magic has always been wild. But it’s never been dangerous. Then a simple touch causes poisonous flowers to bloom in her father’s chest.

The only way to heal him is to cast an extremely difficult spell that requires perfect control. And the only person willing to help is her former best friend, Xavier, who’s grown from a sweet, shy child into someone distant and mysterious… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Drug abuse (fantastical substance)
  • Anxiety
  • Emesis
  • Body horror

Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi

Jayne Baek is barely getting by. She shuffles through fashion school, saddled with a deadbeat boyfriend, clout-chasing friends, and a wretched eating disorder that she’s not fully ready to confront. But that’s New York City, right? At least she isn’t in Texas anymore, and is finally living in a city that feels right for her.

On the other hand, her sister June is dazzlingly rich with a high-flying finance job and a massive apartment. Unlike Jayne, June has never struggled a day in her life. Until she’s diagnosed with uterine cancer… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Disordered weight & body thoughts
  • Eating disorder
  • Miscarriage
  • Cancer

String Follow by Simon Jacobs

Something strange is happening to the teens in Adena, Ohio.

A mysterious force is seeking vulnerabilities to exploit, friendships to hijack, untapped rage to harness toward its own ends. Who will serve it best? Claire is abrasive and aimless, embarrassed by her privilege. Weak-willed David entertains fantasies of cultish orgies, while Tyler covertly takes up residence in his basement. Greg wages war on the voices in his head, while his sister Beth quietly, furiously unravels… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Schizophrenia & psychosis
  • Attempted suicide
  • Drug use
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • School shooting
  • Car accident
  • Fire

Deep in Providence by Riss M. Neilson

For best friends Miliani, Inez, Natalie and Jasmine, Providence, Rhode Island has a magic of its own. From the bodegas and late-night food trucks on Broad Street to The Hill that watches over the city, every corner of Providence glows with memories of them practicing spells, mixing up potions and doing séances with the help of the magic Miliani’s Filipino grandfather taught her.

But when Jasmine is killed by a drunk driver, the world they have always known is left haunted… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Religious bigotry & trauma
  • Sexual harassment
  • Child abandonment
  • Anxiety
  • Parent with substance addiction
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use & abuse
  • Overdose
  • Pregnancy
  • Abortion
  • Forced institutionalisation mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Car accident, off-page
  • Deportation mentioned