This is my first guest post and I could not be happier with who I chose! Laura has been communicating with me on twitter for a few weeks, but we have become fast friends. We decided to do a collab where I would write a list of science fiction recommendations and she would make a list on books about mental health for my blog. Something we both have little experience, so what better way to inform ourselves and our readers. She mostly reads YA and diverse books and her recommendations are always on point. So with no further delay, let me stop talking and hand it over to her! So read more below and don’t forget to check out my post on her beautiful blog.
From Laura:
Mental health is a very important thing to talk about. I had my very first panic attack when I was 9, and I continued to have them without knowing what they were until I was 14, when I was diagnosed with panic disorder and agoraphobia. My diagnosis sadly didn’t take the anxiety away, and I still struggle with it a lot to this day. I can’t even go to school because of it.
You might think this would be a very personal thing to say, especially in a guest post, but again, mental health is a very important thing to talk about, which is why I do. And I’m glad to say a lot of authors do, too.
We’ve definitely had a rise of ‘mental health books’ (aka, books featuring a character suffering from a mental illness) over the past few years, especially in YA, which makes me incredibly happy. These books have helped me quite a lot, and will help a lot of people like me. This is why I want to talk to you about my personal favorite mental health books.
Let’s start of with one of my all time favorites: Some Kind of Happiness by Claire Legrand. Some Kind of Happiness is about a 10-year-old girl named Finley who struggles with anxiety and depression. The way Finley struggles is described incredibly well, and I found myself sending pictures of certain passages to friends while I was reading it saying “THIS. THIS IS HOW I FEEL!”
One of my most recent mental health reads is Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne. I know this book has quite a bit of hype surrounding it and in my opinion, it totally deserves it. Am I Normal Yet? really shows the ugly truth of what living with OCD is like. It also includes some wonderful female friendships, and a lot of feminism.
Mixing mental health with romance in a book is a very tricky thing to do, because it often comes across as if love is the one thing that can cure your mental health (spoiler alert: it doesn’t), which is something that bothers me a lot. One of the only books that I’ve read that mixes romance and mental health well is Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes.
Girl Against the Universe is about a girl called Maguire who believes she’s bad luck, and never leaves the house because of that. Luckily, she decides to go to therapy, start school again, and she meets an incredibly cute boy. I had a big smile on my face almost the whole time while I was reading this book!
You might not expect The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness to be on this list, but here it is anyway. In this book, Patrick Ness combines fantasy and contemporary elements briliantly. The main character in this book has OCD and goes to therapy, and this book has one of the most touching and beautiful therapy scenes I’ve ever read.
The last book I want to recommend is one that I haven’t read yet, but I felt like it needed to be on this list. Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall is an #OwnVoices book about a girl who struggles with agoraphobia. I’ve heard many wonderful things about this book, so I’m sure I’ll love it when I finally pick it up.
And that’s it for my recommendations! I hope you liked reading this blogpost, and I really hope you’ll pick some of these books up for yourself. If you do, please let me know what you think!
You can find Laura on her blog, twitter, goodreads, and instagram!
Subscribe for more guest posts and collaborations! speaking of I posted on Alba in Bookland’s blog for her 3rd Blogiversary. Check it out here.
If you like what you’re reading good, there’s nothing like it so far on my blog!
Great recommendations here. I haven’t read any of these yet but I would like to add a couple of them to my TBR. Under the Rose Tinted Skies, especially.
Yes I loved her recs!
This is a good post. I’ve heard of a few of those books, but not all, so I’ll have to add them to a list for books to get in my school library where I work. I have social anxiety and depression myself. Up until about 10 years ago or so, I didn’t realize I was having panic attacks, I just called them crying jags, but soon learned differently after being diagnosed with depression and talking to a psychologist. Thanks for sharing this!
Yes, I agree with Laura that mental health recognition and awareness is so important. That is why I loved her idea to do a post of them 🙂 I am glad you were able to figure out about your panic attacks!
It’s still a very small ‘niche’ area but it’s nice to see there are now books tackling mental health, especially for kids! I keep seeing Mad Girl around and how good it is, and I’m keen to read it! However, I am on a book buying diet, so will have to wait until it’s around the community library. 😀
Yeah I was really surprised and happy to see this list from Laura. Book diet are hard, but you can do it!