I was expecting to love Is This a Cry for Help? but I didn’t expect to be full on obsessed. This is timely, emotional, and a book I looked forward to reading every day. Keep reading this book review of Is This a Cry for Help? for my full thoughts.
Summary
Darcy’s life turned out better than she could have ever imagined. She is a librarian at the local branch, while her wife Joy runs a book binding service. Between the two of them, there is no more room on their shelves with their ample book collections, various knickknacks and bobbles, and dried bouquets. Rounding out their ideal life is two cats and a sun-soaked house by the lake.
But when Darcy receives the news that her ex-boyfriend, Ben, has passed away, she spirals into a pit of guilt and regret, resulting in a mental breakdown and medical leave from the library. When she returns to work, she is met by unrest in her community, and protests surrounding intellectual freedom, resulting in a call for book bans and a second look at the branch’s upcoming DEI programs.
Through the support of her community, colleagues, and the personal growth that results from examining her previous relationships, Darcy comes into her own agency and the truest version of herself.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Is This a Cry for Help? is a timely look at censorship and the importance of libraries. Amidst the calls for censorship, banning, and lack of funding, America’s libraries are being threatened. We are at risk of losing this one last public space, resource, and shelter. I grew up at the library and so I try to support mine and my childhood one whenever I can. I love them so much and so Is This a Cry for Help? was the perfect book for me. Even more so, Is This a Cry for Help? examines loss, exploration of coming out as an adult, and mental health. Darcy is an honest and vulnerable voice. She struggles with these feelings of abandoning someone and how it felt to have this person she was pretending to be without even fully realizing.
(Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links. For more information you can look at the Policy page. If you’re uncomfortable with that, know you can look up the book on any of the sites below to avoid the link)
Austin’s latest book explores homophobia, double standards, and gaps in our social system that libraries have to fill. It’s a reflection on coming out later in life and having these experiences we don’t know how to vocalize because they almost felt compelled, necessary, and illusionary. When we didn’t realize we were being an imposter, the voice of something telling us it’s wrong without listening. Is This a Cry for Help? is a book that is emotional as Darcy reflects on her coming out, the grief and complex feelings of responsibility, as she encounters this uptick of library animosity. I figured I’d enjoy, but I didn’t realize how much this book would be the right one I needed for this moment.
Find Is This a Cry for Help? on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop. org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.