Enum & Valerie reviewed Verona Comics by Jennifer Dugan
Unhealthy combo
4 stars
Oh well, let's pour all the mental health challenges and daddy issues into a mixer and watch it all explode
English language
Published Dec. 29, 2021 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers.
Oh well, let's pour all the mental health challenges and daddy issues into a mixer and watch it all explode
My blog has a more in-depth essay of how I related to this book.
blogs.booktoot.club/lapis/on-being-seen-in-stories
What I love about this book is that while there is a romance, that really isn't the point of the book. It's a mental health book that made me feel extremely seen.
Now I will warn you: One of the viewpoint characters struggles with anxiety and intrusive thoughts. If you also struggle with those things, reading this becomes a really unpleasant experience, but I highly recommend you tough it out if you are in a mental place where you are able to do so!
This is the best depiction of intrusive thoughts and anxiety I have seen. I don't know if Jennifer Dugan personally has anxiety problems, but if she doesn't, she really did her research. Seriously, as Nebraska's most anxious person, I felt very seen.
I also felt very seen because of its frank …
My blog has a more in-depth essay of how I related to this book.
blogs.booktoot.club/lapis/on-being-seen-in-stories
What I love about this book is that while there is a romance, that really isn't the point of the book. It's a mental health book that made me feel extremely seen.
Now I will warn you: One of the viewpoint characters struggles with anxiety and intrusive thoughts. If you also struggle with those things, reading this becomes a really unpleasant experience, but I highly recommend you tough it out if you are in a mental place where you are able to do so!
This is the best depiction of intrusive thoughts and anxiety I have seen. I don't know if Jennifer Dugan personally has anxiety problems, but if she doesn't, she really did her research. Seriously, as Nebraska's most anxious person, I felt very seen.
I also felt very seen because of its frank discussion of suicide. I know not everyone can handle that, but I could really use more books that discuss it and make me feel like less of a freak for having had these problems. And books that teach you how to talk with suicidal people (spoiler: it's not by demonizing them).