For When She's Feeling Blue by Edgar Holmes

What a touching book, written by Edgar for his partner dealing with depression, such emotive and realistic poetry about life effected by depression which I utterly relate to. I particularly like the poem about men and Instagram, the relationship a guy liking other posts from other girls can effect their relationship with their parnet tremendously in this age. Such a simple yet impactful little poem that was to read and mull over and very much common sense that some guys overlook their real life relationship for the one with their phone. It was a great poetry book for anyone struggling feeling alone and low, this book I feel sums up perfectly how our partners can feel about our silent struggle when it gets overwhelmingly dark for us.

I Am Definitely Probably Enough by Tori Press

In this quick mini book, Tori packs in her story of life with depression, anxiety and struggling with her so called imperfections which really, make us all unique and different in our own way!

We see how Tori's self love journey has been for her as she went through therapy with lovely hand drawn illustrations and simple but effective captions too.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Something Like Happy by Sasha Greene

Nick tries to commit suicide driven by his depression and unfulfilling job, he climbs to the edge of a building...

Then Jade stops him, bearing the weight of her sister's suicide she wants to prevent anyone else going the same way.

Jade gets Nick to meet up with her and pursue her happy list from days out with Archie an old man
from an elderly folks home, to yoga and dinner dates together the pair find a unique kind of happy from such a horrible situation. But can it last?

This was a fantastic book all about the impact and choice of suicide. It was a deep and tearful read to get through but so much happened I flew through it in a day. A fabulous debut about an ever important topic.

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson

This book is a collection of raw poetry that looks through Laurie's life at some of the tough situations she has had to face and deal with. From being a pastor's daughter, dealing with her parents issues including miscarriage, war and depression to her own issues that arised, rape and how that affects a person as they learn to cope and adapt to their changed selves especially when you can't report it and make them pay for their crime.

The book also explores the relationship between men and women and why we objectify women and see men or used to see men as higher up than us instead of equals. Hugely emotional and thought-provoking if you can relate to the issues raised, you simply need to read this book.

The Rules Of Seeing by Joe Heap

Kate is married to Tony an abusive man who leads her to meet Nova in the hospital.

Nova has just had an operation to give her some restored sight after being born blind and finally she can see, she has to learn to live all over again hence the Rules of Seeing that she creates and also with the help of Kate as they meet up again months later...

Throughout the book we see how Nova saves Kate and Kate saves Nova from abusive Tony stalking them and her harsh mother vanishing her Nova becomes Kate's lifeline and Nova finds with Kate she can navigate new and exciting things from learning colours, shapes, seek the sky, Paris and people this couple become a proper pair got to like a jigsaw in love as they become one despite all the efforts Tony goes to as he progressively becomes more psycho from stalking them to the thrilling ending which took me by such surprise I got goosebumps reading it.

This book was captivating and I honestly loved the characters, concept and the thriller element in this book!

I liked the fact that Kate seems to be bisexual as she leaves Tony for Nova but of course we don't ever need to label sexuality I liked the fact that Nova was A bubbly character as Kate was more serious they really balanced each other out and the fact the book was set in months over years shows how their connection grew more and more especially as we read from split character perspectives.

A must read book of 2019!

All The Things We Never Said by Yasmin Rahman

Mahreen is a Muslim teen whom feels she can't compete or stand out in her family against her brother or cousin who are both high achievers and has what she call The Chaos in her mind telling her to cut and causing her depression.

Cara is a disabled wheelchair user after a car crash changed her and her mum's lives forever and she feels stifled by her mum now too.

Olivia is a girl from a rich broken family background with a sinister secret about her mum's new boyfriend and wants to escape her life.

The girls get put together after they each individually sign up to a suicide pact website, MementoMori.

Only as the girls complete the tasks and hang out more they become friends. Until things change after they stop doing the tasks set to them from the website and instead have their lives ruined by the person behind the website as they manipulate all the information about the girls as they can. As each girl hits a new low, one of them goes too far but with the girls not talking, can they come together to save each other in time?

The plot reminded me of the Hollyoaks teen self harm pact with a digital edge from the website involved in this book. It doesn't belittle mental health but shows the sinister extent teens could go to harm or end their lives. The website reminds me of the anorexia buddy websites we hear about causing harm to teens mental health and this book broke down boundaries that mental health only effects one type of person as we get the three very different girls all suffering. I particularly like Olivia telling her story in verse as she came across as a ghost in her own home forgot by her mum as she suffered abuse unnoticed. This book will make you appreciate all the good in the world, as it can be horrifically dark.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Every Colour Of You by Amelia Mandeville

In this book, we meet Zoe and Tristan whom meet each other first in a hospital waiting room/ reception area. From there the pair meet through coincidence again until Zoe starts to befriend Tristan as she sees something in him he can't see in himself, despite his depression, Zoe is the colour to his world even if he takes some time to realise that fact.

Tristan suffered from losing his dad while his brother whom acts like his dad is now quite partial to drinking alcohol to forget everything that happened to them. Meanwhile Tristan has Misha, his dog to make him feel happier and loved when he feels low. He also suffers severely from suicidal thoughts and tendencies throughout the novel which is a very truthful look at how some one can swing from ok to suicidal quickly as can happen with depression sufferers.

It was a commendable book for featuring mental health so realistically throughout the book as it's the main subject tackled as well as other things from health troubles, family situations and deaths which feature too. I really liked how the main characters were like opposites but they connected super well and could see the best in each other's strange ways. A brilliant debut from a young author!

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

It's All In Your Head by Rae Earl

Rae Earl has created a fan in me years ago when my depressed, anxious and mentally unwell self found her books and then, TV series based on her life. Utterly relatable and both hilarious whilst remaining relevant with all things mental health.

This book takes us from the teen years to beyond on all things happening in our brains.

I can relate to so many aspects of the book that Rae talks about. All about our mental health and being aware of it whether it be OCD, depression, suicide, self harm or anxiety and other disorders, we can all take away something from this book. Whether it be tips about treatment options or just not feeling like it only happens to them and/or us.

Rae talks us through her own experiences with humour and a healthy dose of relatable reality.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

Hannah was best friends with Kat, dated Zach and later fell for Justin. Justin then started the trail of unravelling events recorded on thirteen cassette tapes.

Clay listens to the tapes to try and depict his part within Hannah's suicide as she took too many pills two weeks before the box of tapes arrived on his doorstep.

She gets objectified as a woman with jokes amongst the class about hot or not girls and even having a peeping tom spying on her all the time until they catch him out. As the book goes on and the tapes unravel, the events leading up to her death become shrouded in sadness as she witnesses events she can't get over. Her efforts to reach out for support and help fall flat thanks to a useless guidance counsellor and poor Clay was a party that cared the most about Hannah from afar.

It was quite an emotional book but eye opening to the fact that we need to look closer to spot the signs and help each other through the tough times. It touches on real life hard issues that are becoming more openly talked about especially thanks to literature.

Boy Seeking Band by Steve Brezenoff

Starting a new school, Terrence meets Eddie, an alternative styled girl who also secretly sings in the school basement after school. Her brother who is a well built sax player and her twin acts like he doesn't like Terence and he feels intimidated easily by him.

At his new school they have a jazz band in which anyone joins if they play an instrument and Terence plays bass guitar already which is why he went to his old school, a private music and art school first. Unfortunately, his mum died from illness leaving his dad depressed hardly leaving the house and his bed at all.

Yet as Terence forms his own band at his new school and they enter into a competition battle of the bands style, he has to face his old band from his last school.

We see Terence's struggle to get emotionally attached to people after losing his mum suddenly. The lessons in the book's storyline's show friendship and standing up for each other as well as how fitting in with others you judge wrongly at first isn't always a bad thing.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Are We All Lemmings And Snowflakes? By Holly Bourne

In this book we meet Olive, she suffers bouts of hyper activity when she can run all the time, desire and crave sudden sex, have erratic thoughts and get by on no sleep at all until she crashes into the blackness and could sleep forever.

Olive doesn't know her mental health diagnosis but after getting hospitalised again, she winds up at a trial teen camp catering on helping mental illness.

There for four weeks, she meets, Lewis and Jamie two boys she becomes friendly with, has a breakthrough about prevention of mental illness and also spirals. We see through her photography and kindness project how passionate she can be about change and awareness of mental health as she begins a movement to raise awareness of helping mental health.

It was an eye opening idea about how teens could be treated for mental health conditions and also shows the extent of the severity of what they face can be like as we see how scary and daunting it was for Olive to face. It handles the subject sensitively and with care making it one of the best YA mental health reads I've discovered this far.

My Box Shaped Heart by Rachael Lucas

Holly has a tough time time in school as she gets bullies while Holly's mum is also a hoarder and so she escapes to the swimming pool for relaxation and to escape her and life. Cressi, a kind neighbour manages to allow Holly to be a swimming assistant and Holly is grateful to have an excuse to not be at home. However, her mum has a broken leg from falling in all the mess and when kind Cressi calls in to check on them both she helps clear the house and slowly the hoarding mess lessens so much her Mum even brightens up and goes to the doctors where she's to start CBT for depression, seemingly triggered by her breakup with Lauren's dad.

Allie and Rio are her two best school friends from school and often hang out with her and Allie later confides in them both that she's gay and later the trio attend a gallery where Allie tells them who her crush is.

Ed goes to the swimming baths to escape his abusive dad whom used to hit his mum until they got lives to a safe house where he hopefully can't trace them to. His and Holly's lives collide quite literally as they swim into each other by accident one day and proceed to see each other at the baths and their bus stop and when Ed gives her his number it's inevitable they start hanging out more and more as they escape their chaotic lives together.

Both Ed and Holly deal with tough situations forced on them thanks to their parents own issues. They found friendship and love in each other unexpectedly as well as giving them another reason escaping their parents drama was right for them as they shouldn't be expected to look after them. Cressi was a kind soul to step in and I commend the book for her character as she gave a more stable adult presence in Holly's life who took an interest in helping her grow as a person and encouraged her interests. It was a cute read as they find their bubble of combined happiness.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman

Freya, a singer recording her debut album has lost her voice while her mother is flapping around her frustrated at how things are working out, while Harun is making plans to run away and find the boy, James, he loves as Nathaniel ends up in New York after a family tragedy.

Freya, Harun and Nathaniel all meet in Central Park. Freya falls off a bridge while Harun watches her fall onto Nathaniel whom she gives a concussion to and so they stick together and go to the emergency room together before events spiral to them sticking together the rest of the day as Nathaniel and Freya get feelings for each other, Harun wishes to see James and introduce Freya while she feels seen for herself for the first time in ages despite who she is and the fact she remembers Harun's James writing to her about his situation at home and being kicked out for being gay.

We learn about each characters past and issues with family such as loss of members, lack of either parent in their life or the reality that they're pressured to be something they aren't whilst they all seem to have common feelings of loneliness and unable to be enough for their families to feel they're not approved of because of sexuality or otherwise. There is a strong mental health storyline too from the parental side as Nathaniel's father is depicted to be unstable and exist in multiple worlds symptomatic to bipolar and depression.

This is a book to give hope to those who wander alone feeling lost in the world and proves that while we may feel one way, it's not true and we are all noticed in some small way at least.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

A Boy Called Ocean by Chris Higgins

Jen, Ellie, Macca and Kai are all supposed to be meeting at the beach and hanging out.

Kai wants to have a nice date with Jen at the beach front cafe where he plans to ask her to be his girlfriend. She doesn't know of the impending date but goes to meet him at the cafe only to learn he needs to work late now thanks to his boss.

Ellie persuades Jem to stay out with her and Macca and Jay on the beach but Kai sees and gets angry lashing out at customers and breaking cafe property which he then gets fired from and storms off, the grab Macca's surfboard and plunge into the sea...

As Jen stays out with Macca, Ellie reads the situation wrong assuming that Men fancies him now which upsets her deeply as she likes Macca.

The Jem discovers Kai isn't home, that's why he hasn't answered her calls or texts, no one knows where he is, so lifeboats are launched and a rescue operation over a underway to rescue him before it's too late...

As kai is stranded we learn of the domestic abuse his mother suffered and why they escaped to Cornwall, originally they loved Cornwall thanks to the stories she used to tell Kai about mermaids. His thoughts about Jen all keep him going while stranded at sea and when he sees a seal and realises it's not a dangerous shark, he feels comforted even if the seal can't help him.

He wants his future and holds onto his life as best he can while stranded out at sea. Jen, the girl he cares for so much is highly anxious and impatient awaiting news of him as lifeboats and helicopters get deployed and shows how a big scale rescue goes down whether fiction or real life it's awe inspiring the life saving work they do all year, all day round. There's also a final addition at the end of the book with Kai's mum talking about why she left Kai's father and her possible probable postnatal depression which caused her to rely on alcohol.

The issues around safety in the sea are issues which should be raised more in teens and children's fiction in my opinion but at least they are in this stunning book, much praise to Chris for this!

It was a gripping read that leaves your heart skipping beats in anticipation.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Sunshine Is Forever by Kyle T Cowan

Hunter is depressed and so he goes off to a camp where they help through therapy to work on the teens and their history.

Whilst at camp, he meets Corrine a very out there, confident girl who he finds himself in a form of relationship with despite relationships being banned at camp. Although she wants to break them free, just as maybe he feels the camp could possibly benefit him...

We learn during the book of the turmoil he feels of guilt by his parents and everyone else he thinks, blaming him for not being able to prevent a harrowing incident occurring to his sister.

This book was a really good read for how complex depression can be due to trauma and the therapy mixed with camp is obviously used to show a case of one method of escapism and treatment combined to try and prevent suicide. The language was raw and honest but could trigger people if effected by depression and suicide themselves.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Girl Parts by John M. Cusick

When David is presented with robot girl Rose by his parents request to treat his dissociative disorder due to him spending all his time interacting and not bonding with people, he doesn't expect her to literally shock him thus making her separated from him after harming him when they're supposed to become friends or more not just have sex like David wants while Rose's programme disallows that to happen before a certain amount of time.

Rose is also a trial robot girl, so when David's parents don't like the changes or lack of in their son, Rose finds herself running into the arms of Charlie, a boy she met after running him off the road when David was driving them home one night after a party.

Rose continues to hide away at Charlie's until a nightmare makes her believe her design company Sakura are after her which leads her to finding Lily, another version of her only a Barbie type version unlike her.

It was a great concept for a book! I love the idea of how robot partners can be developed but how creepy it can be too at the same time knowing you could pick aspects of their personality or design even. I like the aspect of typical sexual norms with girls being Barbie's and males all sex driven as it is quite often true but could've been challenged in the book more as times are ever changing surrounding sexuality.

Can I Tell You About Loneliness? by Julian Stern

In this book, set up for seven to thirteen year olds, we hear from Jan's perspective of how he feels when he's suffering from loneliness.

Jan is an eleven year old and describes how he feels in varying situations from at home, school, weekend clubs and when he's alone. His emotions when he's lonely vary from, worrying, nervous to feeling sad and cut off from everyone around him until the feeling passes.

It is common and totally okay to feel lonely!

It's natural and we will all feel loneliness one way or another and it will effect us in some way or form from situations we find ourselves in during our lives. It's easy to let fear of judgement win, but we all fit in somewhere and whether your interests are books, drawing, sports, music etc, there's people out there who love your favourite activity as much as you do too!

This book is here to show children that it's normal and to reassure them as they grow up too during these few years a lot of changes will be happening in emotions and hormones so that will probably cause more intensely felt emotions as well.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

The Recovery Letters edited by James Withey & Olivia Sagan

This is a book that many people out there should have, in fact as well as their medication for depression they should be handed a copy of this book too.

The Recovery Letters is all written by people who have recovered from their depression and didn't give up or let it consume them and drag them down, instead they are now able to address their past self in letter form to the memory of who they were previously when they were sucked into their depression and quite possibly felt that was how they were going to feel forever.

The people writing to their past selves share helpful tips to try and improve your mood naturally such as exercise and joining new clubs to try and find a hobby to suit you.

You're not weak, alone and support is out there. Always remember you are enough even if you feel you aren't.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Baby Lost by Hannah Robert

Only two days after Christmas back in 2009, Hannah's life changed drastically after a car crashed into her car while she was eight months pregnant with her little baby 'Halloumi'.

Also in the car was her partner, Roma and their daughters, Jackie and Jazzie who all managed to escape the wreck along with Hannah but unfortunately, baby Zainab had just one tender day with her family due to the horrific accident. No amount of bruises or broken bones were as significant a side effect of the crash as an innocent newborn life being so cruelly taken. I feel anger towards the reckless driver for taking this poor family's precious baby away, reckless drivers need stopping and need punishment.

Hannah's writing during the time of being in hospital talks of her inability to face traveling in a car again so soon as the trauma caught up to her and all she was facing ahead of her felt too much, working with a physiotherapist to walk again properly as well as grief all taking a toll.

I was glad to know that the reckless student driver was caught but saddened to know that Hannah and Rims split. However, their grief was aided by Ali's arrival, a newborn baby boy joined their family and sent a new glimmer of life and hope to them.

I was so glad to read that Hannah's family escaped but the loss of a new baby is always a tender thing. In our family, my aunt suffered a lot to get pregnant and I have a friend trying multiple rounds of IVF to try and have a baby, it's an emotional toll to endure at any stage of pregnancy from conceiving to birth. Hannah's account is detailed and strong, the family is a powerful team and baby Z would be proud to have such a loving family.

Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

We Own The Night by Ashley Poston

LD, Billie, Micah and Ingrid are best friends who know how to party hard when we meet them first.

The stoey focuses on Ingrid as we learn about her, she got into NYU for her future studies but stays at home being her grandma's carer.

Of the group, Billie and Ingrid are close, with him often talking about his dad with her. They also share a maze together as a hideaway as well as a tower pointing North alike Billie's nickname for her.

Yet, Micah and Ingrid kissed before and Ingrid likes him while he had a night with Ingrid's bully, Heather whom she has to endure working with at a sweet shop. He also wants to be in a relationship with Heather, making Ingrid ask her out for him which makes her feel even worse.

Ingrid escapes at night and hosts a midnight radio show under the pseudonym, Nightowl where she has a lot of talks with caller, Dark and Brooding.

Billie pushes her to apply for an internship she gets accepted into it until her grandma's Alzheimer's worsens and she cancels, until LD goes with her and Ingrid realises many things about her life, her future and her relationships.

An emotional rollercoaster for the character of Ingrid that keeps us reading for sure.