Book Traveling Thursdays: A book that deals with mental health

Every week, Danielle (from Danielle’s Book Blog) and Cátia (from TheGirlWhoReadTooMuch) host a feature called Book Traveling Thursdays on Goodreads. They give you a topic each Thursday and you choose a book that you think fits. Then comes the fun part: a cover showdown! You post the original cover, the cover from your country (which I won’t be doing because the books aren’t published here), and then your favorite and least favorite cover from any edition around the world.

This week’s topic is a book that deals with mental health. I chose This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers because it deals with depression and it does it very very well. I will not get tired of recommending this book, not only for great representation, but because it’s a great book overall, it has zombies, and it begins one of my favorite opening chapters ever. Check it out on Amazon and tell me if it doesn’t hook you to the story right away. Now let’s check out the covers!

Diversity Spotlight Thursday (#4)

Welcome to Diversity Spotlight Thursday, a feature recently created by Aimal @Bookshelves and Paperbacks to shed light on diverse literature. Each week we’ll be sharing three different books: one that I’ve read, one that I want to read, and an upcoming release. Check that link if you want to join us!

Review: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

– SPOILER FREE REVIEW –

Title: The Bell Jar
Author: Sylvia Plath
Genre: Literary fiction, Contemporary
Release date: January 14th, 1963

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Description:

Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed and enduring masterwork, Sylvia Plath brilliantly draws the reader into Esther’s breakdown with such intensity that her insanity becomes palpably real, even rational—as accessible an experience as going to the movies. A deep penetration into the darkest and most harrowing corners of the human psyche, The Bell Jar is an extraordinary accomplishment and a haunting American classic.

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I had the hardest of times trying to rate this book. On one side, I enjoyed the writing, Esther’s feminist views and the honesty with which Sylvia Plath conveyed mental illness. Then, on the other, the protagonist varies drastically between refreshing and unlikable, the constant prejudiced comment put me off, and the other characters were not that powerful for me.

Review: This is Not a Test by Courtney Summers

– SPOILER FREE REVIEW –

Title: This is Not a Test (This is Not a Test #1)
Author: Courtney Summers
Genre: Young adult, Horror
Release date: June 19th, 2012

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Description:

It’s the end of the world. Six students have taken cover in Cortege High but shelter is little comfort when the dead outside won’t stop pounding on the doors. One bite is all it takes to kill a person and bring them back as a monstrous version of their former self. To Sloane Price, that doesn’t sound so bad. Six months ago, her world collapsed and since then, she’s failed to find a reason to keep going. Now seems like the perfect time to give up. As Sloane eagerly waits for the barricades to fall, she’s forced to witness the apocalypse through the eyes of five people who actually want to live. But as the days crawl by, the motivations for survival change in startling ways and soon the group’s fate is determined less and less by what’s happening outside and more and more by the unpredictable and violent bids for life—and death—inside. When everything is gone, what do you hold on to?

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I read this book practically in one sitting and became one of my favorites. From the first sentence, this book grabs you and surrounds you with the apocalyptic world where our protagonist Sloane lives, internally and externally. This is not just a zombie book, but rather a heart-wrenching depiction of depression and survival that is both action and emotion-packed.