Elena's sister, Dora, is admitted to the psych ward of Lorning Hospital after an attempted suicide. There Elena thinks things will get fixed. What she doesn't realize is that this disease is just beginning to creep into their lives. Dora seems to get worse, not better. Elena wonders when Dora will be able to come home, and when she does if things will ever go back to normal. At school people seem to pity her, except Jimmy. Jimmy is an odd boy who lives near Elena. His brother was in Lorning, and he tries to get closed-off Elena to open up about what she's going through.


My Thoughts:
This book has been on my TBR since FOREVER, but I had forgotten what it was about. I saw it at the library and remembered seeing it on my TBR, but by glancing at the cover I assumed this was going to be something creepy. Ghosts maybe?? Doesn't the cover give you the creepy vibe? Okay well now we know, it's NOT creepy. It's actually one of the strangest books I've read in a long time (in a non-creepy way).

Dora and Elena are these two really opposite sisters. Dora's always been the creative, emotional one, while Elena is the responsible, analytic one. Even though Elena is younger, she's the one supposed to watch over Dora from a young age. As Dora goes through her issues, Elena is just left out on an island by herself. Her parents won't talk to her, she doesn't have friends, and she doesn't want to share her feelings with her therapist. It was interesting to read about someone so UN-emotional and closed off. Especially a girl. I haven't met many of those in YA.

So I'm thinking that this book would have been better as a short story. It's about this huge, heavy topic (depression), but it just wants to skim the surface. I didn't feel any depth to this book. Something would be mentioned and BOOM, end of chapter, on to something else. Seriously there were no chapters longer than 2 pages. There was a small part where Elena seemed to be getting completely overwhelmed by her situation, worrying about Dora 24/7, and just seeming to become overcome with fear of what Dora may do. I wish that part was more developed. It was the only real time I felt like the book was really saying something.

Jimmy confused me. He was all over the place. One minute he'd be asking Elena a question about her sister's well-being... and then before she could even answer he'd be off trying to cook some weird concoction. It was truly odd and I wasn't sure what the point of it was.

Basically, I'm not saying you shouldn't read this book... but I've definitely read better books about depression. I don't think I truly "got" this book and that's because it was too choppy and jumpy. And every time something big was on the brink of happening, it was the end of the chapter.

OVERALL: Ehhh. It's a super short, quick read, but it doesn't delve into the topic of depression the way I would expect an issues book to. I wouldn't recommend it, but it's not terrible.

My Blog:

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A young adult novel that looks at how dealing with the clinical depression of a young girl affects the entire family, told through the eyes of a younger sister. Some very moving and "true-feeling" scenes, mixed in with some unrealistic (to me) wise-and-articulate dialogue makes for a generally thoughtful and sensitive portrait of what it feels like when you want to help someone and don't know how. ( )

Fast read. Good for teens to read. I really liked it ( )

From the very first pages of this deeply emotional and engaging young adult novel, readers are plunged into the depths of adversity and drama. Elena’s seemingly ordinary life spirals down a steep slope of sadness, uncertainty, and instability when her older sister, Dora, is hospitalized for severe depression. With her family in a state of crisis and her social world collapsing in loneliness and isolation, Elena must shoulder the immense burden—at any cost—to restore normalcy and balance. Schumacher artfully embeds accurate depictions of depression throughout insightful descriptions of the bond of sisterhood, fragility of family life, and teenage tribulations. The short chapters of this relatively quick read (~160 pages)—ranging in length from a few pages to a single striking line—parallel Elena’s jarring environment and tug the reader along with a sense of gripping urgency. ( )

Two sisters, one with depression and one dealing with her sister's depression. ( )