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Book Review: A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom

Feb 19, 2017

A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom

Pages: 350
Publish date: February 2017
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 9780008183011
Purchase: Book Depository – Amazon UK – Amazon US – Amazon AU – Dymocks

How can you have a future if you can’t accept your past? Mel Hannigan doesn’t have it easy. Mourning the death of her firework of a brother, facing the loss of three friendships that used to mean everything to her and struggling to deal with a condition that even her closest friends don’t know about.
To protect herself and everyone else, Mel tries to lock away her heart, to live quietly without pain – but also without hope. Until the plight of an old friend, and meeting someone new, shows her that the risk is worth taking, that opening up to life – and who you really are – is what can make everything glorious… And that maybe Mel can discover a tragic kind of wonderful of her very own. A beautiful, captivating story about living with mental illness, and loving – even with a broken heart.

A Tragic Kind of Wonderful:

I received a copy of A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstorm from Harper Collins Australia in exchange for an honest review. This has in no way influenced my thoughts and feelings about the book.

This is one of those book that is hard to review. It’s one of those books, where readers are going to have lots of different thoughts. There are lots of different ways that mental illness can present, people experience if differently and people relate to it differently. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good representation of bipolar and the ways it can affect people.

A Tragic Kind of Wonderful follows sixteen-year-old protagonist Mel, whose bipolar disorder makes life unpredictable. But, when old friendships start to come to the surface. New friendships start to come to life and the wall that Mel has built around her life start to crumble.

Mel is the kind of protagonist that you don’t love, but you also don’t hate. I really enjoyed her emotions, her realness. I felt so much for her, that I wanted to hold her tight. A lot has happened in Mel’s life and her bipolar makes it that much harder. Throughout a lot of the novel we don’t exactly know what has happened to Mel, and we are taken on a ride.

The friendships in A Tragic Kind of Wonderful weren’t great – per say. But, they were also real. It’s heartbreaking to see throughout how friendships can tear you apart. But then there are those that build you up.

Mel also had a hard relationship with her family, that really torn her apart at times. But it was also great to see that they were there for her. That they cared for her. Here we have a family that has gone through so much heartbreak. And not only do they have to deal with one family member with mental illness, but nearly the whole family.

The romance in A Tragic Kind of Wonderful wasn’t my favourite. But I also didn’t hate it. I felt that it moved too fast, and I was taken back at time at how their relationship worked. On the other hand it was totally cute at the same time.

I saw a couple of reviews saying that her life took over the book, but I don’t agree with this. Mental illness are about balance, and when that balance is tipped, things change. Outcomes are different. So the book shouldn’t just be about the mental illness, but the balance that they create. And I think this book explores both.

Dr Jordan told me everyone with bipolar disorder is different – endless variations of moods, emotions, intensity, frequency, reactions, episodes, delusions, breakdowns…

I think this is perfect. This is one story of many. And that is why I liked it, it not only shows her story, but shows the outcomes and explores that there isn’t just one possibility with mental illness.

Nevertheless, towards the end of the book I was confused at what was happened. The reader was jumping here and there. And because of the state that Mel was in, it made it hard to really pin point what was happening.

Overall, A Tragic Kind of Wonderful is a difficult read. It explores life, family and friendships. A poignant novel that explores mental health and the influence it has on the person, their families and everyone around them. A Tragic Kind of Wonderful is a beautiful story that evokes all types of emotions.

Have you read A Tragic Kind of Wonderful? What did you think of it? Are you planning of reading it? Have you read other books by Eric Lindstrom.

Disability Diaries: Living with Chronic Pain

Jan 20, 2017

Today is my last post for the disability diaries this week and it is going to the most difficult. I’ve been blogging for nearly 6 years and I’ve kept my health pretty hidden. It’s not on purpose, but I’ve never been vocal about my health conditions. And now I think it’s a perfect time to talk about it.

Since the age of 3 I’ve been in and out of the hospital with multiple medical conditions. When I was 3 I was taken into emergency with a high fever, it was then discovered that I had something called Neurofibromatosis Type 1 or NF.

NF hasn’t affected me like some people, and I’ve been very lucky on that part. I’ve had little hiccups here and there, but mostly it’s been good. From over 10 years I was going to the hospital every couple of months for test after test. And sometimes it was hard. Especially when I would go in for one thing and then come out with something new. I’m not going to go into detail about all this, but it was a struggle, however, I pulled through.

Then when I was in year 8 around the age of 13/14 something changed and it was hard. I started feeling the most horrific pain that I could ever imagine. I previously had my appendix out and this pain was 10 times as worse.

The pain was located in my lower right jaw and now only was it horrific pain it caused me to have migraines, and not be able to eat. I was going to dentist appointments on after the other and after doing some scans – they couldn’t see anything. So I tried to ride it out. But, it was working.

I couldn’t eat, I slept all day because it made me forget the pain and I missed a lot of school. I cannot even begin to explain the pain. It was like stabbing and twisting and turning and pulling all wrapped into one. It was like I was in a room of fire and I couldn’t get out. I would cry from the pain.

After a while, my parents decided that it was enough and took me to the emergency room. I was in so much pain and I was missing too much school. When we went to the emergency department, they didn’t know what to do with me. They gave me some painkillers and let me stay for a couple of hours. After a while, they sent me home. Without me knowing at the time, they talked to my mum and they said it was all in my head. That I could be doing it for attention. And as you can imagine my mum was horrified. She knew that I wasn’t ‘making’ this up. She could tell that I was in pain.

So I went home for the weekend and the pain just got worse. I was in tears and curled up in bed. That Monday, my mum had enough and took me in again. This time she wanted answers and so did I. And we found out. I ended up having to do an MRI – which I hate a lot. I had already had MRI, PET Scans and CT before, but I am claustrophobic. No matter how many I have done over my years, it never gets better and I nearly have a panic attack every time.

They decided that I should stay the night, so they could keep an eye on me and give a final diagnosis. In the meantime, they had given me some medication that would help me the pain and it did, but it also made me very hypo and had my mum and aunty laughing their asses off.

The day they told me. I had something called Trigeminal Neuralgia. It was nice to have a name to what I had, but there was still a long way ahead for me. Trigeminal Neuralgia by definition is ‘a chronic pain condition that affects the trigeminal or 5th cranial nerve, one of the most widely distributed nerves in the head’ – National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. With the pain described as ‘the intensity of pain can be physically and mentally incapacitating’—which I can totally and fully agree on.

They started putting me on medication and after a while, they pain was so much better. Not gone, never gone. But, I didn’t feel like I was going to pass out from the pain. I could eat, go to school and not sleep all day. It was finally better.

Then a year later, the pain got worse, much worse. Again I was not eating, sleeping all day and at home, so I ended up being on 4 tablets a day. Which was hard. The high dosage made be very drowsy, however, I wasn’t in pain anymore. It’s hard to deal with having medication that does affect you like mine does. It’s weighing up the options. Do I continue having the medication and fall asleep in some classes or be in pain all the time. There wasn’t much of a decision there.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been able to go off my medication, however, a couple of months later I was back on as I was in so much pain. It’s one of the things with Trigeminal Neuralgia. It doesn’t ever really go away. I could have years without pain and then all of a sudden its back like nothing has changed.

And even when I am in remission, I can feel it. Like it’s hanging onto me, tell me it’s still there and no matter what, it won’t go away. It is a constant reminder.

Chronic pain is very hard to deal with and be able to do everyday things. Some days I cannot even get out of bed. I’ve missed school, I’ve missed university, and I have missed family events. And when people asked to describe the pain, I can’t do it in words because there is nothing I can compare it to. Nothing that can sum it up. It’s everything mashed into one.

Thank you so much for reading, if anyone did read to the end I appreciate it. Talking about my experience with chronic pain isn’t something that I have done before, but I am glad that I did. Disabilities in young adult books is very important. And it’s needed. Maybe when I was first diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia and there were books with teens in a similar situation to me, I might have been able to understand better.

Don’t forget to check out my other posts that I have published this week and all the other posts by the other hosts, Ely @ Tea and Titles, Cee Arr @ Diary of a Reading Addict, Dina @ Dinasoaur, Jolien @ The Fictional Reader, and Lara @ Another Teen Reader.

Disability Diaries: Books on my TBR

Jan 18, 2017

I hope that you are enjoying disability diaries so far. Don’t forget to check out Ely @ Tea and Titles, Cee Arr @ Diary of a Reading Addict, Dina @ Dinasoaur, Jolien @ The Fictional Reader, and Lara @ Another Teen Reader. Who are posting some incredible posts.

The other day I talked about young adult books with disabilities that I would recommend that you read and today is the books that I want to read. In 2017 I really want to read more books that do feature disabilities and here is my list to start.

Mental Health TBR

Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall: This book features a protagonist with agoraphobia and OCD, where she cannot even step outside the front door for groceries. One of the main reasons I want to read this book is because it’s by an #ownvoice author.

Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne: This book features a protagonist with OCD that is about to enter college and all she wants is for her life to be normal. Am I Normal Yet? has been on my list since it was released and I just haven’t gotten my hands on it. However, I recently got it for Christmas and cannot wait to get into it.

Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes: This book has been on my TBR for many other reasons and it has only recently come to my attention that it also features a protagonist with anxiety and OCD.

Physical Disabilities TBR

The Season of You and Me by Robin Constantine: The male protagonist of this one is newly paralysed and confined to a wheelchair. It’s very rare that you see this in YA and it’s the reason that I have to pick it up. I’ve heard some pretty great things about this one and cannot wait to dig in.

Far From You by Tess Sharpe: One of the main reasons I want to read this book is because there is a sense of chronic pain that is featured. It’s again rare to find books that do explore it.

I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios: I’ve seen this book around for a while, but only recently I read the synopsis and I have been intrigued ever since. I’ll Meet You There features the male lead who has lost his leg in Afghanistan.