Just One More Chapter

"the thing they never tell you about love stories: just because one ends, that doesn’t mean it failed. A cherry pie isn’t a failure just because you eat it all. It’s perfect for what it is, and then it’s gone. And exchanging the truest parts of yourself—all the things you are—with someone? What a slice of life."

Inevitable book hangover? Check!

How do I describe a book that left me sobbing, outright weeping with snot ripcording freely (TMI??), old mascara smeared like a Rorschach test from the day that passed so uneventfully though ended with me holding my ereader, cradling and rocking it like a colicky baby?! I can not explain how it not only touched my soul because of its eloquent prose:

"Jonah Daniels and his gaze are enough to make a girl feel like she emerged from a huge seashell in the middle of the ocean, like the painting of Venus, surrounded by sea foam. And maybe I did; I don’t remember being born, and I wouldn’t put it past my painter-mother to pull it off."

but it soundboarded Me back to Me of the things that creep and writhe in the darkness which have been previously traversed solo... now exposed by this beautifully worded tome. 

"I’ve prowled the dirtiest back alleys of sadness, okay? And I know what it’s like to fight for your life on those mean streets. So if you need someone to vent to or someone to be quiet with or someone to talk your ear off, I can be that person. I’m not scared of the dark places."

"I still take my other pill because that one keeps the shadow creatures at bay. Last year, they curled their inky arms around me until my Technicolor world became crackling gray static. Until I felt nothing but blankness."

It is incredibly relieving to read about Mental Illness being spoken about in such an honest, effervescently resplendent way. I also couldn't believe how remarkably it tackled the issue of Grief and saying goodbye in every facet. I guess I'll just post a bunch of quotes and let you decide for yourself.

"Vivi climbed into my life with her fossil brush, and she swept away the dust. She rediscovered me under all that rubble, and that means I’ll always be a little bit hers. How am I supposed to say good-bye to someone like that?"

If you're not in the market or frame of mind for a whitewashing and tasteful graffiti tagging of this book's name on your thoroughly flogged heart, this hauntingly accurate portrayal of Life's hardships for not only the Mentally Ill but those left in their wake...this is NOT the book for you!! This book sucker punched me right in the soul. Take heed, this book will cause weeping, sniveling, red eyed bleariness from extreme sleep deprivation brought on by clinically poignant Art at its finest. Sorry if this is incoherent, rambling, morbid, pretentious or verbose... I've just come off of a 5 hour, self reflecting literary bender and I'm thoroughly wrung out.