The walls are
covered with a sticky, slightly padded substance in soothing pastel pinks
and blues so I won’t want to kill myself. Remember when we learned about
that black bridge in sociology class? People kept jumping off of it, so
they painted it powder blue. I bet the only reason that brought the
suicide numbers down is the humiliating thought of having someone say,
”Steve killed himself by jumping off a powder blue bridge.” They’re
thinking the walls will lull me into a calmed state?
Anna Bloom is just like any other teenage girl, she gets stressed out, she
gets upset, and she’s not happy with her body, right? Except, it’s not the
same for her, she’s not just stressed out, she gets panic attacks, which
prevent her from doing much of anything at school. She’s doesn’t just get
upset, she is clinically depressed and she would probably be perfectly okay
with her body type if not for her depression, the panic attacks and her
mother’s obsession with her weight. When her parents finally stop writing
notes to excuse her from school, they take her to a mental institution.
Finally away from her weight-obsessed mother, she finds that her doctor is
obsessed as well and then she finds out that she will remain on suicide
watch. She takes matters into her own hands; she refuses to cooperate and
threatens to take her own life inside the institution, but it doesn’t appear
that she will be getting out anytime soon.
This book describes what any high school girl goes through to an extreme
degree. This book was a little slow at the beginning, and the language was
harsh, simply because she was so angry that she had been placed there, but
once she truly came to terms with the idea of her being there, the book
really took off and became much more enjoyable. The friends that she makes
in this book make it entertaining as well; the different personalities mesh
perfectly and make a perfect dose of comic relief. It also shows that the
people in the homes are not always just purely insane, despite societies
beliefs. The stories behind each person in the institution are gut
wrenching, but you come to realize how much the things in someone’s past can
truly affect them later in life. It was interesting to see how Anna could go
through treatment, and be able to be cured, simply with the mundane things
that you would never expect.
I give this book four wild stars out of five. I recommend this book for ages
13 and up because of the coarse language, which gets less frequent
throughout the book, but can be a little startling at the beginning of the
book.
RATING:
