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pucksandpaperbacks 's review for:
A Tragic Kind of Wonderful
by Eric Lindstrom
This book is one of my most anticipated releases of 2017 and I loved Lindstrom's debut novel, [b:Not If I See You First|22701879|Not If I See You First|Eric Lindstrom|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1449490841s/22701879.jpg|42221953]. In A Tragic Kind of Wonderful,we meet Mel who is dealing with bipolar disorder and hiding it from her friends to be "normal". She's also hiding another big secret, that she has a brother, Nolan.
I really loved the parent/aunt relationships that Mel has with her mother and Aunt Joan (HJ). I barely see parents in Young Adult books and I love when I see parental relationships amongst the main character. Hurricane Joan really stood out to me and I am so glad she was apart of this story.
My most favorite thing about Lindstrom and his stories are that they are female characters. As he is a male author, he always nails his female characters to the fullest. I always appreciate the realistic side to Contemporary stories, for instance in A Tragic Kind of Wonderful, Mel gets her period. This had me cheering!! Especially that this novel is written by a MALE AUTHOR. It's such a real thing and I applaud Lindstrom for this. (Thank you!!!) Mel felt so real and raw in this story, and I really loved her.
Going off of this book being realistic, Mel works or volunteers at the old folks home and forms relationships with the residents such as a new resident, Ms. Li and Mr. Terrance Knight. I loved seeing how Mel felt so comfortable when she was surrounded by these people. Also, leading to a new friend, David.
I really like how Lindstrom NEVER focuses primarily on the romance in his stories. This book also did that, we do see her interest progress with David but it isn't the main focus of the story. The main focus is Mel and her bipolar disorder. Their relationship felt real, especially the fact that Mel didn't want to get close to him.
Mel experiences lots of high school drama with her past friends - Zumi, Connor and Annie - and we see her new friends (who are the bomb I love them) Holly and Declan. This is such a diverse friend group and I loved them. I really liked seeing the way things went between Mel and her past friends, Zumi and Connor. Also, the exploring of sexuality between to females. It was AWESOME.
As for bipolar disorder representation, I cannot comment on the accurate representation because I haven't had any experiences with bipolar disorder. However, I really did like seeing Mel's "animals" at the beginnings of every chapter, as well as her visits with Dr. Oswald and Dr. Jordan. I do wish we had more scenes of her visits with Dr. Oswald because I feel it was very important.
Overall, I really did enjoy this book and it did meet my expectations. However, I did feel it was slow at parts and to be completely honest I was getting a little bored toward the end and some of my questions went unanswered. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, a lot! I would recommend :)
I really loved the parent/aunt relationships that Mel has with her mother and Aunt Joan (HJ). I barely see parents in Young Adult books and I love when I see parental relationships amongst the main character. Hurricane Joan really stood out to me and I am so glad she was apart of this story.
My most favorite thing about Lindstrom and his stories are that they are female characters. As he is a male author, he always nails his female characters to the fullest. I always appreciate the realistic side to Contemporary stories, for instance in A Tragic Kind of Wonderful, Mel gets her period. This had me cheering!! Especially that this novel is written by a MALE AUTHOR. It's such a real thing and I applaud Lindstrom for this. (Thank you!!!) Mel felt so real and raw in this story, and I really loved her.
Going off of this book being realistic, Mel works or volunteers at the old folks home and forms relationships with the residents such as a new resident, Ms. Li and Mr. Terrance Knight. I loved seeing how Mel felt so comfortable when she was surrounded by these people. Also, leading to a new friend, David.
I really like how Lindstrom NEVER focuses primarily on the romance in his stories. This book also did that, we do see her interest progress with David but it isn't the main focus of the story. The main focus is Mel and her bipolar disorder. Their relationship felt real, especially the fact that Mel didn't want to get close to him.
Mel experiences lots of high school drama with her past friends - Zumi, Connor and Annie - and we see her new friends (who are the bomb I love them) Holly and Declan. This is such a diverse friend group and I loved them. I really liked seeing the way things went between Mel and her past friends, Zumi and Connor. Also, the exploring of sexuality between to females. It was AWESOME.
As for bipolar disorder representation, I cannot comment on the accurate representation because I haven't had any experiences with bipolar disorder. However, I really did like seeing Mel's "animals" at the beginnings of every chapter, as well as her visits with Dr. Oswald and Dr. Jordan. I do wish we had more scenes of her visits with Dr. Oswald because I feel it was very important.
Overall, I really did enjoy this book and it did meet my expectations. However, I did feel it was slow at parts and to be completely honest I was getting a little bored toward the end and some of my questions went unanswered. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, a lot! I would recommend :)