This book was recommended to me by my therapist. I haven’t read a book that I wanted to fill with note tabs in a long time. I used a whole stack in this book. There were SO MANY themes that I related to within. This stark and thoughtful memoir so beautifully crafted approachable conversations and reflection about:

- bootstrap narratives + grit” and “resilience” narratives and the ways they undermine trauma
- productivity and achievement and success as they relate to simultaneous need for mental health care; how they are not mutually exclusive
- reconciling the things we need and the things we get from parents with their own mental health struggles
- self-worth and notions of value in gifted children
- self-advocacy in young people and the difficulty being heard when in the midst of trauma
- first-generation college students and the code switching and identity crises involved; existing in two worlds while belonging nowhere
- guilt for struggling when others struggle more; allowing room for one’s own experiences and life as nuanced
…and so much more. I want to sit down with Emi for hours to discuss, laugh, and commiserate. I’ve never felt so seen by a stranger.