JulieHasMoved

BR with Elsbeth, Mel, Marte, Susan and Barbara

What an emotionally heartfelt and brutally honest journey this was. Ash is a character that is real...mental illness is real...it is not a joke, not a mindset made up on a whim, it is a real disease that millions live with every day. I felt it purely and accurately portrayed and loved being inside Ash's head during the realization that his illness was not just about him; that it affected everyone around him in ways he never knew.

"But what I was going to say was that - its difficult sometimes, for me to understand that I have the power to hurt someone. You see, it requires me to accept that someone may like me in the first place. "

Darian...what to say about this amazing man. He was charming, whitty, beautiful, glittering, absurdly generous and above all else, loving. <3

This book must be followed with [b:Aftermath|18739317|Aftermath (Glitterland, #1.5)|Alexis Hall|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1383056750s/18739317.jpg|26616636] as it is the true epilogue to this book. I had planned on a 4.5 star rating until I read this and got exactly the scene I wanted.

The writing was beautiful and I loved how each chapter told a time, be it now, yesterday, tomorrow, not long ago, etc. This only brought home the notion that time is lost when you are dealing with this illness...a calendar day means nothing.

I will end by saying that it was not long ago that my dad was finally diagnosed bi-polar. I say finally in that it took many many months to determine that his condition was not a physical degeneration but a mental one. To see a man totally lose himself to the point of catatonia is a frightening experience. To then see him come to and be so afraid of the world his mind chose to believe was true, was hard to believe. Our minds are powerful things, dreams can seem so real and we can get lost so easily believing we are alone.

Just a memorable read..read it babes!