Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes?

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She crafts stories and characters with lives so real and relatable, you can't help but feel a part of it all. Having loved The Spinster Club Trilogy, and how well she dealt with Evie's OCD in Am I Normal Yet?, when I heard Holly Bourne was writing another novel dealing with mental illness, Are We All Lemmings & Snowflakes?, I was dying to read it. And oh my god, this book is absolutely incredible. Ofcourse it’s one thing to say you want to get better and another to actually actively try to get better. Olive mostly just wants to do things on her terms and when your brain, who is just so mean to you sometimes, calls the shots and tells you lies, it’s just hard to look at others for help. This book hit a little too close to home for me every time Olive would have her manic episodes or the Numb Days. The way she would describe how she saw things and felt things and just understood the world around her, it was all just something I could identify with. This book was just really important to me for so many reasons that I don’t have the fancy vocabulary to explain properly. The Kindness virus idea was so lovely and Sophie’s speech to Olive at the end had me crying. I do appreciate the concept really but I don't know, it's just hardly believable. Just because a group of teens decided to spread thousands of motivational messages from a rooftop onto the carnival doesn't mean it will compel people to be instantly kind and start hugging each other and that actually happened at the end of the story. Gah!

In this story of hope and endurance, we follow a scientist and her team during their search for the elusive 'Giant Arctic Jellyfish'. Anyway, then I was there [in the greenhouse] and the storm was there and I realized just how not normal it was that I'd run out into the garden. And my head felt like it was burning and screaming and full of insects that were exploding one by one behind my eyes..." Another tear bubbles up and jumps down my cheek. "And I realized that I'm not very well again," I gasp, needing more air. "And I'm not sure I can go through that again."' (p17)* I enjoyed reading it though, and I think this is a good book if you don't know much about mental illnesses and what it's like to have them. Because of this, I feel it's kind of more respectful to Olive not to discuss what she is dealing with. Saying that, knowing a bit more about mental illnesses through the reading I've done, I did have a theory about what she might have, which was partly confirmed. More on that later. Even though she doesn't want to know exactly what it is she has, she definitely has some thoughts about it. During a Core Beliefs class, the teens are given a sheet of paper listed with negative core beliefs, and they are asked to circle two they feel applies to them. The idea is that they then reword it to say "I would prefer it if I was not..." and rework it into something more positive. This was actually really interesting, and something I think everybody could do with thinking about - whether you have a mental illness or not, we all, at times, suffer from self-doubt, low self-esteem, or negative thoughts about ourselves, and I found it really interesting. Anyway, Olive is looking through the list, after circling one, trying to decide on another, because there are several that she thinks.The end wasn’t exactly what I wanted. I feel like we didn’t really have a complete ending. Even Olive’s storyline was rushed and not really over, I would have loved to see her talk to her parents during the final weekend of camp. That’s why I’m giving this book 4 stars. I obviously have not been the person to diagnose you and I know your diagnosis is still uncertain..." And before I can stop him, before I can shout out "NO" before I can wave my arms in the air and scream "DON'T DO THIS" he says, "but in my professional opinion, you may have [redacted] and..."

The thing is, it sounds good. It sounds like it could work. I mean, a month. A whole month. Of intensive treatment. I could improve. I could learn how to not feel like this again. This could be it. This could be the silver bullet. The magic pill. The miracle cure. The thing that actually does it. And just that thought - the thought this could all go away. The thought that I'd finally be able to feel normally, as opposed to EVERYTHING or NOTHING... The thought is more than enough to make me smile.' (p27-28)* That's when the top blows off his volcano. "BECAUSE I'M IN A BAND!" he shouts and Sophie squeals. "I'm not traumatised or poor or abused, okay? I just smoked a shit ton of weed because I'm in a band and that's what people in bands do. I'm just a selfish idiot addict. How are you going to save the world from selfish idiots? Because I'll tell you what..." his voice lowers to almost a growl. "I don't think absolving myself of all responsibility for the bad decisions I've made in my life is going to make the world a better place. In fact I think it's going to make it a worse one. Yeah shit happens, yadda yadda. But I'm the reason I'm here. I'm the reason I'm like this. And I'm the reason the moment I'm out of here I'll probably go straight to my dealer and buy an ounce, smoke it and probably start tripping out again. Letting people off is not the answer."' (p254-255)* Olive is aware that she has anxiety, but that's more a symptom rather than the overall mental illness. And she does have some absolutely wonderful things to say about how you can't apply logic to anxiety - or any mental illness. I’m not going to go through every character but two who stood out, and I think were meant to stand out, are Jamie and Lewis. Jamie is the typical guy you’re supposed to like, all charming and boyish, whereas Lewis is the typical awkward, never-been-kissed type of guy and I have to admit, I didn’t like him to begin with. He did eventually grow on me, and Olive’s and his friendship was sweet, but personally I will always prefer Jamie.

The book opens up with Olive having a really hard time. Again. For the third time. She is in her room, with pillows and duvets, cocooning herself away under her desk, trying to escape all noise, which makes her anxious, to the point of panic. But, as her mum points out, it's her dad's birthday, and they're having a barbecue, and people are coming round. Can't Olive just try? Can't she just pull herself together this once and try? But a barbecue, with all the people and all the noise, is Olive's worst nightmare. And she has to escape. Not just the noise, but herself, because she's realised she's not ok. YA Book Prize for teen fiction winner announced". Future News - Media Planner. 3 May 2018 . Retrieved 8 May 2018.

Because even though I won't let them tell me the official label for it, I know this is the truth. I know it is not *normal* to swing from euphoria to suicidal in one earthly rotation. The enormity of that presses down on my skull, travels down my spine, sends tingles of dread firing out through my frail, human body. I shake my head violently, trying to dislodge it. Because I am here to fix this. I am here to balance myself out. Here to heal. Here to get rid of this. It's ruined me three times, but not any more. Not again. I will get rid of this poison inside me.' (p111)*Jamie grins and talks with his mouth full of egg. "You've got something weird and new that they haven't figured out yet?" Bourne was one of the headlining authors of the 2019 London Book Fair, appearing as 'Children’s Author of the Day' on the final day. [15] Recognitions [ edit ]

Recently, our understanding of mental illness has begun to move away from purely biological models and towards one that considers the individual experience. Instead of asking, “What’s wrong with you?” we are finally asking, “What happened to you?” More people feel brave enough to share their stories and this should only be encouraged, never ridiculed. I’m inclined to wonder what happened to Liddle, to make him someone who sneers at those fighting to make the world a kinder, safer place for young people. But it’ll take someone braver than me to find compassion for him. I’m going to continue fighting for young snowflakes, and empowering them to share their stories. Together, we can create an avalanche and, hopefully, a world that doesn’t make people ill. I don’t think that’s such a crazy thought. The part with the kindness virus was pretty ridiculous to me, to be honest. I thought the idea itself was not well thought out by itself, plus I doubt people in that situation are so easily convinced to take time from their free therapy that normally is incredibly expensive and that a bunch of teens wouldn't use social media for that kind of project, which would have a far wider reach. Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark... Gabriella, unbothered by his anger, steps closer to him. "But WHY did you start abusing substances, Jamie?" This book did not touch me at all. I think it's mainly because I couldn't stand the main character. I feel really conflicted about that, because her being a bitch is part of her mental illness, and the entire point of the book is that she can't help that she was born this way. But Olive (the main character) is just annoying me so much. Not really in being mean, because I think that's very understandable and relatable. What annoyed me is that she went to a camp to learn how to deal with her mental illness, and then she concludes that the professionals don't know how to help her so she decides to do her own thing. Hun, if you were able to help yourself, you wouldn't be in the situation you're in.Olive was kinda an unreliable main character because of her illness she has pretty erratic behavior through out the story. But i managed to related to her struggle so many times; her self hate and bad thoughts.... I want to be clear, that I didn't hate this book! Despite my issues, I think the idea behind it was a good one and the overall message of the book is a positive thing. If this book wasn’t my favorite by Holly Bourne, it certainly convinced me that she’s such a gifted writer, especially when it comes to talking about mental health. I really can’t wait to read more and more from her.