Sena Nakajima/ Staff reporter
How can you have a future if you can’t accept your past? A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom, published in 2017, is all about that question. The question the main character, Mel Hannigan, faces in her life.
This book gives readers a glimpse of what life is like for a teenage girl with bipolar disorder. Through the book, it explains the different conditions of bipolar disorder. For example, some people like Mel’s aunt Hurricane Joan, has only two moods. Either ecstatic or miserable. For Mel though, she feels everything in between too. She has learned to analyze her moods and take care of herself.
Mel tries to get along with everyone, while grieving and clinging to her brother Noah’s death. He also had bipolar disorder, and ever since his death, her family has been treating her like she could die at any moment. They keep a close watch on her, including her location, plans, and medication.
Many friendships are lost and made throughout the story, and trying to hide her condition from her closest friends doesn’t make social situations easy for anyone. Her friends aren’t aware that she sometimes acts like she does because of her condition, and they assume she is completely sane and is betraying them on purpose.
The moral of this story is to trust and cherish the people around, but most importantly, trust and cherish yourself. While it may seem difficult and reluctant at first, life does get easier after opening up problems and troubles to friends and family.
The carefully selected words beautifully illustrate the bitter-sweet moments the main character encounters, whilst also educating the readers about bipolar disorder. Some chapters within the book go back into the past to explain and contrast with the current situation. With twists and turns and the unveiling of deep secrets, this book is the kind to get readers addicted.
This book was slow-moving at first but got more interesting as the story unfolds. This would be recommended for people who enjoy reading genres such as romance, modern fiction, and literary fiction.
References
Images:
https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51U2XtjyMrL._SL500_.jpg
https://storage.googleapis.com/lr-assets/gardimg/400/9780008147471.jpg
