bird words

I really enjoyed this novel (minus the almost-sex scene between the two mains) and really appreciated that the main character was not treated like a villain for her mental illness (except for a very realistic scene where she is outed by a classmate and I started crying because it was very similar to something I went through in high school).

I was extremely skeptical about this book when I read that the author did not personally experience paranoid schizophrenia (either firsthand or secondhand), but the novel treats this so well enough that I wasn't upset or finding myself annoyed with the book.

This book is heartbreaking at times, but a really great read. Anyone with an interest in how mental illness/mental health is represented in young adult fiction should give this book a read.