Book Review: Hello Me, It's You*
After working with Blogging for Books for a couple months, I decided to see what other companies that I could work with to get books in exchange for honest reviews. Eventually, I stumbled upon NetGalley.
Peaking my interest, I decided to sign up and take a look through their available titles. In doing so, I found a lot of the books on my current wishlist. However, I was specifically on the hunt for a good book to inspire progress on one of my current projects.
In the process of doing so, I happened upon Hello Me, It's You: A Collection of Letters Written By Young Adults to Their Younger Selves. And although, it wasn't quite what I was looking for, it inspired me nonetheless! That's how I ended up coming up with the idea that I shared in my last post, "Upcoming Anthology | Unofficial Call for Submissions."
Anyhoo, I was so interested in what the book had to offer that I went ahead and requested a copy! I was then approved shortly after and immediately downloaded my copy!
Synopsis:
Everyone says being a teenager is CRAZY. But do they mean crazy hard, crazy fun... or just plain bonkers?
Roughly three people in every class have some kind of mental health issue, but most of them have no idea what's going on. They think they're just weak, or shy, or bad, or completely, irreversibly, writing-on-the-walls 'insane'. But they're not. They have some form of depression, anxiety, eating disorder or other mental health issue and they will come out the other side.
This is a book of advice, from young people who made it through, to their sixteen-year-old selves.
Do you ever feel like the apocalypse is coming, and it wouldn't be that bad? Like bed is as far as you want to get today? As though your heart is going to beat right out of your chest and your legs have turned to jelly, at the thought of leaving home or talking to another human being? Or maybe you just feel like when you start worrying, you can't stop.
Whatever form it takes, this book can help you through it.
Trigger warning: Due to it's nature, the content of this book may be triggering. Contains personal experiences of depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, trichotillomania and other mental health issues, as well as issues such as assault.
Review:
Before I start, I just have to give props to Hannah and her entire team for this book! I know that it started out as a project, but it really can and is making a difference in the world! Someday, I can only hope that my books do the same!
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, the purpose of this book was to help provide a resource for those dealing with various forms of mental illnesses, mainly including anxiety and depression. Two diseases in which I know all too well!
Personally, I agree wholeheartedly with Hannah that there needs to be more non-fiction material for our age group on the topic. So the fact that all of the letters are written by young adults (ages 17-24) is absolutely perfect, because not only do I get to hear experiences from multiple people, but I get to read the experiences of people my age too!
As for the actual letters, I do wish that there had been a little more editing involved. Now, I know how hard it can be to find mistakes once you've read something over and over again. However, while I was reading, I did find a couple grammar/punctuation errors and places where it seemed there were words missing. Of course, this didn't really affect the true meaning behind the book.
Besides the small errors that I found, I did quite enjoy the look of the entire book. Personally, I am in love with the art of brush lettering, so I was immediately drawn to the black and white cover of this book. Later, I found out that the hand lettering continued throughout the book too! Each work of art beautifully placed between two letters and featuring an inspirational quote from the letter that follows.
When it comes to each individual letter, I found each of them inspiring and relatable. Although, I haven't struggled with bulimia or trichotillomania, I still felt as though I could relate to those stories too and ultimately, I think that's one of the most important parts of a book like this.
Overall, I highly recommend this book! I think that it's one of those books that every person should read during their lifetime. It may been created with young adults in mind, but I don't think that it's limited to them! Every person will experience some type of hardship during their lifetime and this is a great book of encouragement!
If you're interested in purchasing this book, you can find it here.
Have you read Hello Me, It's You? I would love to hear what you thought about it in the comments!
* This book was provided by NetGalley in exchange for a review. However, all opinions and comments in this review are 100% my own. *
* This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I'll receive some type of commission. For more information, you can read our full disclosure here. *
Join the Ivy Cirillo Books Newsletter!
Sign up for our latest content, projects, and coupon codes!
0 comments