Title: Your Voice Is All I Hear
Author: Leah Scheier
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: September 1st 2015
Genre: Young Adult, Mental Illness, Realistic Fiction
Format: e-ARC
My rating: 4/5
Blurb
“I was the one he trusted. I was the one he loved, the only one who believed him, even when his own mother had locked him up and thrown away the key. And now, I was going to pass down the white tiled hallway, knock on his doctor’s office door, slam his secret notebook on her desk and make her read it, make her understand what he was hiding, make her see what only I had seen.”
April won’t let Jonah go without a fight. He’s her boyfriend-her best friend. She’ll do anything to keep him safe. But as Jonah slips into a dark depression, trying to escape the traumatic past that haunts him, April is torn. To protect Jonah, she risks losing everything: family, friends, an opportunity to attend a prestigious music school. How much must she sacrifice? And will her voice be loud enough to drown out the dissenters-and the ones in his head?
My Review
I haven’t read many YA novels with mental illness as the main theme. The story did drag a little in a few places for me, but it is a good read.
Even with the book being done, I’m still now sure how to rate it. It went from your stereotypical high school drama, to real life seriousness. I wasn’t clicking with the story for about the first half, because my mind did the whole “been there, done that”, and then the author just flipped the table and launched this bomb of feels.
The author did a great job in writing April as a 15 year old who knows nothing about schizophrenia, and had to learn along the way. She didn’t suddenly become a know-it-all, and even by the end of the book, there were still things she didn’t understand.
Mental illness is real, and Scheier showed that quiet well. She didn’t romanticize Jonah’s situation, au contraire, she showed the reader how serious and real it is every step of the way. And the book has one of the most logical endings.. It worked well.
<spoiler>Jonah breaking up with April to allow himself to heal without using her as a crutch is the best way the book could end.</spoiler>
If you are looking for a good mental illness themed book that doesn’t sugarcoat the issue, this is a recommended read.
Book Links
Amazon | Barnes & Nobel | BookDepository | Goodreads
About the author
Leah Scheier was born and raised in Baltimore, MD. As a child, she was inspired by her favorite authors, Arthur Conan Doyle, Lloyd Alexander, and C.S. Lewis to dream up tales of adventure and romance. Now grown up with daughters of her own, Leah works as a pediatrician and continues to create new stories.