ARC Review: Your Voice is All I Hear


Title: Your Voice is All I Hear
Author: Leah Scheier
Series: N/A, Standalone
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Mental Illness
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Publication Date: September 1st 2015
Pages: Paperback, 336 pages
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
Everything about Jonah is unexpected. On the first day of school, he sits next to April, when he could have chosen to sit with the popular girl. He turns down an invitation to join the school team and declares he'd rather paint. He encourages April to develop her musical talent and shrugs off the bullies that torment them.

April isn't surprised to find herself falling for Jonah. The unexpected part is when he falls for her too.

But the giddy happiness of their first romance begins to fade when Jonah's unpredictability begins to take a darker turn. April understands that her boyfriend is haunted by a painful memory, but his sudden mood swings worry her. She can't explain his growing fear of cellphones, electric keyboards, and of sounds that no one else can hear. Still, no matter what happens, April is sure that she'll always stand by him.

Until Jonah finally breaks and is committed to a psychiatric ward.

Until schizophrenia changes everything.

Though everyone urges her to let him go, April stays true to Jonah. But as the boy she adores begins to disappear in front of her, she has to face her worst fear: that her love may not be enough to save him.

  I was given an ARC by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING! I don't understand how I can love the ending with all my heart when I hated what happened so much. Okay guys, BRB, I'm just gonna cry my guts out. T.T

FULL REVIEW:

When I started this book, I felt like the story was dragging and slow at first, but as I read on, I liked the story more and more. I finally understood the point and I was really happy that I read this book.

Unlike Made You Up, another Schizophrenia book I read, it was not the main character with mental illness but the love interest. Also, the story started from the very beginning rather than jumping in, so I, as a reader, was able to see all the symptoms along with the main character, and I really appreciated that. I loved seeing how everything started, and then progressed. I thought this book was weird at first because the Schizo is so different from Made You Up, but then I realized that Jonah had Schizo accompanied by paranoia.

This book made a point that I've been thinking about for a long time already, and I just want to share this quote to you guys because it puts my thoughts into beautiful words:

"A person sick with cancer has the support of the community. Everyone bands together and tries to help. Friends organize runs for a cure and put together bake sales and blood drives. Next door neighbors bring tuna casserole to the family. There are no casseroles for Schizophrenia. People are afraid, so they keep away. The families are embarrassed, so they hide. They pretend that their son or daughter has gone abroad or is busy at school-anything to avoid telling the truth."

I really loved how April stayed by Jonah's side and was a supportive girlfriend when many would have just left him. Of course, she had her down moments - moments when she wanted to give up - but that just made it all the more realistic. I especially loved what she did to make her class understand Schizo; even though I was not one of her classmates, she made me understand.

I also loved April's relationship with her mom and Jonah's relationship with his family. There was a really strong family presence in this book, which I loved. I also loved Dr. Mina, the psychologist! She was really invested in Jonah and her methods were really helpful. If she's a real person, she would've been my idol, but even as a fictional character, I look up to her.

The writing in this book was amazing and it took me on an emotional roller coaster ride. I felt so much for the characters, and I felt like I understood more about Schizophrenia and Paranoia. It made me realize the reality of mental illnesses, and how much I want to help people with mental illnesses. This was such a meaningful book for me and I'm really glad that I read it!

I love this book so, so much! I was actually in a slight reading slump when I read this, and it broke my reading slump, although now I'm having a book hangover. I recommend this to everyone, and I felt like this is such an important book to raise awareness to a topic that most people are afraid of talking about.


4.5 almost there stars

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