DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER
If there's one thing the world learnt from the untimely death of Chester Bennington and our very own Zaheen Ahmed last year, is that mental health is as important if not more important than physical health.
It is necessary for us as a society to educate ourselves about mental illnesses and learn to have the heart to deal with it sympathetically. The only thing, however, I did not expect was it to be addressed in a Sophie Kinsella book, that too covered in a perfectly cute, cheerful cover (hence the point of my title).
Finding Audrey is my first Sophie Kinsella book and thus, I had absolutely no idea about what I should expect. I thought it would be a fast-paced, humorous, passé story but instead, the narrative was neither rapid nor hysterical. I thought I was far from ever finishing it but like everyone says, there is something about Kinsella's magic that makes her books almost unputdownable.
The story is about Audrey Turner, a fourteen-year-old teenager dealing with clinical depression and social anxiety. She stays at home and never takes off her black glasses even when she is indoors. Then her brother's friend Linus takes baby steps into her life, enticing her from within.
There are a number of things I loved about this book. For starters, I loved the fact that it's a contemporary young adult story set outside of high school with all the characters facing realistic problems.The author made Frank's computer gaming obsession, Anne's OCD and of course Audrey's anxiety issues seem credible, treating them with a lot of compassion and sincerity.
Dr. Sarah is a stand-out character. Her interaction with Audrey was more like that of a mentor and protégé than that of a therapist and a patient.
Lastly, Linus, who is surprisingly one of the best characters I have come across in a long, long time. He is neither a man-candy nor a nerd, just an average boy-next-door kind of guy. He is genuinely sensitive to Audrey's conditions and dares to love her at her worst. Their love story will definitely bring you back to how ecstatic you felt when you first fell in love.
The only thing that bothered me about this tragicomedy was that we never really get a full closure regarding what truly happened with Audrey. I guess it was written like that deliberately as it might have been eerie for readers who suffer from apprehension in real life or there might be a second book coming for the big reveal. If the latter is true, I'd definitely be looking forward to it.
It's nice that this book provides such a fresh and nonchalantoutlook towards mental illness without ever making it sound like the end of the world. Whether or not Audrey recovers is for you to find out, but just remember- like the story, her recovery process is like a jagged graph. You have to follow through each up and down, and I absolutely recommend that you do.
Rafidah Rahman is a teeny-tiny Hulk, she's always angry and she's always hungry. A cynical dreamer and a food enthusiast, she's your everyday entertainment. Correspond with her at rafidahrahman93@gmail.com or https://www.facebook.com/rafidah.rahman.39.