The Beautiful Ones by Julia Sutton
Publisher: SpellBound Books
Publication Date: May 10, 2022
About the Book:
Caitlyn Shaw had it all.Surrounded by loving friends and family, on the cusp of landing her dream job.When Caitlyn suffers a traumatic event, her idyllic life is shattered.She finds herself spiralling into an abyss of terror and despair which manifests as a psychotic break.Subsequently hospitalised in a psychiatric unit, Caitlyn sees her future slowly slipping away from her.Desperately ill and refusing to accept her condition, she rebels against the hospital staff.As battle of wills ensues, Caitlyn begins her fight back to sanity, standing up and challenging the many stigmas attached to women like her.Can Caitlyn drag herself back from the brink to fulfil her dreams?Come and walk for a while with The Beautiful Ones.
Trigger Warnings: Stuggles with mental illness, traumatic events (automotive related), and sexual abuse.
This book had me emotional in many ways; I was upset, angry, frustrated, and I felt for the main character as well. In this story we follow Caitlyn, a young woman, as she departs high school for college then graduates college and moves on to teaching school. During these time jumps we learn about Caitlyn and her family and the dynamic that mental health plays in her household. Her mother has anxiety issues, her uncle Joe is schizophrenic, and she is left as the oldest to uphold house while her father works all the time.
As an oldest child, I understand the toll that it takes to be the one often left in charge and also having to bear the burden of family drama and issues while putting on a happy face and figuring out your own things. So, this book hit me very close to home in a lot of ways. Caitlyn though, had it a lot harder than most. She is motivated and strong in the beginning of this book, but soon starts to wither away and become more stressed out and paranoid as the book progresses. Seeing her struggle was a very realistic account of what it is like to deal with mental illness and to come to the realization that you might need more help than you think.
While I found this book very heartbreaking in a number of ways it was a good book, and I liked reading it. I was very confused at the beginning though. The book is a slow build, really putting everything into place that one might need to really understand what Caitlyn is going through, but that was also over 50% of the ebook, so I kept wondering where the mental health issues were really going to become the focus of the book. Additionally, since the synopsis doesn’t go into detail about the traumatic event that occurs to trigger her spiral, I fully expected it to be something to do with the rude, seemingly abusive teen character we met at the beginning of the book. Luckily, that was not that case; however, there were still (what I would consider to be) some acts of sexual abuse between Caitlyn and him.
All that said, the book was very deep and really explores the life takeover effect that mental health can have on someone. One day you have it all, the family, the money, house, career and the next you are too depressed/paranoid/anxious to move or leave your house. It was a very strong representation of how it feels and reading from Caitlyn’s point of view was very impactful.
If you are looking for a book about mental health struggles, that might not have the happiest of endings, this one could be for you, but it might be an emotional journey.
About The Author:
I’m fifty at the end of May and have been married for 24 years with two grown up children.
I’ve had a variety of careers – I started out as a sales assistant in a newsagents and have worked as a secretary, a teaching assistant and most recently a lunchtime supervisor in a primary school. I’m now happily retired but am studying for a Masters in Creative Writing. I’m also a part time author who has written and published 9 adult fiction novels.
I’m an avid reader who also loves drawing, walking, listening to music and spending time with my family and friends.
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