ARC Review: A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

TITLE: A Danger to Herself and Others

AUTHOR: Alyssa B. Sheinmel

GENRE: Young Adult, Contemporary

PUBLICATION DATE: February 5th, 2019

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Suicide Attempt, Eating Disorder Mention 

 

Only when she’s locked away does the truth begin to escape… 

Four walls. One window. No way to escape. Hannah knows there’s been a mistake. She didn’t need to be institutionalized. What happened to her roommate at her summer program was an accident. As soon as the doctors and judge figure out that she isn’t a danger to herself or others, she can go home to start her senior year. In the meantime, she is going to use her persuasive skills to get the staff on her side.

Then Lucy arrives. Lucy has her own baggage. And she may be the only person who can get Hannah to confront the dangerous games and secrets that landed her in confinement in the first place. 

I really enjoy books with unreliable narrators. Hannah is definitely one of these.

In the beginning it took me a while to warm up to Hannah, but I feel like this is intentional on the authors part. We don’t know going in if Hannah purposely did what she did or not.

This book is certainly a roller coaster, some things I saw coming, some I did not.

I try to stay clear of books set in mental hospitals. I have been in one myself and it seems like books never get it right. I can’t say for sure if this one did or not because I’ve never been hospitalized for the same thing Hannah is, but it feels more natural than a lot of books I’ve read in the past.

My favorite part was definitely the end. I loved seeing Hannah growing as a person and coming to terms with her psychosis.

I’ve only read a handful of books about psychosis, but this one has felt the most realistic.

I can’t say much more because I don’t want to spoil the book for anyone, but I definitely think it’s a book worth reading.

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Special thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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