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Don't Let Them Get You Down
DON’T LET THEM GET YOU DOWN is a deeply dark novel about depression and the madness inside each one of us.
When Peter Radcliffe loses his wife it will take more than pills and therapy to help him find his way back to a world where normality reigns and the desperate are left alone to fend for themselves, to reacclimate into a savage world… or perish trying. A broken love story about self, despair, and the lengths we’ll go to find our way back.
When Peter Radcliffe loses his wife it will take more than pills and therapy to help him find his way back to a world where normality reigns and the desperate are left alone to fend for themselves, to reacclimate into a savage world… or perish trying. A broken love story about self, despair, and the lengths we’ll go to find our way back.
184 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 28, 2023
17 people are currently reading
284 people want to read
About the author
Philip Fracassi
76 books1,752 followersPHILIP FRACASSI is the Bram Stoker and British Fantasy Award-nominated author of the novels A Child Alone with Strangers, Gothic, Boys in the Valley, The Third Rule of Time Travel, and The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre. He is also the author of the story collections Behold the Void, Beneath a Pale Sky, and No One is Safe!
His stories have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Black Static, Best Horror of the Year, Nightmare Magazine, Interzone, and Southwest Review.
Philip lives in Los Angeles and is represented by Copps Literary Services, Circle M + P, and WME. You can find him on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky, or visit pfracassi.com.
His stories have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including Black Static, Best Horror of the Year, Nightmare Magazine, Interzone, and Southwest Review.
Philip lives in Los Angeles and is represented by Copps Literary Services, Circle M + P, and WME. You can find him on Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky, or visit pfracassi.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
February 20, 2025
This is a very tough read, but wowsers! Takes a real good look at grief and the resulting depression and anxiety that comes from such loss. Not for the faint of heart. I need to read something uplifting now.
May 27, 2025
A story of love, loss and mental health.
I'm feeling guilty for only awarding this 3 stars. Mainly due to the ending being predictable.
For the most part this was an enjoyable, although challenging read due to the difficult subject matter.
This is well worth a read!
I'm feeling guilty for only awarding this 3 stars. Mainly due to the ending being predictable.
For the most part this was an enjoyable, although challenging read due to the difficult subject matter.
This is well worth a read!
June 29, 2025
Don’t Let Them Get You Down is a gruelling read, and not entirely in a good way. The protagonist’s stream of consciousness feels like being trapped in a room with someone screaming their darkest thoughts at you—relentless, exhausting, and often frustrating. As a fan of Fracassi, I appreciate his willingness to explore raw, uncomfortable themes, but this novel leans so hard into misery that it becomes a slog. The disjointed structure and unrelenting bleakness are clearly intentional, meant to mirror mental illness, but that doesn’t make the experience any less draining.
There’s no denying Fracassi’s skill in crafting atmosphere, but here, it feels like style over substance. The character’s suffering is so all-consuming that it leaves little room for narrative depth or even fleeting moments of relief. While some may argue that’s the point, it doesn’t change the fact that the book is more punishing than profound. A well-executed experiment, perhaps, but not one I’d recommend unless you’re braced for unrelenting misery.
There’s no denying Fracassi’s skill in crafting atmosphere, but here, it feels like style over substance. The character’s suffering is so all-consuming that it leaves little room for narrative depth or even fleeting moments of relief. While some may argue that’s the point, it doesn’t change the fact that the book is more punishing than profound. A well-executed experiment, perhaps, but not one I’d recommend unless you’re braced for unrelenting misery.
April 29, 2024
This is a very raw, very honest and, I believe, very real look at someone who's suffered a catastrophic loss and is flailing in an ocean of depression and PTSD, desperately trying to find something to hang on to.
I found the rollercoaster ride of Peter's inner thoughts as he went through stressful moments...asking someone out, trying to choose a drink and instead panicking, trying to get out his own way to just allow himself to experience some pleasure...all of these were terrifyingly on point.
I've been a somewhat less damaged version of this guy.
This is not a feel good book. This is not a happy book. This is an unblinking look into a couple of weeks in the life of a very broken person.
I found the rollercoaster ride of Peter's inner thoughts as he went through stressful moments...asking someone out, trying to choose a drink and instead panicking, trying to get out his own way to just allow himself to experience some pleasure...all of these were terrifyingly on point.
I've been a somewhat less damaged version of this guy.
This is not a feel good book. This is not a happy book. This is an unblinking look into a couple of weeks in the life of a very broken person.
August 24, 2023
Once again, Philip Fracassi has written something that was virtually impossible for me to put down once I start reading it. It's both reminiscent of some of his other works, but also entirely different in some very crucial ways becoming another exceptional example of Fracassi's strengths.
Don't Let Them Get You Down is an absolutely relentless, unflinching, honest look at the emotional and physical affects of anxiety and depression. It's uncomfortable, but also beautiful and while it's not my favorite of Philip's books that I've read so far, I could easily see this becoming one of the ones I think about the most.
8.5/10
Don't Let Them Get You Down is an absolutely relentless, unflinching, honest look at the emotional and physical affects of anxiety and depression. It's uncomfortable, but also beautiful and while it's not my favorite of Philip's books that I've read so far, I could easily see this becoming one of the ones I think about the most.
8.5/10
December 18, 2022
Philip Fracassi has been on a roll. It’s pretty amazing that a guy with so much hype surrounding him just keeps raising the bar. This book was no different but also totally different. This book was a brutally honest look at an example of mental illness. There’s not too much I can say without spoilers so here’s the short of it. This is nothing like boys in the valley or a child alone with strangers. It would seem no matter what he writes, it’s gonna be good. Bravo Philip!
July 29, 2024
It pains me to rate this author so low, as he’s one of my favorites. His writing is so freaking amazing, but the story itself was torture for me. I struggled to push through. However, I didn’t hate the main character, I wanted the best for him but good god, being in his head sucked! If I were extremely depressed and completely lost, or I was in the psychiatric world caring for such people, this might be appreciated. For me, I’m going to go watch some funny dog videos to crawl out of the deep depths of depression that Philip Fracassi so eloquently threw me into.
June 30, 2024
A miserable read…but in that, perfection!
A grief-riddled, depressive read that had me experience one losing their mind to the stranglehold of grief and aloneness and suffocating depression.
Masterful!
A grief-riddled, depressive read that had me experience one losing their mind to the stranglehold of grief and aloneness and suffocating depression.
Masterful!
January 26, 2023
I read all of the therapist's dialogue in Dr. Malphi's voice from The Sopranos.
January 10, 2024
I'm a huge Fracassi fan but this one didn't really work for me. Not horror but a story of a man's struggles to overcome the death of his wife by cancer and the resulting depression. The biggest problem is that the main character is just not likable, clearly having issues that go way beyond the depression over her death and which must have existed beforehand, and he wasn't interesting enough to overcome that. I never really cared about what happened to him. It's well-written but over-written, too dramatic to believe this guy would ever have such complex and philosophical thoughts. He just seems like a schmo. I can see where Fracassi was trying to go with this one, but it never got there for me. Oh well. They can't all work.
October 29, 2024
It’s a fast read and I feel like the emotions of are protagonist are well realized. They’re a lot of great character work and you do understand their situation at times. It’s raw and personal. It’s not the most comfortable read. But it’s explored depression so well in my opinion
October 29, 2023
As someone who suffers from depression I found this book very relatable. It is my third Fracassi book and by far my favourite.
September 1, 2024
If you're looking for grief horror, this is it. We follow a man who's struggling to cope with life after his wife's death, we are there along the ride and you can feel every emotion, every feeling he's feeling.
January 18, 2023
Absolutely amazing and emotional book. Very cathartic but be warned if you have lost someone recently this may hit home. I have never felt a book so deep in my soul before.
June 22, 2023
That was intense and deeply relatable in so many ways. I'm not sure what to say.
January 31, 2023
Triggered.
I had to sip the first half of this book. I put it down to let it cool. I couldn't stay away for long but I knew if I jumped back in I'd be in over my head. Because Fracassi knows anxiety and depression. And he writes about it in such a visceral and tangible way that I started experiencing my own panic attacks.
I powered through because it's a powerful novel. And I was rewarded every time I turned a page.
The story is simple--a man (Peter) tries to rejoin society after the death of his wife. Grief, depression, anxiety, and despair make the invisible walls of the cell he's trapped in. Those readers who know, know al too well. And those who don't can't understand what's keeping him isolated. For me, it was a struggle I have waged countless times. Maybe not to the level Peter experienced (I didn't lose my wife) but I completely understood his pain and his inability to function.
After reading it, I know the re-read would be even better. I won't have to brace myself against the unknown. I can be in a world I understand and feel heard. Not quite alone. Peter couldn't see me, but I was comforted to know I'm not the only one.
It's a book that needs to be shared among those who get it. And for those who need a deeper understanding.
Brilliant. 5 full stars.
I had to sip the first half of this book. I put it down to let it cool. I couldn't stay away for long but I knew if I jumped back in I'd be in over my head. Because Fracassi knows anxiety and depression. And he writes about it in such a visceral and tangible way that I started experiencing my own panic attacks.
I powered through because it's a powerful novel. And I was rewarded every time I turned a page.
The story is simple--a man (Peter) tries to rejoin society after the death of his wife. Grief, depression, anxiety, and despair make the invisible walls of the cell he's trapped in. Those readers who know, know al too well. And those who don't can't understand what's keeping him isolated. For me, it was a struggle I have waged countless times. Maybe not to the level Peter experienced (I didn't lose my wife) but I completely understood his pain and his inability to function.
After reading it, I know the re-read would be even better. I won't have to brace myself against the unknown. I can be in a world I understand and feel heard. Not quite alone. Peter couldn't see me, but I was comforted to know I'm not the only one.
It's a book that needs to be shared among those who get it. And for those who need a deeper understanding.
Brilliant. 5 full stars.
February 9, 2023
Fracassi, Philip - Don’t Let Them Get You Down
Even with therapy, Peter is taking a long time to recover. One soon wonders if he will ever truly get over the death of his wife two years earlier.
Anxiety attacks and disassociation from his previous normality are increasingly routine.
Peter is a trifecta of bad choices, bad decisions, bad luck. Meds, meant to help, cloud his judgment, impair his physical abilities.
Fracassi’s tale is unsettling, if not downright harrowing, likely to play havoc with grief stricken survivors, or those who have tumbled so deep into their pit that there is no view of the rim.
For all Peter’s missteps and calamities, and they seem to multiply, his character is not necessarily a one-note loser. Again and again, he does take chances. He attempts new directions.
His past, however, his previous life, holds him tight – then tightens.
Despair that overwhelms.
Fracassi’s style is brusque, clinical, almost journalistic. For readers, he does not bother with quotes, leaving them to figure who is talking, or if it is an internal dialogue, or a description.
For me, this is lazy writing. As more and more writers chase fewer and fewer readers, please ask yourself how many books you want to read lacking punctuation.
Yes, I know, artistic license. Or the continuing dumbing down of writing.
Even with therapy, Peter is taking a long time to recover. One soon wonders if he will ever truly get over the death of his wife two years earlier.
Anxiety attacks and disassociation from his previous normality are increasingly routine.
Peter is a trifecta of bad choices, bad decisions, bad luck. Meds, meant to help, cloud his judgment, impair his physical abilities.
Fracassi’s tale is unsettling, if not downright harrowing, likely to play havoc with grief stricken survivors, or those who have tumbled so deep into their pit that there is no view of the rim.
For all Peter’s missteps and calamities, and they seem to multiply, his character is not necessarily a one-note loser. Again and again, he does take chances. He attempts new directions.
His past, however, his previous life, holds him tight – then tightens.
Despair that overwhelms.
Fracassi’s style is brusque, clinical, almost journalistic. For readers, he does not bother with quotes, leaving them to figure who is talking, or if it is an internal dialogue, or a description.
For me, this is lazy writing. As more and more writers chase fewer and fewer readers, please ask yourself how many books you want to read lacking punctuation.
Yes, I know, artistic license. Or the continuing dumbing down of writing.
September 20, 2023
Peter has anxiety and depression after his wife died from cancer two years ago. He sees a therapist for talk therapy and a psychiatrist for meds but things do not seem to get better. His therapist argues that there has been progress, but Peter sees no hope. He hates his job. His body cannot even let him release himself sexually because of the meds he’s on. His only “outlet” is when he calls random phone numbers and leaves voice mail messages, voicing his loneliness and hopelessness and anger, and this only once in a while, and gets criticised at therapy.
He has a well-meaning colleague who invites him to a barbecue and introduces him to women. Then, a last attempt at trying to move forward occurs. Then… it accumulates to the end, with Peter finally . Does he get up? Does he let them get him down?
This is well-written and really flows. If you are not afraid to really look at the suffering of mental illness, give this book a try.
He has a well-meaning colleague who invites him to a barbecue and introduces him to women. Then, a last attempt at trying to move forward occurs. Then… it accumulates to the end, with Peter finally . Does he get up? Does he let them get him down?
This is well-written and really flows. If you are not afraid to really look at the suffering of mental illness, give this book a try.
June 17, 2024
Woo buddy that was a rough read. This is an incredibly mundane book. There are some shocking incidents thrown in the mix, but for the most part it’s just a snapshot into the life of a man who’s struggling after the death of his wife two years prior.
But it is so well written and raw. It’s written mostly in a string of consciousness format that always seems to suck me in. At times the division between Peter’s thoughts and actual words spoken along gets blurred, but this is more or less his existence so I felt it as a a nice way to showcase that.
It’s not often a book brings me to tears, but this one had me there by the ending.
This is less horror and more just a well written portrayal of grief and mental illness but Fracassi has done an excellent job writing a deeply flawed protagonist and the inner turmoil that can exist in such everyday settings when struggling with life. Anyways, really enjoyed this one. Not a super long book but one I couldn’t put down at all.
But it is so well written and raw. It’s written mostly in a string of consciousness format that always seems to suck me in. At times the division between Peter’s thoughts and actual words spoken along gets blurred, but this is more or less his existence so I felt it as a a nice way to showcase that.
It’s not often a book brings me to tears, but this one had me there by the ending.
This is less horror and more just a well written portrayal of grief and mental illness but Fracassi has done an excellent job writing a deeply flawed protagonist and the inner turmoil that can exist in such everyday settings when struggling with life. Anyways, really enjoyed this one. Not a super long book but one I couldn’t put down at all.
December 16, 2022
Philip Fracassi has been on quite a roll with his horror work, but this book proves that he's got the chops to write anything he wants. DLTGYD is written with feeling and polish. Fracassi expertly takes readers into the dark depths of mental illness, inside the head of Peter Radcliffe. Peter is struggling with living a normal life, dealing with depression and grief over the loss of his wife. It is sad and eye opening and well written. Highly recommended!
The limited edition release by Zagava Press is a gorgeous package and they have a paperback version coming out soon. Don't hesitate to grab a copy.
The limited edition release by Zagava Press is a gorgeous package and they have a paperback version coming out soon. Don't hesitate to grab a copy.
August 1, 2023
Well, that was a journey...
An amazing, spiraling, gut-wrenching work of art. Not for the faint of heart (or easily triggered). This book is heavy and dark, but also beautiful at times. Fracassi can really turn a phrase, and the evolution (devolution?) of the sentence structure throughout as our narrator... descends... is quite breathtaking on a technical level alone. But it also works thematically and is very engrossing (at least it was for me.) Whoever edited this deserves a gold star as well.
Highly recommended.
Note: just looking at the stats, I read 83 pages in one night. ... I freaking never do that...
An amazing, spiraling, gut-wrenching work of art. Not for the faint of heart (or easily triggered). This book is heavy and dark, but also beautiful at times. Fracassi can really turn a phrase, and the evolution (devolution?) of the sentence structure throughout as our narrator... descends... is quite breathtaking on a technical level alone. But it also works thematically and is very engrossing (at least it was for me.) Whoever edited this deserves a gold star as well.
Highly recommended.
Note: just looking at the stats, I read 83 pages in one night. ... I freaking never do that...
December 14, 2022
At about halfway through this book, I was wishing I knew someone who had read it so they warn me if things don't turn out right in the end. Peter, the protagonist, was just a little close to home for my liking. No abominations from beyond time here, no zombie hordes, just the plenty terrifying stuff of human grief and loss. This novel is a dark, yet heartfelt glimpse into the all-too-real world of mental illness. A beautiful limited edition from the folks at Zavaga Press.
August 2, 2025
This book takes you into the mind of a severely depressed person. It is both disturbing and informative. I loved it! Fracassi has the ability to put you inside the mind of Peter and demonstrates what it is like to suffer from this terrible disease. This book should be required reading for anyone who is treating or training to treat depression. I also recommend it for those who have a loved one who is suffering from this disease.
May 1, 2023
Well, that was quite a read. Read the whole thing in two sittings. Fracassi certainly knows how to get, and keep, your attention. A bleak book, yet the subtle humor and "hopeful" ending mitigate the pain exuding from the protagonist. Definitely worth a read, though not for the faint of heart. By the way, my copy is the cheap softcover, not the expensive hardback.
January 25, 2024
Another Fracassi ticked off the list and another book that I really enjoyed. If you can enjoy a book like this. Dealing with mental health and depression, but written with such beautiful poetic flow (I’m not a writer but how words flow sometimes means more to me than what is being said) I found this to be a pleasure to read even if the subject matter isn’t.
May 13, 2024
I have loved everything else from Philip Fracassi but this was just a chore to finish. The best thing i can say about this was that it’s quite short.
The main character was irritating and just needed to pull himself together.
The main character was irritating and just needed to pull himself together.
July 6, 2024
Wow! As someone who struggles with anxiety and depression; this had me choked up in spots. The internal struggle/chaos experienced by Peter was very relatable. I think it's important above all else to remember, however, that depression lies! You're going to be okay! We all are!
February 3, 2023
Ridiculously brilliant.
February 10, 2023
Excellent book! A great character driven story about mental health and trying to cope with it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews