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Between the Bliss and Me
Acclaimed author Lizzy Mason delivers a moving contemporary YA novel about mental illness, young romance, and the impact of family history on one teen’s future, perfect for fans of Jandy Nelson, Robin Benway, and Kathleen Glasgow.
When eighteen-year-old Sydney Holman announces that she has decided to attend NYU, her overprotective mom is devastated. Her decision means she will be living in the Big City instead of commuting to nearby Rutgers like her mom had hoped. It also means she’ll be close to off-limits but dreamy Grayson—a guitar prodigy who is going to Juilliard in the fall and very much isn’t single.
But while she dreams of her new life, Sydney discovers a world-changing truth about her father. She knew he left when she was little due to a drug addiction. But no one told her he had schizophrenia or that he was currently living on the streets of New York City.
She seizes the opportunity to get to know him, to understand who he is and learn what may lie in store for her if she, too, is diagnosed.
Even as she continues to fall for Grayson, Sydney is faced with a difficult Stay close to home so her mom can watch over her, or follow her dreams despite the risks?
When eighteen-year-old Sydney Holman announces that she has decided to attend NYU, her overprotective mom is devastated. Her decision means she will be living in the Big City instead of commuting to nearby Rutgers like her mom had hoped. It also means she’ll be close to off-limits but dreamy Grayson—a guitar prodigy who is going to Juilliard in the fall and very much isn’t single.
But while she dreams of her new life, Sydney discovers a world-changing truth about her father. She knew he left when she was little due to a drug addiction. But no one told her he had schizophrenia or that he was currently living on the streets of New York City.
She seizes the opportunity to get to know him, to understand who he is and learn what may lie in store for her if she, too, is diagnosed.
Even as she continues to fall for Grayson, Sydney is faced with a difficult Stay close to home so her mom can watch over her, or follow her dreams despite the risks?
336 pages, Paperback
First published April 6, 2021
16 people are currently reading
4674 people want to read
About the author
Lizzy Mason
3 books229 followersLizzy Mason grew up in northern Virginia before moving to New York City for college and a career in publishing. Now back in Virginia with her two cats, when not reading or writing, Lizzy loves to travel. She has visited forty-five states and eleven countries so far. She is the author of The Art of Losing, Between the Bliss and Me, and Remind Me to Hate You Later. Find her online at LizzyMasonBooks.com and on Instagram at @LizzyMasonBooks.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
May 1, 2021
This is bittersweet. You smile. You cry. You sigh. You sniff. You wipe your tears more. Then eventually you nod and accept. I feel my heart hurts but it is still filled with so much hope after I finished my reading.
Such a bittersweet, thought provoking, moving story about mental illness, coping mechanism of young adults and their dysfunctional family relationships, finding their way to adulthood by doing more mistakes.
Sydney Holman thinks she can convince her overprotective mom to accept her grandparents’ grandiose birthday gift ( which is additional 30K check and they already paid entire school tuition and housing expanses. I wish they could adopt me, too, if I would be nicer and stop drinking. Nope, I think, it wouldn’t work for both of the parties! ) and her decision to go to NYU! At least she didn’t change her major but her mother is still upset to get financial aid from her parents in law.
Sydney is abandoned by her drug addict and alcoholic father when she was little girl and when she deals with depression and her mood is getting darker, she talks with her father as her imaginary friend. She keeps this situation as a secret.
But when she decides to spend some time at her grandparents’ beach house, bumping into her sudden crush Grayson Armstrong, who is charming, sweet, gifted musician, coming from wealthy family, is also taken by gorgeous girl, she thinks at least they can be friends and she can spend some quality time by knowing more about her own family.
But she learns more than she can absorb: the reason behind her father’s abandonment is a psychological illness: he is schizophrenic, homeless, living in NYC streets which means there’s %10 chance she may be inherited the illness.
Sydney feels lost, needing to find answers about her father by looking for him at the streets of NY with the help of her best friend Elliott. She also deals with the hearth ache after she starts to fall for Grayson and she feels like she is not good enough for him because of unknown things about her own mental condition.
But finding her dad may not be the exact solutions of her problems because firstly she has to discover who she is , what she is afraid of, what her dreams and expectations about her own future are.
It’s well written novel with realistic approach to the illness. I loved the characters. Especially Elliott is my favorite!
Grayson was sweet pie. I wish he may stand up for himself but living in a dysfunctional family and a bully, abusive father who has real anger issues made him more hesitant, people pleaser to balance the toxic energy in their home which I actually resonate with.
And I loved Sydney: her bravery, her confusion, her quirkiness, her genuine and straightforward style. Her mother raised her as a fighter and overachiever so she has enough confidence and she deals with her insecurities better than most teenagers do.
I’m giving four heartwarming, hopeful, musical, sweet stars!
I also enjoyed the previous book of the author and I’m looking forward to read more works of her.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press/ Soho Teen for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
Such a bittersweet, thought provoking, moving story about mental illness, coping mechanism of young adults and their dysfunctional family relationships, finding their way to adulthood by doing more mistakes.
Sydney Holman thinks she can convince her overprotective mom to accept her grandparents’ grandiose birthday gift ( which is additional 30K check and they already paid entire school tuition and housing expanses. I wish they could adopt me, too, if I would be nicer and stop drinking. Nope, I think, it wouldn’t work for both of the parties! ) and her decision to go to NYU! At least she didn’t change her major but her mother is still upset to get financial aid from her parents in law.
Sydney is abandoned by her drug addict and alcoholic father when she was little girl and when she deals with depression and her mood is getting darker, she talks with her father as her imaginary friend. She keeps this situation as a secret.
But when she decides to spend some time at her grandparents’ beach house, bumping into her sudden crush Grayson Armstrong, who is charming, sweet, gifted musician, coming from wealthy family, is also taken by gorgeous girl, she thinks at least they can be friends and she can spend some quality time by knowing more about her own family.
But she learns more than she can absorb: the reason behind her father’s abandonment is a psychological illness: he is schizophrenic, homeless, living in NYC streets which means there’s %10 chance she may be inherited the illness.
Sydney feels lost, needing to find answers about her father by looking for him at the streets of NY with the help of her best friend Elliott. She also deals with the hearth ache after she starts to fall for Grayson and she feels like she is not good enough for him because of unknown things about her own mental condition.
But finding her dad may not be the exact solutions of her problems because firstly she has to discover who she is , what she is afraid of, what her dreams and expectations about her own future are.
It’s well written novel with realistic approach to the illness. I loved the characters. Especially Elliott is my favorite!
Grayson was sweet pie. I wish he may stand up for himself but living in a dysfunctional family and a bully, abusive father who has real anger issues made him more hesitant, people pleaser to balance the toxic energy in their home which I actually resonate with.
And I loved Sydney: her bravery, her confusion, her quirkiness, her genuine and straightforward style. Her mother raised her as a fighter and overachiever so she has enough confidence and she deals with her insecurities better than most teenagers do.
I’m giving four heartwarming, hopeful, musical, sweet stars!
I also enjoyed the previous book of the author and I’m looking forward to read more works of her.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press/ Soho Teen for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.
May 8, 2021
Between the Bliss and Me is an ambitious young adult contemporary novel that tackles heavy subject matter while maintaining the conventions of its age range. It makes topics like mental health, substance abuse and schizophrenia accessible for a younger audience, something I think is incredibly important. My main issue was simply that I didn't connect with the characters, romance or plot- which is an entirely subjective thing.
Let my make one thing clear, it was by no means bad. The writing was polished and I didn't have major issues with the structure or setup. I think it is more a personal problem of my recent pickiness when it comes to YA contemporaries. Unless I feel an intense personal or emotional connection with the book and its characters- I cannot bring myself to care.
While I found the discussion of schizophrenia to be interesting and important, it didn't single handedly make me love the book. If I wanted solely to be informed about issues, I would read a non-fiction book on the topic or listen to a podcast. The reason I love fiction is because it allows me to live thousands of different lives and experience different perspectives. Unfortunately, the actual story of Between the Bliss and Me wasn't interesting to me.
I also really wasn't a fan of the romance. The love interest was already in a relationship when our main character started falling for them, which always makes me a bit icky. Putting that aside, I found it just simply didn't add much to the story and didn't have much chemistry- but again, a totally personal preference.
★★☆☆☆.5 stars
Thank you to Soho Press for this ARC
Release Date: 7 April 2021
Let my make one thing clear, it was by no means bad. The writing was polished and I didn't have major issues with the structure or setup. I think it is more a personal problem of my recent pickiness when it comes to YA contemporaries. Unless I feel an intense personal or emotional connection with the book and its characters- I cannot bring myself to care.
While I found the discussion of schizophrenia to be interesting and important, it didn't single handedly make me love the book. If I wanted solely to be informed about issues, I would read a non-fiction book on the topic or listen to a podcast. The reason I love fiction is because it allows me to live thousands of different lives and experience different perspectives. Unfortunately, the actual story of Between the Bliss and Me wasn't interesting to me.
I also really wasn't a fan of the romance. The love interest was already in a relationship when our main character started falling for them, which always makes me a bit icky. Putting that aside, I found it just simply didn't add much to the story and didn't have much chemistry- but again, a totally personal preference.
★★☆☆☆.5 stars
Thank you to Soho Press for this ARC
Release Date: 7 April 2021
dnf
July 27, 2021Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an eArc via Eldelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review.
DNF @ 24%
Honestly, at this point, continuing this book would just be torturing myself. I started my ARC of this almost 4 months ago with all the intention of reading and reviewing before it came out, but since then I've only read 24% of it and I think it's time I admit defeat.
What truly grabbed my attention, besides the beautiful cover, is the fact that this story is said to be for fans of Jandy Nelson. I love this author's work and to me this comparison meant that Between the Bliss and Me would be a touching and thoughtful novel. And sure, I can't say that's not what it is because I haven't finished it, but I can say that I read a 1/4 of it and I'm failing to see the point of the story. So far, its just dragging.
The fact that the MC is pursuing someone already is a relationship is a big no-no for me, too. I get it, you can't choose who you fall for and all that, BUT if you know a person's already committed to someone else, why not be respectful of that? Besides, from the reviews I've read, the LI is going to fall for the MC while he's still in said relationship so, even worse.
Also, the writing is not that great either.
I truly wanted to finish this book, but I've come to a point where I know I would just not have a good time and if I want to get out of this reading slump I've been in for months now, I have to let this one go.
DNF @ 24%
Honestly, at this point, continuing this book would just be torturing myself. I started my ARC of this almost 4 months ago with all the intention of reading and reviewing before it came out, but since then I've only read 24% of it and I think it's time I admit defeat.
What truly grabbed my attention, besides the beautiful cover, is the fact that this story is said to be for fans of Jandy Nelson. I love this author's work and to me this comparison meant that Between the Bliss and Me would be a touching and thoughtful novel. And sure, I can't say that's not what it is because I haven't finished it, but I can say that I read a 1/4 of it and I'm failing to see the point of the story. So far, its just dragging.
The fact that the MC is pursuing someone already is a relationship is a big no-no for me, too. I get it, you can't choose who you fall for and all that, BUT if you know a person's already committed to someone else, why not be respectful of that? Besides, from the reviews I've read, the LI is going to fall for the MC while he's still in said relationship so, even worse.
Also, the writing is not that great either.
I truly wanted to finish this book, but I've come to a point where I know I would just not have a good time and if I want to get out of this reading slump I've been in for months now, I have to let this one go.
July 27, 2020
Phenomenal read!
My official blurb:
Filled with compassion and hope, BETWEEN THE BLISS AND ME opens a window into the world of mental illness in an intimate, eye-opening, and thought-provoking way. Impossible to put down, readers will finish the last page knowing that love, acceptance and self-care are the keys to living one’s best life.
My official blurb:
Filled with compassion and hope, BETWEEN THE BLISS AND ME opens a window into the world of mental illness in an intimate, eye-opening, and thought-provoking way. Impossible to put down, readers will finish the last page knowing that love, acceptance and self-care are the keys to living one’s best life.
April 3, 2021
I read this story in less than a day. Soho Teen surprised me by suddenly approving my request for an ARC just before publication date. My request had been pending for months (like about three or four or so ...), and after the sudden approval (thanks Soho Teen!) I decided to read it almost immediately.
This is a fast, nice, and easy read, and it deals with heavy and important topics like schizophrenia, anxiety, alcohol and drug addiction, and anger issues. I loved Grayson, who was such a super cute and sweet guy. I really, really liked the way mental illness is portrayed in this book. But I didn’t love the story that much. For most of the book, I didn’t laugh, my heart didn’t thud in my throat, I hadn’t goosebumps, and I never had a lump in my throat. I just read, which was incredibly easy, so I flew through the story, but I just didn’t feel anything. I think part of that was because I didn’t like Sidney very much.
This was a nice in between, a story that helped me ease my mind for a while. I’ll probably read other books by Lizzy Mason because her premises are definitively interesting, and therefore I’ve put her first book on my TBR. I hope it’ll make me feel more, though.
I received an ARC from Soho Teen and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a fast, nice, and easy read, and it deals with heavy and important topics like schizophrenia, anxiety, alcohol and drug addiction, and anger issues. I loved Grayson, who was such a super cute and sweet guy. I really, really liked the way mental illness is portrayed in this book. But I didn’t love the story that much. For most of the book, I didn’t laugh, my heart didn’t thud in my throat, I hadn’t goosebumps, and I never had a lump in my throat. I just read, which was incredibly easy, so I flew through the story, but I just didn’t feel anything. I think part of that was because I didn’t like Sidney very much.
This was a nice in between, a story that helped me ease my mind for a while. I’ll probably read other books by Lizzy Mason because her premises are definitively interesting, and therefore I’ve put her first book on my TBR. I hope it’ll make me feel more, though.
I received an ARC from Soho Teen and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Read
May 29, 2020
June 3, 2021
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. Thank you to both. This gift has not changed my opinion of the book.
I wanted to love this book. Posed as a hard-hitting, heart hurting, laugh inspiring book, it sounded right up my street. However, I was quickly put off by our main character. The book opens with Sydney telling her mother that she's moving to New York for university instead of staying closer to home, and this causes a deep divide between her and her mother which leads to Syd going and spending some time with her grandparents on her dad's side, where she discovers the truth about why her father is absent and the consequences it has for Syd's life. I'm finding this book hard to summarise because I feel like so much happens and yet kind of nothing happens at all? It's so hard to explain.
Okay so: Syd and mum fall out, Syd sings with her best friend's band (which is another issue I have with this book, but more on that later), Syd goes to the grandparent's house, hot guitar player from best friend's band is in her grandparent's rich country club town with his annoying cousin who hates her for some unknown reason, she falls in love, he has a girlfriend, she finds out her dad has schizophrenia, she might have schizophrenia or develop it in the near future, she befriends some europeans, she is having hallucinations about her absent father, she's angry at mum for not telling her, she goes back home, she sings with the band, she still is in love with the guitar player, she meets his girlfriend, is blackmailed by the cousin, she quits her job, she and the best friend go to New York to find her dad, she finds her dad, there's a therapist who tells her she's depressed, her and guitar player get together in the end anyway, her and the cousin become friends
You see what I mean? A lot happens but not a lot of it felt significant? I feel like this book tried to do so much, rather than being a book about our main character finding herself and the truth about her family and dealing with it, we had all these side plots running alongside the main story of her accepting her potential risk of developing schizophrenia.
This book wasn't bad. I will say that. I think it just wasn't for me.
Firstly, I have recently learned that I HATE YA books that involve music or bands. This is because the main character is always super talented and don't know it and everyone is always so amazed by it. I hate that trope. I find it unbearably cringy. I especially dislike it when the talented person writes their own songs, for some reason, it makes my neck want to retreat into my body even if the lyrics aren't awful, I just find it cringeworthy.
Secondly, this type of YA book just wasn't for me. I found it tedious in a way and a little difficult to get through even though the writing was great and well polished, it just had so much and yet so little happening. It was also kind of cheesy in spots which relates back to the cringe thing. The romance was grating because Grayson was in a relationship and yet they still fell for one another and it took until the end of the book for Grayson and Cynthia to actually break up.
I wanted to love this book. Posed as a hard-hitting, heart hurting, laugh inspiring book, it sounded right up my street. However, I was quickly put off by our main character. The book opens with Sydney telling her mother that she's moving to New York for university instead of staying closer to home, and this causes a deep divide between her and her mother which leads to Syd going and spending some time with her grandparents on her dad's side, where she discovers the truth about why her father is absent and the consequences it has for Syd's life. I'm finding this book hard to summarise because I feel like so much happens and yet kind of nothing happens at all? It's so hard to explain.
Okay so: Syd and mum fall out, Syd sings with her best friend's band (which is another issue I have with this book, but more on that later), Syd goes to the grandparent's house, hot guitar player from best friend's band is in her grandparent's rich country club town with his annoying cousin who hates her for some unknown reason, she falls in love, he has a girlfriend, she finds out her dad has schizophrenia, she might have schizophrenia or develop it in the near future, she befriends some europeans, she is having hallucinations about her absent father, she's angry at mum for not telling her, she goes back home, she sings with the band, she still is in love with the guitar player, she meets his girlfriend, is blackmailed by the cousin, she quits her job, she and the best friend go to New York to find her dad, she finds her dad, there's a therapist who tells her she's depressed, her and guitar player get together in the end anyway, her and the cousin become friends
You see what I mean? A lot happens but not a lot of it felt significant? I feel like this book tried to do so much, rather than being a book about our main character finding herself and the truth about her family and dealing with it, we had all these side plots running alongside the main story of her accepting her potential risk of developing schizophrenia.
This book wasn't bad. I will say that. I think it just wasn't for me.
Firstly, I have recently learned that I HATE YA books that involve music or bands. This is because the main character is always super talented and don't know it and everyone is always so amazed by it. I hate that trope. I find it unbearably cringy. I especially dislike it when the talented person writes their own songs, for some reason, it makes my neck want to retreat into my body even if the lyrics aren't awful, I just find it cringeworthy.
Secondly, this type of YA book just wasn't for me. I found it tedious in a way and a little difficult to get through even though the writing was great and well polished, it just had so much and yet so little happening. It was also kind of cheesy in spots which relates back to the cringe thing. The romance was grating because Grayson was in a relationship and yet they still fell for one another and it took until the end of the book for Grayson and Cynthia to actually break up.
April 14, 2020
Between the Bliss & Me will hit you right in the feels. Set during that unique time between high school and college, the book packs an emotional punch while exploring themes about family, first love, and mental health. It’s smart, realistic fiction with heart and humor.
April 5, 2021
Her mother had always been a bit overprotective, but when Sydney revealed her decision to attend NYU and live at school, she learned the truth about why her mother wanted to keep her close to home. Though Sydney had been aware of her estranged father's addictions issues, she never knew he was schizophrenic, and that she could inherit his illness.
As with her previous book, The Art of Losing, Mason's new release walloped me in my feels. Once again, she took on mental health issues, which were explored from multiple angles in an honest and thoughtful way.
This was supposed to be an exciting summer for Sydney. She had graduated, gained entry to her dream school, and was gifted a large check from her grandparents, which alleviated some of her money woes. But it turned into a summer of pain, worry, and guilt. Learning her father was mentally ill and homeless was devastating for Sydney, and choosing NYU over Rutgers caused a rift between her and her mother.
I can only imagine what a shock it would be to learn such things about a loved one, and then to have the possibility of the same thing happening to you hanging over your head would be terribly difficult. As expected, Sydney was shook. My heart went out to her as she struggled to come to terms with everything she learned, while also questioning her own mental health at times. There were some painful moments later in the story, but they felt necessary to illustrate how difficult it can be for the family of someone who is ill. It was that helplessness and hopelessness they have to deal with, when they are unable to help their loved ones.
I appreciated that Mason tempered the story with a few subplots focusing on friendship, romance, and figuring out who you are. These plot lines worked well with the main focus of the story, and there were even some great connections in there. One overlap that stuck out to me was the comparison between different mental health issues and how some are deemed "more acceptable".
The core of this story was mental illness, and Mason really delved into it and attacked the issue from multiple sides. She shined a light on the fact that a large percentage of the homeless population suffer from mental health issues, and the system is not well equipped to give them the help they need. She shared the history of the mental health care system in the US, and gave me glimpses of the many challenges the mentally ill face in the legal, prison, and health care systems. It's fantastic to see such an open discourse about mental health issues, and I welcomed it.
Overall: Honest, thoughtful, and ultimately full of hope.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS
As with her previous book, The Art of Losing, Mason's new release walloped me in my feels. Once again, she took on mental health issues, which were explored from multiple angles in an honest and thoughtful way.
This was supposed to be an exciting summer for Sydney. She had graduated, gained entry to her dream school, and was gifted a large check from her grandparents, which alleviated some of her money woes. But it turned into a summer of pain, worry, and guilt. Learning her father was mentally ill and homeless was devastating for Sydney, and choosing NYU over Rutgers caused a rift between her and her mother.
I can only imagine what a shock it would be to learn such things about a loved one, and then to have the possibility of the same thing happening to you hanging over your head would be terribly difficult. As expected, Sydney was shook. My heart went out to her as she struggled to come to terms with everything she learned, while also questioning her own mental health at times. There were some painful moments later in the story, but they felt necessary to illustrate how difficult it can be for the family of someone who is ill. It was that helplessness and hopelessness they have to deal with, when they are unable to help their loved ones.
I appreciated that Mason tempered the story with a few subplots focusing on friendship, romance, and figuring out who you are. These plot lines worked well with the main focus of the story, and there were even some great connections in there. One overlap that stuck out to me was the comparison between different mental health issues and how some are deemed "more acceptable".
The core of this story was mental illness, and Mason really delved into it and attacked the issue from multiple sides. She shined a light on the fact that a large percentage of the homeless population suffer from mental health issues, and the system is not well equipped to give them the help they need. She shared the history of the mental health care system in the US, and gave me glimpses of the many challenges the mentally ill face in the legal, prison, and health care systems. It's fantastic to see such an open discourse about mental health issues, and I welcomed it.
Overall: Honest, thoughtful, and ultimately full of hope.
*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.
BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS
April 6, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley and Soho Teen for this arc, which I received in exchange for an honest review. I’ll post that review upon publication.
Updated 4/6/21
3 stars
There are some good intentions here, but I had serious struggles with this novel as a whole.
Sydney is 18, and she is ready to leave the nest for NYU on her grandparents' dime. Sounds good, right? Well, she hasn't bothered to tell her mother that she will not be living at home or going to school where planned OR that her grandparents are footing the bill. When her mom finds out about all of this, information overload kicks in to high gear.
In a very short period of time, Sydney learns some unexpected truths about her father that not only impact her as his child but also as an autonomous being. This whole story line centers on mental health, and as a person who has seen some examples of what's discussed here close up, there seems to be a lot of oversimplifying and lacking development where needed. I do think that Sydney's mental health journey has the bones of a good telling, but it's too surface level, and her father's is...weirdly didactic at times.
What shocked me about this book is how so much of it could be moving and well executed and then this bizarro romance with more problems than I can count shows up and distracts everyone - characters and readers alike - from more meaningful life events. The last line of this novel infuriated me, and if I had been reading on something other than my Kindle, I might have thrown it.
So this book, for me, is filled with highs and lows. I'd have loved to read a more focused study of this character and leave the music, terrible cousin, and especially the lackluster romance at the door.
Updated 4/6/21
3 stars
There are some good intentions here, but I had serious struggles with this novel as a whole.
Sydney is 18, and she is ready to leave the nest for NYU on her grandparents' dime. Sounds good, right? Well, she hasn't bothered to tell her mother that she will not be living at home or going to school where planned OR that her grandparents are footing the bill. When her mom finds out about all of this, information overload kicks in to high gear.
In a very short period of time, Sydney learns some unexpected truths about her father that not only impact her as his child but also as an autonomous being. This whole story line centers on mental health, and as a person who has seen some examples of what's discussed here close up, there seems to be a lot of oversimplifying and lacking development where needed. I do think that Sydney's mental health journey has the bones of a good telling, but it's too surface level, and her father's is...weirdly didactic at times.
What shocked me about this book is how so much of it could be moving and well executed and then this bizarro romance with more problems than I can count shows up and distracts everyone - characters and readers alike - from more meaningful life events. The last line of this novel infuriated me, and if I had been reading on something other than my Kindle, I might have thrown it.
So this book, for me, is filled with highs and lows. I'd have loved to read a more focused study of this character and leave the music, terrible cousin, and especially the lackluster romance at the door.
July 18, 2021
Between the Bliss and Me follows Sydney, who recently graduated and has decided to attend NYU, against her mother's wishes. Sydney learns that her absent father struggles with schizophrenia and is homeless in New York, and that there's a 10% change she'll inherit the disorder. Throughout the story, she struggles with figuring out what she wants her future to be, coming to terms with possibly inheriting schizophrenia, and juggling her feelings for Grayson, her best friend's bandmate who is in a relationship.
There were a few things about the book that didn't quite sit right with me. I didn't love that Grayson and Sydney were emotionally cheating on Grayson's girlfriend, Cynthia. They never kissed while Grayson and Cynthia were dating, but they came close and were basically dating while he was in this other relationship, all because he didn't want to break up with Cynthia because his relationship with her was the one thing his father was proud of him for. Cynthia actually ended up being the one to break up with Grayson, and Grayson and Sydney almost immediately started going out. Their actual relationship ended up feeling rushed and problematic and I just never really got on board with it.
I can't speak to the schizophrenia representation, but I did enjoy how the book handled Sydney's depression and anxiety. There were a lot of elements there that I could connect with. I also enjoy reading about characters who have parents with mental illnesses--that's always something that I'm looking for, and seeing Sydney struggle with not wanting to turn out like her father was definitely something I could relate to.
However, when it came to talking about schizophrenia and mental illness treatment, especially in prisons, it became very info-dumpy. There's a several-page conversation that Sydney has with her grandparents' lawyer about her father and how the mentally ill are treated in prison that felt more like a long info-dump rather than a genuine conversation. The information was interesting, but it just felt like a lazy way to convey it.
A lot of the story had a strong resemblance to Gilmore Girls, and even blatantly mentioned the show. Sydney was raised by her single mother, and she grew up pretty poor. However, Sydney's grandparents (her dad's parents) were still in her life, even though her father wasn't. Her grandparents were extremely wealthy, which made her mother uncomfortable. They paid for her private school tuition and provided financial support when they needed it, which Sydney's mother resented. They even pay for her college and provide her with some extra money, which causes a lot of tension between Sydney and her mother. Sydney even runs away to their house briefly to get away from her mother when they're fighting about college. It didn't pull me out of the story, but there were a lot of similarities there that were hard to ignore.
Overall, the writing was pretty solid and the overall structure of the story was fine. I did enjoy parts of the mental health representation and was able to connect with it--I just wish the rest of it hadn't been so info-dumpy and that the romance was a little less problematic. It's a decent book, but I think if you're looking for YA books about mental health, I'd sooner point you to When Elephants Fly by Nancy Richardson Fischer (which is one of my favorite books of all time and discusses schizophrenia in a much more natural way) or Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia (which does an excellent job of portraying anxiety).
Thank you to Goodreads for providing me with a copy of Between the Bliss and Me. All opinions are my own.
There were a few things about the book that didn't quite sit right with me. I didn't love that Grayson and Sydney were emotionally cheating on Grayson's girlfriend, Cynthia. They never kissed while Grayson and Cynthia were dating, but they came close and were basically dating while he was in this other relationship, all because he didn't want to break up with Cynthia because his relationship with her was the one thing his father was proud of him for. Cynthia actually ended up being the one to break up with Grayson, and Grayson and Sydney almost immediately started going out. Their actual relationship ended up feeling rushed and problematic and I just never really got on board with it.
I can't speak to the schizophrenia representation, but I did enjoy how the book handled Sydney's depression and anxiety. There were a lot of elements there that I could connect with. I also enjoy reading about characters who have parents with mental illnesses--that's always something that I'm looking for, and seeing Sydney struggle with not wanting to turn out like her father was definitely something I could relate to.
However, when it came to talking about schizophrenia and mental illness treatment, especially in prisons, it became very info-dumpy. There's a several-page conversation that Sydney has with her grandparents' lawyer about her father and how the mentally ill are treated in prison that felt more like a long info-dump rather than a genuine conversation. The information was interesting, but it just felt like a lazy way to convey it.
A lot of the story had a strong resemblance to Gilmore Girls, and even blatantly mentioned the show. Sydney was raised by her single mother, and she grew up pretty poor. However, Sydney's grandparents (her dad's parents) were still in her life, even though her father wasn't. Her grandparents were extremely wealthy, which made her mother uncomfortable. They paid for her private school tuition and provided financial support when they needed it, which Sydney's mother resented. They even pay for her college and provide her with some extra money, which causes a lot of tension between Sydney and her mother. Sydney even runs away to their house briefly to get away from her mother when they're fighting about college. It didn't pull me out of the story, but there were a lot of similarities there that were hard to ignore.
Overall, the writing was pretty solid and the overall structure of the story was fine. I did enjoy parts of the mental health representation and was able to connect with it--I just wish the rest of it hadn't been so info-dumpy and that the romance was a little less problematic. It's a decent book, but I think if you're looking for YA books about mental health, I'd sooner point you to When Elephants Fly by Nancy Richardson Fischer (which is one of my favorite books of all time and discusses schizophrenia in a much more natural way) or Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia (which does an excellent job of portraying anxiety).
Thank you to Goodreads for providing me with a copy of Between the Bliss and Me. All opinions are my own.
April 5, 2020
Many thanks to EdelweissPlus and the publisher for providing me with a DRC of this title for review. All opinions are my own.
I was excited to read this. Any book that has a blurb comparing it to Jandy Nelson's work had better have a strong presence, because Nelson's works are extraordinary. This was definitely in the same realm as I'll Give you the Sun and very realistically deals with the nuances of graduating high school and the stigma of mental illness. There were a few flaws (the friendship with the main character's grandparent's hired help didn't exactly ring as authentic) but otherwise, the meatier parts of it were handled with grace and authenticity.
Sydney is a high school senior, ready to head to NYU and finally live away from her mother. Thanks to a generous gift from her grandparents, she will be able to afford the tuition as well as a place to live while in college. Now all she has to do is tell her mother that she won't be living at home. Sydney knows her mother worries about her and she knows that her father's departure from their lives 15 years ago, as well as his addiction problems, are partially to blame. What she doesn't know, and is shocked to find out from her grandparents, is that her father is schizophrenic, homeless, and living on the streets of NY. Oh, and she has a 10% chance of inheriting the disease.
As Syd deals with this newfound reality, she begins to fear she can already sense changes in herself that signal the onset of the disease. And until she sees her father for herself, and understands the life he is living, she won't be able to move on. What follows is a heartwrenching look at what it takes to love someone with a mental illness, as well as what happens when you know you are headed down that path as well.
Recommended, especially for collections where contemporary fiction is popular and mental health stories are in demand. Recommended for grades 10 and up.
I was excited to read this. Any book that has a blurb comparing it to Jandy Nelson's work had better have a strong presence, because Nelson's works are extraordinary. This was definitely in the same realm as I'll Give you the Sun and very realistically deals with the nuances of graduating high school and the stigma of mental illness. There were a few flaws (the friendship with the main character's grandparent's hired help didn't exactly ring as authentic) but otherwise, the meatier parts of it were handled with grace and authenticity.
Sydney is a high school senior, ready to head to NYU and finally live away from her mother. Thanks to a generous gift from her grandparents, she will be able to afford the tuition as well as a place to live while in college. Now all she has to do is tell her mother that she won't be living at home. Sydney knows her mother worries about her and she knows that her father's departure from their lives 15 years ago, as well as his addiction problems, are partially to blame. What she doesn't know, and is shocked to find out from her grandparents, is that her father is schizophrenic, homeless, and living on the streets of NY. Oh, and she has a 10% chance of inheriting the disease.
As Syd deals with this newfound reality, she begins to fear she can already sense changes in herself that signal the onset of the disease. And until she sees her father for herself, and understands the life he is living, she won't be able to move on. What follows is a heartwrenching look at what it takes to love someone with a mental illness, as well as what happens when you know you are headed down that path as well.
Recommended, especially for collections where contemporary fiction is popular and mental health stories are in demand. Recommended for grades 10 and up.
March 16, 2021
Thanks to NetGalley for providing this digital copy for me to read.
Sydney Holman is about to leave for college. She’s starting to make some choices for herself, met a boy, and sings part-time in band. All signs are pointing toward a fantastic final summer in New Jersey.
She also has grown up knowing very little about her father. This is the summer that she finally learns the truth and it changes everything she knows about herself and her family.
This may be a little spoiler-y... be warned. I really appreciated how the author handled the discussion of mental illness. I like how she contrasted the mother (who had been dealing with the ramifications of her husband’s schizophrenia for 18 years), the grandparents’ (who tried to help by throwing money and resources to “fix” the problem), with Sydney (with her naïveté that she could get her father to get better). The addition of the lawyer was a great way to give information to the reader about the history of the mental health system in America without sounding like a lecture.
Overall, a great book for teens and adults alike. A lghthearted love story with a powerful message about mental health.
Sydney Holman is about to leave for college. She’s starting to make some choices for herself, met a boy, and sings part-time in band. All signs are pointing toward a fantastic final summer in New Jersey.
She also has grown up knowing very little about her father. This is the summer that she finally learns the truth and it changes everything she knows about herself and her family.
This may be a little spoiler-y... be warned. I really appreciated how the author handled the discussion of mental illness. I like how she contrasted the mother (who had been dealing with the ramifications of her husband’s schizophrenia for 18 years), the grandparents’ (who tried to help by throwing money and resources to “fix” the problem), with Sydney (with her naïveté that she could get her father to get better). The addition of the lawyer was a great way to give information to the reader about the history of the mental health system in America without sounding like a lecture.
Overall, a great book for teens and adults alike. A lghthearted love story with a powerful message about mental health.
August 2, 2021
*I won this signed finished copy as a part of a Goodreads giveaway sponsored by Soho Press. Thank you to any and all parties involved for sending this book my way!*
I absolutely loved this book! In my opinion, this book had the perfect combination of mental health representation, romance, music, family/friendship dynamics, and plot. This book really focused on mental illnesses and how they can impact people's lives and families. I went into this book not knowing much about it, but I couldn't have been more delightfully surprised at how much I enjoyed this book! The only thing that could be considered problematic or offsetting would be the romance, since the main characters love interest was in a relationship for a good chunk of the book. However, I personally didn't find the whole situation to be unfaithful or considered cheating since nothing physical occurred while the LI was in a relationship. Overall, I laughed, cried, and smiled like an idiot throughout the whole story. I can definitely see myself rereading this in the future!
I absolutely loved this book! In my opinion, this book had the perfect combination of mental health representation, romance, music, family/friendship dynamics, and plot. This book really focused on mental illnesses and how they can impact people's lives and families. I went into this book not knowing much about it, but I couldn't have been more delightfully surprised at how much I enjoyed this book! The only thing that could be considered problematic or offsetting would be the romance, since the main characters love interest was in a relationship for a good chunk of the book. However, I personally didn't find the whole situation to be unfaithful or considered cheating since nothing physical occurred while the LI was in a relationship. Overall, I laughed, cried, and smiled like an idiot throughout the whole story. I can definitely see myself rereading this in the future!
November 6, 2020
Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Between the Bliss and Me in exchange for an honest review.
Between the Bliss and Me follows 18-year old Sydney after accepting a huge check from her grandparents to go to NYU against her mother's wishes. From there, Sydney grows closer to her grandparents and discovers something shocking about her absentee father: he has schizophrenia. Sydney grapples with friendship, love, her future, family, and her fears of having schizophrenia herself while trying to find her father.
While plotwise this was okay, I feel like a lot of the story is heavily centered around Sydney and her connections to other characters and I found the narrative too hollow for me to really believe in any of their relationships. There was something subtle, but important missing here that kept this from being excellent.
Between the Bliss and Me follows 18-year old Sydney after accepting a huge check from her grandparents to go to NYU against her mother's wishes. From there, Sydney grows closer to her grandparents and discovers something shocking about her absentee father: he has schizophrenia. Sydney grapples with friendship, love, her future, family, and her fears of having schizophrenia herself while trying to find her father.
While plotwise this was okay, I feel like a lot of the story is heavily centered around Sydney and her connections to other characters and I found the narrative too hollow for me to really believe in any of their relationships. There was something subtle, but important missing here that kept this from being excellent.
June 26, 2021
LOVE LOVE LOVE!! What a splendid book. Absolutely thoroughly loved reading this. I would have finished it in one sitting, but my eyes went blurry about halfway through. LOL Thank you so much for writing about mental illness and doing so in such a beautiful, relatable way. I'm also a huge sucker for books that revolve around music and inspire my own playlists to grow. <3 <3
May 2, 2023
This story is a 3.5 stars with me, but I’m rounding it up to 4 stars because I like the author. She’s pretty cool. This story centers, mainly, around mental illness. The main character, Sydney, just graduated high school and is on the precipice of going to college. Sydney and her mother are at odds about her choice of college -along with a few other things in her life. Like any other young person, Sydney makes a few rash decisions throughout the story and the audience goes along for the ride.
April 25, 2020
Another gem by Lizzy. This book isn’t out until 2021, but add to your tbr. Review to come much later!
March 28, 2021
stunning cover
June 21, 2021
Very believable story of the effect of a parents' schizophrenia on his child. Sydney has been raised by her hard-working single mom, after her father left the family when she was young. She always believed he was an alcoholic and a drug addict. At 18, as she is preparing to leave home for college, she finds out the truth about her Dad: the alcoholism and drug addiction are the results of his unmedicated schizophrenia, and the reason he lives on the street. Since schizophrenia is a hereditary mental illness, this raises alarm bells for Sydney, and explains why her mother wanted her to attend college locally, and live at home.
There is a budding romance with a boy who will be attending Juilliard, and a best friend who is gay. There is a secret trip to New York to try and find the father. There is what she learns about her fathers' illness and what she learns about herself. Worth reading.
There is a budding romance with a boy who will be attending Juilliard, and a best friend who is gay. There is a secret trip to New York to try and find the father. There is what she learns about her fathers' illness and what she learns about herself. Worth reading.
December 1, 2020
This book wasn’t my forte, but it was still a good read. I usually go for something with more action and suspense, but obviously this was not of that sort of genre. It was, however, very insightful and interesting to read. I liked its fresh perspective on mental illness as seen through the way it impacts the family and loved ones, rather than the individual themselves. There were quite a few cliches in this novel though, which could have been avoided. Things such as the gay best friend and writing songs for each other just felt a bit fake. The romance was also a bit too good to be true, but then again, we don’t read books for the things that can happen in real life. Rating: 2.5 stars
March 16, 2021
*ARC provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review*
4.5 stars. I've been searching for a fictional novel with mentally ill characters, that focuses on mentally ill themes that feels real for quite some time, with the exception of a couple of novels that I read in high school, I've had a hard time finding anything aside from memoirs that fits the bill, until this.
Between the Bliss and Me starts out as what is seemingly typical at-home drama between a mother and daughter. Early in the book, Sydney's paternal grandparents give her a check for $30,000 to with basically as she pleases, as well as offer to pay for her college at NYU in full. Sydney's mother is immediately upset by this, largely because she had expected Sydney to take a scholarship from another school, and didn't expect her to be moving out so soon. She is also vocal about disagreeing with the idea of Sydney taking her grandparent's money, as Sydney has been estranged from her father almost her whole life, with Sydney being under the impression that he abandoned her because of struggles with drugs and alcohol. Sydney's mother expresses worry that she will feel she owes her grandparents if she doesn't earn her own way through school. This causes a rift between the two and Sydney takes a vacation at her grandparent's beach house to get away from her mom.
Upon arriving at her grandparent's very bougie beach house, the first time ever visiting in her life, Sydney makes friends with their in home assistant, Marta, almost immediately. Marta invites Sydney to a party, where Sydney ends up drinking for the first time, coming back to her grandparent's house very loudly and having to face them in the morning. Her grandparents are visibly upset about the previous night, however not for the reasons that Sydney had assumed. This is when the news is broken to Sydney that her father has been struggling with schizophrenia for over a decade, and that she has a 10% chance of inheriting it. Her grandparents warn her that alcohol and drug use can trigger schizophrenia/psychosis, and tell her their story of trying to save her father, who is estranged from them and refuses medication.
There are so many important topics in this story that I'm going to skip over talking about the side characters or the cute romance, and even the friends sharing beds, because holy crap y'all, this book discusses not just the experiences of the mentally ill, but the rights involved around forcefully medicating someone, as well as the ethics of that, the mass rates of incarceration faced by the mentally ill, the deinstitutionalization under Reagan, and more. This is all done so well because it's told through the narrative of Sydney, who is struggling to understand how it is illegal to force her father to take medication, but it's not illegal to let him suffer and starve/drink himself to death in the streets. The importance of mentally ill people having their own autonomy is discussed when Sydney's mom admits she chose to respect Sydney's father's wishes, even though they hurt her, and they might be the wrong ones. Sydney's therapist also suggests this. Because Sydney's father is not seen as a danger to himself or others, nothing can be done to force him to get help he doesn't want.
This book grapples with a lot of ethical dilemmas that many people do not think about until they are in the situation, and it is driven home with Sydney knowing the risk is there for her to develop schizophrenia, and therefore puts herself in her father's shoes and thinks about what she would want. I loved the discussions of the ethics of forced treatment for mentally ill/psychotic people, as many of us are medicated against our will, especially when involuntarily institutionalized. Whether this is a good or bad thing is a divisive topic, and differs on a person-to-person basis. Some mentally ill folks, like myself, are very grateful for their medication and feel that the side effects are worth the benefits, others don't want to accept medication and maybe won't ever.
The vast majority of people with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators, as Sydney discovers in her research. The ultimate question this book brings to the table is: if someone is psychotic and only a danger to themselves (albeit not in a suicidal way), is it ethical to force them into treatment? Or do mentally ill people deserve to be able to make choices about their bodies in the same way as everyone else?
4.5 stars. I've been searching for a fictional novel with mentally ill characters, that focuses on mentally ill themes that feels real for quite some time, with the exception of a couple of novels that I read in high school, I've had a hard time finding anything aside from memoirs that fits the bill, until this.
Between the Bliss and Me starts out as what is seemingly typical at-home drama between a mother and daughter. Early in the book, Sydney's paternal grandparents give her a check for $30,000 to with basically as she pleases, as well as offer to pay for her college at NYU in full. Sydney's mother is immediately upset by this, largely because she had expected Sydney to take a scholarship from another school, and didn't expect her to be moving out so soon. She is also vocal about disagreeing with the idea of Sydney taking her grandparent's money, as Sydney has been estranged from her father almost her whole life, with Sydney being under the impression that he abandoned her because of struggles with drugs and alcohol. Sydney's mother expresses worry that she will feel she owes her grandparents if she doesn't earn her own way through school. This causes a rift between the two and Sydney takes a vacation at her grandparent's beach house to get away from her mom.
Upon arriving at her grandparent's very bougie beach house, the first time ever visiting in her life, Sydney makes friends with their in home assistant, Marta, almost immediately. Marta invites Sydney to a party, where Sydney ends up drinking for the first time, coming back to her grandparent's house very loudly and having to face them in the morning. Her grandparents are visibly upset about the previous night, however not for the reasons that Sydney had assumed. This is when the news is broken to Sydney that her father has been struggling with schizophrenia for over a decade, and that she has a 10% chance of inheriting it. Her grandparents warn her that alcohol and drug use can trigger schizophrenia/psychosis, and tell her their story of trying to save her father, who is estranged from them and refuses medication.
There are so many important topics in this story that I'm going to skip over talking about the side characters or the cute romance, and even the friends sharing beds, because holy crap y'all, this book discusses not just the experiences of the mentally ill, but the rights involved around forcefully medicating someone, as well as the ethics of that, the mass rates of incarceration faced by the mentally ill, the deinstitutionalization under Reagan, and more. This is all done so well because it's told through the narrative of Sydney, who is struggling to understand how it is illegal to force her father to take medication, but it's not illegal to let him suffer and starve/drink himself to death in the streets. The importance of mentally ill people having their own autonomy is discussed when Sydney's mom admits she chose to respect Sydney's father's wishes, even though they hurt her, and they might be the wrong ones. Sydney's therapist also suggests this. Because Sydney's father is not seen as a danger to himself or others, nothing can be done to force him to get help he doesn't want.
This book grapples with a lot of ethical dilemmas that many people do not think about until they are in the situation, and it is driven home with Sydney knowing the risk is there for her to develop schizophrenia, and therefore puts herself in her father's shoes and thinks about what she would want. I loved the discussions of the ethics of forced treatment for mentally ill/psychotic people, as many of us are medicated against our will, especially when involuntarily institutionalized. Whether this is a good or bad thing is a divisive topic, and differs on a person-to-person basis. Some mentally ill folks, like myself, are very grateful for their medication and feel that the side effects are worth the benefits, others don't want to accept medication and maybe won't ever.
The vast majority of people with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators, as Sydney discovers in her research. The ultimate question this book brings to the table is: if someone is psychotic and only a danger to themselves (albeit not in a suicidal way), is it ethical to force them into treatment? Or do mentally ill people deserve to be able to make choices about their bodies in the same way as everyone else?
April 2, 2021
Okay, this was not an easy book to read. It centers around mental health and mental illnesses. So, I want to start by saying that because I think this was a really good story but it’s not going to be for anyone.
Sydney just turned eighteen. She’s getting ready to go off to college, except she’s not going to the college that her mom thinks she’s going to. Sydney, with the help of her grandparents, has decided that she wants to go to NYU. This is not what Sydney and her mom discussed and agreed to. Sydney’s mom has always been over protective. And she learns why when she visits her grandparents beach house. She learns that her mom has been keeping information about her father from her. Her father has schizophrenia. She also learns that there is a chance she could develop symptoms over the next few years. While all of this is going on, she meets a boy, Grayson. She has a crush on him and ends up seeing him while she’s staying with her grandparents. The only problem with her crush on Grayson? He has a girlfriend. He also has a really bitchy cousin.
So, I really liked Sydney. She’s anxious all the time, but she doesn’t let her anxiety stop her. She stands up for herself. She has all these doubts about herself, but they don’t really show on the outside. I really liked how Sydney was portrayed and how her emotions and reactions were shown. I don’t have personal experience with schizophrenia so I can’t speak to the accuracy of the representation, but it seemed it be handled thoughtfully from my outside perspective. I thought it was interesting the way that Mason managed to show how everyone reacts differently to mental illness. We see Sydney’s grandparents come to a slow realization that there’s nothing they can do for their son, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t try to help him in any way they can again and again. We see Sydney’s mom listen to her husband when he asks her to let him go. There’s also some really good conversation about the lack of support available for people with mental illnesses, about the unfairness of the courts and prison systems when it comes to caring for people with mental illnesses. I think these topics were well done.
Now, the romance with Grayson was the one thing in this story that I didn’t really care for. I think everything that was done could have been left the same, minus Grayson as a romantic interest. I think it could have been a completely platonic relationship and the story would still have had the same effect. I don’t think this needed to be romantic in anyway. I think it would have been an even better story had it just been Sydney’s story about learning to accept herself.
Overall, I think this was a really hard hitting and emotional portrayal about what it’s like to have a family member with a mental illness and feeling helpless to help them. I especially liked Sydney’s friends. Eliot is the light of my life and I loved every moment that he was on the page. I also really loved Magda. Magda reminded me of quite a few of my friends from my hometown, which is a beachy town like the one in parts of this book. So, we also get people from other countries that come over on a student visa and work for the summer. I always loved working with them. They, much like Magda were always so interesting and fun to be around. They also always threw the best parties. I think this will be a book that some will really love and others will not. So, take this review with a grain of salt and read it if the topic is one that you can handle.
Sydney just turned eighteen. She’s getting ready to go off to college, except she’s not going to the college that her mom thinks she’s going to. Sydney, with the help of her grandparents, has decided that she wants to go to NYU. This is not what Sydney and her mom discussed and agreed to. Sydney’s mom has always been over protective. And she learns why when she visits her grandparents beach house. She learns that her mom has been keeping information about her father from her. Her father has schizophrenia. She also learns that there is a chance she could develop symptoms over the next few years. While all of this is going on, she meets a boy, Grayson. She has a crush on him and ends up seeing him while she’s staying with her grandparents. The only problem with her crush on Grayson? He has a girlfriend. He also has a really bitchy cousin.
So, I really liked Sydney. She’s anxious all the time, but she doesn’t let her anxiety stop her. She stands up for herself. She has all these doubts about herself, but they don’t really show on the outside. I really liked how Sydney was portrayed and how her emotions and reactions were shown. I don’t have personal experience with schizophrenia so I can’t speak to the accuracy of the representation, but it seemed it be handled thoughtfully from my outside perspective. I thought it was interesting the way that Mason managed to show how everyone reacts differently to mental illness. We see Sydney’s grandparents come to a slow realization that there’s nothing they can do for their son, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t try to help him in any way they can again and again. We see Sydney’s mom listen to her husband when he asks her to let him go. There’s also some really good conversation about the lack of support available for people with mental illnesses, about the unfairness of the courts and prison systems when it comes to caring for people with mental illnesses. I think these topics were well done.
Now, the romance with Grayson was the one thing in this story that I didn’t really care for. I think everything that was done could have been left the same, minus Grayson as a romantic interest. I think it could have been a completely platonic relationship and the story would still have had the same effect. I don’t think this needed to be romantic in anyway. I think it would have been an even better story had it just been Sydney’s story about learning to accept herself.
Overall, I think this was a really hard hitting and emotional portrayal about what it’s like to have a family member with a mental illness and feeling helpless to help them. I especially liked Sydney’s friends. Eliot is the light of my life and I loved every moment that he was on the page. I also really loved Magda. Magda reminded me of quite a few of my friends from my hometown, which is a beachy town like the one in parts of this book. So, we also get people from other countries that come over on a student visa and work for the summer. I always loved working with them. They, much like Magda were always so interesting and fun to be around. They also always threw the best parties. I think this will be a book that some will really love and others will not. So, take this review with a grain of salt and read it if the topic is one that you can handle.
July 30, 2021
Lizzy Mason attempts to tackle a lot with Between the Bliss and Me. She explores mental illness, upper class, WASP culture, homelessness and the broken mental healthcare system in America. It’s a book about the impact mental illness has on an individual and his family, about growing up and finding yourself, and about friendship, family and (unfortunately) love. It’s an ambitious endeavor, but I was pleasantly surprised by how she managed to pull it all together.
I expected this to be your typical YA contemporary/romance book, where Sydney’s relationship with her dad and Grayson were the focus of the story and the mental illness plays more of a secondary role in the story, but it’s actually the opposite. That being said, the overall pacing is a little slower than the somewhat misleading synopsis might suggest (the search for her father doesn’t happen until the second half of the book.) I actually didn’t mind the slower pace, but a warning to those who might be expecting something a little exciting.
It’s a little hard for me to review the actual story. I wasn’t emotionally invested in any of the characters, but The Bliss and Me is still an interesting read. I don’t know how accurate the mental illness rep is, but I appreciate the fact that Mason doesn’t try to sensationalize schizophrenia. If the recommended reading list at the end of the book is any indication, she made an effort to do her research in order to write an honest and thoughtful portrayal of schizophrenia. Some of the larger discussions on the lack of support for those with mental illnesses are a little info-dumpy. There are entire chunks of the book where Mason gives us a lecture on the history of mental illness, incarceration and homelessness through monologues. The information is interesting enough, I just wish it was incorporated into the story a little better.
I like the idea of exploring the impact mental illness has on both the individual and his/her loved ones, and I wish Sydney’s relationships with her family explored more. I got some Gilmore Girl vibes in chapter one (I mean, single mom, estranged rich grandparents who they only see on holidays paying for private school, and a pro/con list making protagonist?), even though Sydney claims she and her mom “aren’t the Gilmore Girls or anything,” and a lot of the complex family dynamics that attracted me to Amy Sherman-Palladino’s series are present among the Holman family members. It would be interesting to see them developed more, but we kind of just scratch the surface here.
My biggest complaint is that the romance is completely unnecessary. I personally don’t think it adds much to the story, and the whole “he has a girlfriend” thing is getting old. It’s hard to root for a couple when there’s emotional infidelity going on, and I just think there are other options for obstacles to keep the two apart.
Otherwise, I think Between the Bliss and Me is a thoughtful and compelling read. I appreciated the fact that the story feels fairly realistic.
I expected this to be your typical YA contemporary/romance book, where Sydney’s relationship with her dad and Grayson were the focus of the story and the mental illness plays more of a secondary role in the story, but it’s actually the opposite. That being said, the overall pacing is a little slower than the somewhat misleading synopsis might suggest (the search for her father doesn’t happen until the second half of the book.) I actually didn’t mind the slower pace, but a warning to those who might be expecting something a little exciting.
It’s a little hard for me to review the actual story. I wasn’t emotionally invested in any of the characters, but The Bliss and Me is still an interesting read. I don’t know how accurate the mental illness rep is, but I appreciate the fact that Mason doesn’t try to sensationalize schizophrenia. If the recommended reading list at the end of the book is any indication, she made an effort to do her research in order to write an honest and thoughtful portrayal of schizophrenia. Some of the larger discussions on the lack of support for those with mental illnesses are a little info-dumpy. There are entire chunks of the book where Mason gives us a lecture on the history of mental illness, incarceration and homelessness through monologues. The information is interesting enough, I just wish it was incorporated into the story a little better.
I like the idea of exploring the impact mental illness has on both the individual and his/her loved ones, and I wish Sydney’s relationships with her family explored more. I got some Gilmore Girl vibes in chapter one (I mean, single mom, estranged rich grandparents who they only see on holidays paying for private school, and a pro/con list making protagonist?), even though Sydney claims she and her mom “aren’t the Gilmore Girls or anything,” and a lot of the complex family dynamics that attracted me to Amy Sherman-Palladino’s series are present among the Holman family members. It would be interesting to see them developed more, but we kind of just scratch the surface here.
My biggest complaint is that the romance is completely unnecessary. I personally don’t think it adds much to the story, and the whole “he has a girlfriend” thing is getting old. It’s hard to root for a couple when there’s emotional infidelity going on, and I just think there are other options for obstacles to keep the two apart.
Otherwise, I think Between the Bliss and Me is a thoughtful and compelling read. I appreciated the fact that the story feels fairly realistic.
March 26, 2021
Between the Bliss and Me is such a heart-wrenching, bittersweet yet beautiful story. You feel everything while reading this book and you can't help but feel for everyone involved.
Sydney Holman is graduating from high school and is ready to tackle college in New York. The problem is, she has to convince her mother who wants her to stay at home and go to school near their home. When Sydney's grandparents give her a large sum of money as a graduation gift, and out the fact she's chosen to go away from home, things between she and her Mom go downhill quickly.
Not only is Sydney dealing with her Mom and her grandparents not getting along, she's dealing with how her alcoholic and drug addicted Dad left when she was small, causing her to spiral into depression and anxiety. While spending some time away from home and at her grandparents, she runs into her crush, Grayson Armstrong, whose family is like her Dad's, very wealthy. Grayson is sweet, helpful, and a gifted musician. The only problem, he has a girlfriend.
While at her grandparents, Sydney learns that her Dad suffers from schizophrenia and he lives on the streets of NYC and has for years. It's evident her Mom has kept this information from her, which hurts her even more and then she realizes that she has a high chance of developing this illness as well. With the help of her best friend Elliott, she sets off to try to locate her Dad. Will it end in the reunion she's hoping for? Or will everything she's hoped for crash down around her? And, what will come of her feelings for Grayson?
This book is though-provoking, sad, realistic and hopeful all at the same time. It's well written and it keeps you engaged as you move through it. I'd highly recommend picking up a copy for yourself!
**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
Sydney Holman is graduating from high school and is ready to tackle college in New York. The problem is, she has to convince her mother who wants her to stay at home and go to school near their home. When Sydney's grandparents give her a large sum of money as a graduation gift, and out the fact she's chosen to go away from home, things between she and her Mom go downhill quickly.
Not only is Sydney dealing with her Mom and her grandparents not getting along, she's dealing with how her alcoholic and drug addicted Dad left when she was small, causing her to spiral into depression and anxiety. While spending some time away from home and at her grandparents, she runs into her crush, Grayson Armstrong, whose family is like her Dad's, very wealthy. Grayson is sweet, helpful, and a gifted musician. The only problem, he has a girlfriend.
While at her grandparents, Sydney learns that her Dad suffers from schizophrenia and he lives on the streets of NYC and has for years. It's evident her Mom has kept this information from her, which hurts her even more and then she realizes that she has a high chance of developing this illness as well. With the help of her best friend Elliott, she sets off to try to locate her Dad. Will it end in the reunion she's hoping for? Or will everything she's hoped for crash down around her? And, what will come of her feelings for Grayson?
This book is though-provoking, sad, realistic and hopeful all at the same time. It's well written and it keeps you engaged as you move through it. I'd highly recommend picking up a copy for yourself!
**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
October 10, 2021
REVIEW: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
_______________________
Sydney's mum isn't keen on her moving to New York for college, but that's not her decision to make. Sydney is eighteen, legally an adult, right?
And summer is meant to be for falling in love with the cute new bandmate, Greyson. Even if his cousin and girlfriend are making that very difficult.
But as summer comes to a close, Sydney is confronted with her biggest demon. Her father's absence from her life. And a shocking revelation of his schizophrenia and drug abuse changes the course of Sydney's life.
_______________________
This was an impulse grab from my library, and possibly the best one all year. It left me speechless, emotional at times, and I couldn't put it down.
Sydney has wondered all her life about her father's disappearance, but is confronted with the reasons why when she tells her mother she's moving off to New York. By spending time with her paternal grandparents, she pieces together the puzzle. Her dad is schizophrenic, living on the streets of New York. He hasn't taken his medication for a long time, and he believes the CIA is following him.
There's a 10% chance this is going to be her future.
Sydney, shell-shocked, tries to reckon with this earth-shattering news. But she needs to find her father despite her family's pleas.
And she finds that maybe her and Grayson have more in common than just band practice.
Mason writes with excellent characterisation. In a lot of YA books, I feel frustrated by an unnecessary half-cooked romance with too much drama and unrelatable characters. I'm aware of my age when I read them, but I still do because they're a quick read. This was nothing like I was expecting at all. Mason talks powerfully about her own experiences with mental health in her acknowledgements and it comes through in a book that has the right balance of drama, fact, and sensitivity.
_______________________
Sydney's mum isn't keen on her moving to New York for college, but that's not her decision to make. Sydney is eighteen, legally an adult, right?
And summer is meant to be for falling in love with the cute new bandmate, Greyson. Even if his cousin and girlfriend are making that very difficult.
But as summer comes to a close, Sydney is confronted with her biggest demon. Her father's absence from her life. And a shocking revelation of his schizophrenia and drug abuse changes the course of Sydney's life.
_______________________
This was an impulse grab from my library, and possibly the best one all year. It left me speechless, emotional at times, and I couldn't put it down.
Sydney has wondered all her life about her father's disappearance, but is confronted with the reasons why when she tells her mother she's moving off to New York. By spending time with her paternal grandparents, she pieces together the puzzle. Her dad is schizophrenic, living on the streets of New York. He hasn't taken his medication for a long time, and he believes the CIA is following him.
There's a 10% chance this is going to be her future.
Sydney, shell-shocked, tries to reckon with this earth-shattering news. But she needs to find her father despite her family's pleas.
And she finds that maybe her and Grayson have more in common than just band practice.
Mason writes with excellent characterisation. In a lot of YA books, I feel frustrated by an unnecessary half-cooked romance with too much drama and unrelatable characters. I'm aware of my age when I read them, but I still do because they're a quick read. This was nothing like I was expecting at all. Mason talks powerfully about her own experiences with mental health in her acknowledgements and it comes through in a book that has the right balance of drama, fact, and sensitivity.
June 11, 2021
"Worrying about worrying just seems counterproductive when there are so many other things to worry about." ~ Lizzy Mason, Between the Bliss and Me
Can a book be both heart-wrenching and heartwarming at the same time? Because Between the Bliss and Me by Lizzy Mason is exactly what this is. This is a young adult, contemporary novel that manages to tackle some pretty heavy subject matters and at the same time convey hopeful messages to readers who might relate to the story and characters found within this little book.
Between the Bliss and Me is a coming-of-age tale that follows eighteen-year-old Sydney Holman. With her graduation just around the corner, she decides to attend NYU and live on-campus. Unfortunately, the one person she is closest to doesn't approve and refuses to celebrate what is ultimately her first adult life decision. Sydney quickly discovers her mom's reason has nothing to do with her being too “immature” or “not ready to be independent yet”...but rather she is worried about her daughter's mental health.
I appreciate the Publisher Soho Teen, author, and Goodreads for sending me an ARC for review. Unfortunately, there must have been a delay because the book arrived long after it was released on April 6. Nevertheless, it's here now and I thoroughly enjoyed reading Sydney's story.
The characters and the writing style are reminiscent of Gilmore Girls and Meg Cabot's 2002 All-American Girl. These two along endeared me to Mason's novel. I don't gravitate towards contemporary YA novels, but for honesty's sake, I requested this book based on the look of the cover. The combinations of the colors and silhouette equal gorgeous and alluring that seems to call out to me: read me...understand me.
Can a book be both heart-wrenching and heartwarming at the same time? Because Between the Bliss and Me by Lizzy Mason is exactly what this is. This is a young adult, contemporary novel that manages to tackle some pretty heavy subject matters and at the same time convey hopeful messages to readers who might relate to the story and characters found within this little book.
Between the Bliss and Me is a coming-of-age tale that follows eighteen-year-old Sydney Holman. With her graduation just around the corner, she decides to attend NYU and live on-campus. Unfortunately, the one person she is closest to doesn't approve and refuses to celebrate what is ultimately her first adult life decision. Sydney quickly discovers her mom's reason has nothing to do with her being too “immature” or “not ready to be independent yet”...but rather she is worried about her daughter's mental health.
I appreciate the Publisher Soho Teen, author, and Goodreads for sending me an ARC for review. Unfortunately, there must have been a delay because the book arrived long after it was released on April 6. Nevertheless, it's here now and I thoroughly enjoyed reading Sydney's story.
The characters and the writing style are reminiscent of Gilmore Girls and Meg Cabot's 2002 All-American Girl. These two along endeared me to Mason's novel. I don't gravitate towards contemporary YA novels, but for honesty's sake, I requested this book based on the look of the cover. The combinations of the colors and silhouette equal gorgeous and alluring that seems to call out to me: read me...understand me.
March 10, 2021
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of Between the Bliss and Me.
As soon as this book was announced, I was interested. After reading Masons first novel I was waiting for an announcement for her next story, and this didn’t disappoint!
This story is able to fit so much into one 300 page book. It covers not only friendship and a budding romance, but rocky family relationships and mental health.
Sydney has always wondered about her father. He left when she was young, too young to have any solid memories of him, causing her to build her version of him in her head. But when she finds out her father didn’t just leave, that he left after a long struggle with schizophrenia and substance abuse, this not only changes what Sydney knew about him, but also causes her to wonder what this could mean for her future.
I really appreciate how this story covers anxiety, and the struggle to make the choice of “do I do what I want and hurt someone I love, or do I do what others think will be best knowing I won’t be happy”.
The main character Sydney is so easy to relate to. She’s figuring herself out, who she is as a person and who she wants to be, while working through her own mental health journey and the bomb she gets dropped on her about who her father really was and who he is now.
Between the Bliss and Me is a great story that covers hard topics, while also having many sweet moments showing friendship, romance, and family relationships. Definitely recommend for anyone who enjoyed Masons first novel, or is looking for a bittersweet journey of finding yourself out.
As soon as this book was announced, I was interested. After reading Masons first novel I was waiting for an announcement for her next story, and this didn’t disappoint!
This story is able to fit so much into one 300 page book. It covers not only friendship and a budding romance, but rocky family relationships and mental health.
Sydney has always wondered about her father. He left when she was young, too young to have any solid memories of him, causing her to build her version of him in her head. But when she finds out her father didn’t just leave, that he left after a long struggle with schizophrenia and substance abuse, this not only changes what Sydney knew about him, but also causes her to wonder what this could mean for her future.
I really appreciate how this story covers anxiety, and the struggle to make the choice of “do I do what I want and hurt someone I love, or do I do what others think will be best knowing I won’t be happy”.
The main character Sydney is so easy to relate to. She’s figuring herself out, who she is as a person and who she wants to be, while working through her own mental health journey and the bomb she gets dropped on her about who her father really was and who he is now.
Between the Bliss and Me is a great story that covers hard topics, while also having many sweet moments showing friendship, romance, and family relationships. Definitely recommend for anyone who enjoyed Masons first novel, or is looking for a bittersweet journey of finding yourself out.
March 29, 2021
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I just received approval for this title not 2 weeks before the release date, so I changed my plans to read this book sooner.
This book is a good story about coping with serious mental illness in your family. While I'm not the target age group, I think the mature subject matter makes this a good book for 16+ year olds.
Sydney Holman is 18 years old and just graduated high school. She just announced she is attending NYU instead of staying home and attending Rutgers in NJ. She is interested in music and is a good singer. Her music education comes from the mix tapes / playlists from her dad Richard, who she doesn't remember since he left when she was 3. Sydney's rich paternal grandparents announce at her graduation dinner that not only are they paying for her college but give her a check for 30 large for school expenses. Syd's mom is a hardworking nurse and the two share a small apartment. They have a Gilmore Girls type relationship.
This book may be about Sydney's future, as she finds out her dad has schizophrenia and is living on the streets in the city, but it takes place the summer before she starts college. She meets a guy she crushes on Grayson. She spends time at the shore and sees how the other half live. She looks for her dad in the city. Sydney worries she might get schizophrenia like her dad.
While this was an easy to read book in terms of reading level there are difficult topics. TW for verbal abuse and mention of mental illness, addiction. I will say that Sydney was naive about certain things but that's understandable at her age. 3.5/5 stars.
This book is a good story about coping with serious mental illness in your family. While I'm not the target age group, I think the mature subject matter makes this a good book for 16+ year olds.
Sydney Holman is 18 years old and just graduated high school. She just announced she is attending NYU instead of staying home and attending Rutgers in NJ. She is interested in music and is a good singer. Her music education comes from the mix tapes / playlists from her dad Richard, who she doesn't remember since he left when she was 3. Sydney's rich paternal grandparents announce at her graduation dinner that not only are they paying for her college but give her a check for 30 large for school expenses. Syd's mom is a hardworking nurse and the two share a small apartment. They have a Gilmore Girls type relationship.
This book may be about Sydney's future, as she finds out her dad has schizophrenia and is living on the streets in the city, but it takes place the summer before she starts college. She meets a guy she crushes on Grayson. She spends time at the shore and sees how the other half live. She looks for her dad in the city. Sydney worries she might get schizophrenia like her dad.
While this was an easy to read book in terms of reading level there are difficult topics. TW for verbal abuse and mention of mental illness, addiction. I will say that Sydney was naive about certain things but that's understandable at her age. 3.5/5 stars.
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