Hello! Thank you very much for your feedback; I always appreciate it when someone takes the time to write a review for my work! It really means a lot to me as an unknown, amateur author.
I'm surprised that you found the message of the book had been neglected. All of the main protagonist's and antagonist's decisions and actions were due to their struggle with mental illness. Ib was an example of fighting against the kind of nihilism and destructive thinking depression could lead to, and Solveg was an example of giving into these dark desires.
In the final battle, I had written Solveg as a personification of depression itself in the way she interacted with Ib, and demonstrated with Rasmus and Yovna that a loving family element can give one purpose in life and enable one to overcome any suffering.
Maybe it seems that the message is forgotten when Ib is with someone he cares about, but becomes prominent when Ib is alone or upset. As I have learned in my life so far, it was meant to show that we are only a kind, loving person away from finding peace and purpose in life.
Granted, this is not a guidebook on how to manage mental illness, but a narrative about how someone deals with it, and perhaps give the reader another perspective of life without preaching to them or telling them what they should do.
As someone who's been managing his mental illness every day for years, I wrote this in a way that I would appreciate had another author written this for someone in my condition.
Your review is very valuable to me and I am grateful for it; I just wanted to do justice to the underlying message as this novel was a very vulnerable work for me.
I'm surprised that you found the message of the book had been neglected. All of the main protagonist's and antagonist's decisions and actions were due to their struggle with mental illness. Ib was an example of fighting against the kind of nihilism and destructive thinking depression could lead to, and Solveg was an example of giving into these dark desires.
In the final battle, I had written Solveg as a personification of depression itself in the way she interacted with Ib, and demonstrated with Rasmus and Yovna that a loving family element can give one purpose in life and enable one to overcome any suffering.
Maybe it seems that the message is forgotten when Ib is with someone he cares about, but becomes prominent when Ib is alone or upset. As I have learned in my life so far, it was meant to show that we are only a kind, loving person away from finding peace and purpose in life.
Granted, this is not a guidebook on how to manage mental illness, but a narrative about how someone deals with it, and perhaps give the reader another perspective of life without preaching to them or telling them what they should do.
As someone who's been managing his mental illness every day for years, I wrote this in a way that I would appreciate had another author written this for someone in my condition.
Your review is very valuable to me and I am grateful for it; I just wanted to do justice to the underlying message as this novel was a very vulnerable work for me.
Gus