Mental Health Bookclub discussion

In June our fiction group read is The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan. You chose this via poll (results: here).

Description:
Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird.

Leigh, who is half Asian and half white, travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time. There, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. In her search, she winds up chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forging a new relationship with her grandparents. And as she grieves, she must try to reconcile the fact that on the same day she kissed her best friend and longtime secret crush, Axel, her mother was taking her own life.

Please use this thread to post questions and comments at any time.

Note- Copy and paste from another post


Aloha All,

I hope everyone is the best as possible. I had some problems with my knee, etc more then normal. Life can be worst. That is why I vanish this time.

If there are any questions, please feel free to ask. Anyone have plans for this book or has read it, please?

Mahalo,
RM
🇺🇸🦋💀🐼

Hello, I’ve been following this group for a while but this is my first time reading with you all.

I am currently reading this book and I’m 300 pages in and still feel bored. It’s just not hitting as emotionally as I thought. Maybe things will change when I get to the end.

I don’t have any questions as of yet but looking forward to everyone’s thoughts on this book.

♥ Kierra ♥ wrote: "Hello, I’ve been following this group for a while but this is my first time reading with you all.

I am currently reading this book and I’m 300 pages in and still feel bored. It’s just not hitting..."

sorry to hear that it doesn't quite captivate you. Feel free to quit it and try some other book with us next month :)

Di wrote: "♥ Kierra ♥ wrote: "Hello, I’ve been following this group for a while but this is my first time reading with you all.

I am currently reading this book and I’m 300 pages in and still feel bored. It..."

Thanks. I'm one of those readers that can't quit, I need to know how it ends. :) I do plan to read The Year of Magical Thinking later in the month.

Hello, I was trying to think of some good questions but quit and searched google instead LOL. Here a few questions to get some convo going.

1. What color would you use to describe this book?

2. Throughout the book, Leigh struggles with her identity as someone who is half white and half Taiwanese. How do you think she ends up finding her identity?

3. Communication is an ongoing issue in the book, whether it is Leigh with her grandparents or with her best friend, Axel. Does communication ever get easier for Leigh? Have you ever experienced something similar to her?

4. What significance do food and tea bring to the book? How did they affect your understanding of the characters?

5. The novel opens, “My mother is a bird.” What role does the bird play throughout the story and how does it change as the story progresses?

6. Grief is at the core of this novel as Leigh tries to find closure after her mom’s death by suicide. How does her family treat mental health? Why do you think there’s still a stigma on mental health issues?

Hello! Has anyone else finished the book?

♥ Kierra ♥ wrote: "Hello! Has anyone else finished the book?"

Aloha Kierra, I have not picked up the book. I truly respect you when you did not hear back. I am sorry about that. I will go put this book on hold now. I will come back. Probably middle of July and answer your good question. I do not sugar coat.

Mahalo,
RM
🇺🇸💀🐼🦋

RM(Alwaysdaddygirl) wrote: "♥ Kierra ♥ wrote: "Hello! Has anyone else finished the book?"

Aloha Kierra, I have not picked up the book. I truly respect you when you did not hear back. I am sorry about that. I will go put this..."

Sounds good. I will answer the questions sometime this week then. :)

Aloha All,

This has been a horrible month. However, I am still breathing and my kids are good! My kids are all animals. I am sorry. I shall catch up.

Be well

RM(Alwaysdaddygirl) wrote: "Aloha All,

This has been a horrible month. However, I am still breathing and my kids are good! My kids are all animals. I am sorry. I shall catch up.

Be well"

I understand that. I have gotten behind on my reading as well. Glad your kids are okay.

Questions

1. What color would you use to describe this book?
2. Throughout the book, Leigh struggles with her identity as someone who is half white and half Taiwanese. How do you think she ends up finding her identity?
3. Communication is an ongoing issue in the book, whether it is Leigh with her grandparents or with her best friend, Axel. Does communication ever get easier for Leigh? Have you ever experienced something similar to her?
4. What significance do food and tea bring to the book? How did they affect your understanding of the characters?
5. The novel opens, “My mother is a bird.” What role does the bird play throughout the story and how does it change as the story progresses?
Grief is at the core of this novel as Leigh tries to find closure after her mom’s death by suicide. How does her family treat mental health? Why do you think there’s still a stigma on mental health issues?


Answers:

1. I'd say gray. Xanadu or cinerous gray. I was looking for a gray that was similar to the colors used in the book that I had to stop and look up (like carbazole violet, indanthrene blue, monoazo yellow). It felt flat for me and all I could think about was how bleak this book was for me. Even in the end yea the colors shifted to a brighter tropical colors but overall I didn't connect with the characters. This quote is how I feel, "I had to fight that emptiness, that absence of color."
2. I think she only struggled only because her mother shielded her from her Taiwanese side (never spoke about it, showed pictures or visited). The journey in Taiwan in addition to food and culture helped Leigh see a side of herself in action that she didn't know existed. Ultimately she found her identity in accepting her mother's death, learning more about her mother's life and her relationship with her parents, trying to have a better relationship with her father. As her mother said, "Once you figure out what matters, you'll figure out how to be brave." In accepting who you are, it takes courage and bravery when you are not in the majority.
3. It got slightly better but that was one of things that annoyed me about Leigh. She let her thoughts about how she expected others to respond and get in the way. Obviously she is a teen so communication isn’t always but those skills usually start at home. She didn’t feel like she could talk to her father and in her grief she pushed Axel away. I’m glad that she was able to start new with her father. I struggled with expressing myself in the past out of fear that others would be upset with me
4. I felt those things were more culturally important and for Leigh she was able to see her Taiwanese side in action
5. I felt the bird symbolized action for Leigh. She was crippled in many ways and if she had not followed the bird she wouldn’t have learned about her mother, her aunt or family
6. Like a good majority of people mental health is treated as something bad or looked at as something wrong. When her father suggested she go back, Leigh didn’t want to because she didn’t like the therapist (lack of communication) but her father seemed to only offer it when he didn’t know what else to and like he didn’t need help. Family therapy would’ve been beneficial but he seemed to throw all problems on Leigh.

♥ Kierra ♥ wrote: "Questions

1. What color would you use to describe this book?
2. Throughout the book, Leigh struggles with her identity as someone who is half white and half Taiwanese. How do you think she ends ..."

Mahalo for this! I shall truly read when I am not on fumes. Again, Mahalo!

♥ Kierra ♥ wrote: "RM(Alwaysdaddygirl) wrote: "Aloha All,

This has been a horrible month. However, I am still breathing and my kids are good! My kids are all animals. I am sorry. I shall catch up.

Be well"

I under..."

Mahalo!