Grey Matters: About Mental Health and Healing

for a while

I thought alone

meant strong

and strong

meant quiet

and quiet

meant

nothing

was wrong

Costello creates something so special with her words. As someone who has battled with mental health issues and used to write oodles of poetry expressing what words couldn't, I find her words to be comforting, a welcoming home of sorts.

You read that she understands what it feels like to hate mirrors, hate getting up; the difficulty of seemingly easy things. And she gets it.

today,

I didn’t read a book

or go for a run.

I didn’t wake up early,

start a project,

or even wash my hair.

Today, I met a blue jay –

and today,

that was

sufficient.

-and sometimes, that's enough; sometimes literature doesn't necessarily mean paper whisking you away to a different place, a better one, full of happy ever afters, or perhaps dragons and magic and men you'll never have. sometimes, literature takes you to the place you truly belong, tears away the sheathe of your soul that says otherwise and demands to be heard.

thank you to booksirens for providing me with this arc. these are all my genuine thoughts and there was no pressure to give a positive review