Awww....writers and mental illnesses. What could go wrong? To really appreciate the layers of this story, you have to be familiar with bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder. I do, (since I work in the field), but even I wanted to shake Hannah to knock some sense into her. Hannah is a want-to-be writer who's biggest desire is to attend a graduate program to complete a creative writing MFA at Washington University in St. Louis, MO. She gets accepted, but she doesn't get a stipend so she can't afford to go. She finds out that another applicant, Justine Updike (supposedly distantly related to John Updike) was offered a spot - and a stipend - but hasn't chosen what graduate program she will attend. (She was accepted into 10 different programs.) If Justine decides to go somewhere else, Hannah will get the stipend. BUT, Hannah is fascinated (obsessed) with Justine and wants them both to attend the program together. So Hannah figures out a way to earn the money after Justine chooses to attend Washington University. (I am extremely doubtful she could earn as much money as she did selling a trumped up health food product in that short of time, but that's how she does it.)
Hannah has been living with bipolar disorder - and was raised by a mother with borderline personality disorder. Both her mother and Justine treat Hannah horribly, but just as she craved whatever attention her mother could give her intermittently during her childhood, she craves Justine's attention. Justine is an awful person, but she is idolized by others in the program, including Hannah. Hannah's one true friend in the program is Claire, who tries very, very hard to help Hannah (reminding her to take her meds, not drink or do drugs, focus on something other than Justine), but Hannah manages to alienate her as well because of her behavior and poor choices. Then enter Eli, the handsome, mysterious, man who Hannah falls for after she sees him with Justine. Hannah cycles through manic episodes, blackmails the director of the creative writing program, gets accused of theft, driving under the influence, etc. Her life is a mess. Then someone is shot and killed with Hannah's gun. Hannah is not sure who did it since she experiences blackouts (due to drugs/alcohol she willingly or unknowingly ingests.)
This book is a rollercoaster ride. Since Hannah doesn't know what's real and not real, the reader doesn't really know either. Honestly, the only character in the book that I really liked was Claire! (And Luke, the bartender at Hannah's previous job before she moved to grad school.) Claire talks about "observer bias" in one of the groups' writer's workshops. She states, "We're all unreliable narrators...Everything that's written is just someone's perspective...We are distorted by observation...We filter everything through our own biases." I love that!
It's hard to read about a person's downward spiral due to bad decisions and manipulations by others. The end is satisfying however.
Wendy's Rating: ****
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