Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne

Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne
Release Date: August 9, 2018
Pages: 397
Rating:💜💜💜💜💜
Buy it: Amazon | Book Depository

Welcome to Camp Reset, a summer camp with a difference. A place offering a shot at "normality" for Olive, a girl on the edge, and for her new friends, who are all dealing with their own battles. But as Olive settles in, she starts to wonder - maybe it's this messed up world that needs fixing, not them. And so she comes up with a plan. Because together, snowflakes can form avalanches...

TW: bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, OCD, rape, assault, basically all mental illnesses

Wow. What a book.

Every single book I've read by Holly Bourne has instantly become one of the best books I've read that year and this was no exception. Admittedly, this was the first book I read this year so it didn't have any competition but I can still tell that this book is probably going to be one of my favourites of the year.

I recently reread Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne so it was interesting to see how the mental illness rep differed in both books. Obviously both books were bound to be different as they were discussing different mental illnesses, but the way she talked about both illness was marginally different. In AINY? Bourne focuses on Evie getting better and her journey as she tries to face the world with OCD. But in AWALaS? it is clear that Olive doesn't want to 'fix' herself and is instead coming to terms with her mental illness. It was really interesting to see the two different ends of the stick, especially as both girls are trying to get better and find a way to cope with their illnesses.

This book is so brutally honest, which is something I've always admired in Holly Bourne. Olive's journey isn't a straight road to recovery and she most certainly isn't a likeable character all the time. But you see her struggles and you recognise them. She thinks she's a bad person and that reflects onto her choices. She is manic at times, doesn't think about other people's opinions and obsesses over tiny things, but she is also funny and supportive and a good friend. Holly Bourne shows both sides of Olive to tell the reader an important message: mentally ill people are still people. They have their quirks, sure, but at the end of the day they are just like everyone else.

Holly Bourne's writing style is also so perfect for the topics she writes about; the right amount of quirky and serious. The general tone of the book is light-hearted and fun, reading like a typical YA romance. And then you suddenly realise that you're reading about a girl having a mental breakdown and it shocks you. I felt immersed in the plot the entire time, especially as how fast-paced it is. I could have happily read another 300 pages of this book but at the same I thought it ended a the right time. She created a punch that was a hard enough to keep you shocked and soft enough to leave you satisfied.

As I said at the start of this review I think this going to be one of my favourite reads of the year. Not only that, but I think it possibly could be one of my favourite books of all time. The story was so beautifully constructed, with the characters becoming familiar friends within the first 50 pages. Holly Bourne know how to write a heart breaking book and I applauded her for that.