Review: Everything Here Is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee

Everything Here Is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This novel is beautiful inside and out. The cover on this one is absolutely stunning and the content inside blew me away. I will admit that everything about this book screamed out to me – the exploration of mental illness and its impact on families is SO up my alley. I had some trepidation going in since books on this topic have certainly disappointed me in the past for lacking authenticity. But, this book may well be the best I’ve read about mental health issues. It’s quite raw and achingly beautiful. It’s not what I’d call a happy book … rather, it’s a book that will move you and help you see things in a new way.

As someone who suffers from major depression and has many people close to me (family and friends) with mental health issues ranging from anxiety to bipolar disorder to schizophrenia and more, this book really connected with me and my experiences with the people that I care about. The novel is about a woman named Lucia who descends into psychosis and how it impacts those who care for her. It’s a novel about mental illness but also about sisterhood, motherhood, finding your place in the world, and so much more. These themes are all explored so eloquently. There is a rawness to this novel and it brings the experience of loving someone with a mental illness to life in a way that I really connected with.

I am astounded by the fact that this is a debut novel. There are no false notes here … the writing is outstanding, the prose elegant, and the characters complex. I did not find any of the debut novel pitfalls that I often see in a writer’s early work – this book was just fantastic! I didn’t want it to end. This is definitely a book that I want to buy for my home library. I highly recommend this, especially if you’re interested in mental health issues. It’s a really good exploration of mental health through a beautiful story of family and love.

NOTE: The publisher provided me with a copy of this book for free for an honest review.