Review: A Different View of Mental Illness
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 12, 2014
A Prison of Lies takes a look into the life and mind of someone with a mental illness – from their own thought process.I am a firm supporter of mental illness so it was neat to get another perspective into mental illness. It wasn’t text book, it wasn’t definitions. It was the actual every day thoughts of one who is diagnosed with mental illness.WARNING: This is not a light read and if you are offended by cuss words, sexual content, or violence, this may not be the book for you.The book provides a background into Tom’s upbringing as well as his family dynamics, an aspect that I believe plays an important role in one’s mental health. In fact, there were a lot of areas in his childhood that I could relate.A Prison of Lies follows Tom into adulthood, into college, and into his first time falling in love in an unhealthy relationship (again, totally can relate to holding on to an unhealthy relationship).The emotion in the book is raw and descriptive; you can almost feel the emotions emanate from the page.While it was not a favorite in my library of books, I didn’t not like it either. I really wanted to love it, but alas, I felt a little lost. I have to admit, I struggled through the book, but am hoping to go back and re-read it again to see where I got lost and hopefully fall in love with it.If you open minded and seeking a different view into mental illnes, I would recommend giving this book a try!