Blue So Dark

by Holly Schindler

Fifteen-year-old Aura Ambrose has been hiding a secret. Her mother, a talented artist and art teacher, is slowly being consumed by schizophrenia, and Aura has been her sole caretaker ever since Aura's dad left them. Convinced that "creative" equals crazy, Aura shuns her own artistic talent. But as her mother sinks deeper into the darkness of mental illness, the hunger for a creative outlet draws Aura toward the depths of her imagination. Just as desperation threatens to swallow her whole, Aura discovers that art, love, and family are profoundly linked--and together may offer an escape from her fears.

• ISBN13: 9780738719269
• Publish Date: 8 May 2010
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 21 September 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Flux
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[lizarodz]

This novel was very good. It is difficult to put into words how beautifully written it is. The novel follows Aura's struggle as she is the sole caretaker of her mother, who is struggling with schizophrenia. Aura makes herself believe that the reason her family is cursed with this condition is because they are artists, therefore she tries to avoid anything that is remotely creative.

I was so mad because not only did Aura felt (and was made) responsible for her mother, but because there were adults in the picture that didn't care enough. I felt like kicking her father into action. I mean, why would you leave your child with a person that cannot take care of her? The story is filled with angst, self-doubt, pain, guilt, I have to confess that it was difficult to read at times.

Aura made difficult and not so wise choices, but she was only 15-16, what else could be expected or her? I am really glad that the ending was so poetic, so nice and that everything turned in for the best.

This is a must read.

About the cover: A beautiful cover and very representative of the story. After you read it it you will get the symbolism of the title, and blue colors, being underwater and mermaids.

[Stephanie]

I didn't really know what to expect with A Blue So Dark, but the cover was pretty and velvety so I bought it. Plus, the author is from Missouri, and the book is set in Missouri, which I thought was awesome since I haven't read any books set in Missouri before.

A Blue So Dark is very depressing. I don't know why I was surprised that it was so sad, since it is about a girl's mother who has schizophrenia, but I was.

I got really annoyed with Aura, not because she was annoying, but because she wouldn't ask for help. She was only 15 and she was trying to take care of her mother and go to school. It was almost difficult for me to read the book because it was hard to read about Aura struggling to take care of her mom, she didn't even have time to take care of herself. Plus, I wanted to slap Aura's dad. He knew what Aura was going through, but just left her to deal with it on her own, when he couldn't handle it himself.

And then when you think you might get away from all of the sadness, you also have Aura's best, and only friend, who has a child and has to drop out of school.

So it's not that this isn't a good book, it is. It's just not my type of book. Personally, I don't enjoy reading depressing books because I don't like to be sad. But the book did manage to bring out a lot of emotions from me, whether I liked it or not. And I learned a lot more about Schizophrenia.

So if you want to read a sad tale and learn more about schizophrenia, I would recommend this to you.