Juliet the Maniac: A Novel

by Juliet Escoria

"For fans of Ottessa Moshfegh, Juliet the Maniac is a worthy new entry in that pantheon of deconstruction... Dazzling."—NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
 
This portrait of a young teenager's fight toward understanding and recovering from mental illness is shockingly honest, funny, and heartfelt.
 
Ambitious, talented fourteen-year-old honors student Juliet is poised for success at her Southern California high school. However, she soon finds herself in an increasingly frightening spiral of drug use, self-harm, and mental illness that lands her in a remote therapeutic boarding school, where she must ultimately find the inner strength to survive.
 
A highly anticipated debut—from a writer hailed as "a combination of Denis Johnson and Joan Didion" (Dazed)—that brilliantly captures the intimate triumph of a girl's struggle to become the woman she knows she can be.

• ISBN10: 1612197590
• ISBN13: 9781612197593
• Publish Date: 7 May 2019
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 22 March 2024
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Melville House Publishing
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781612197593

Reviews

[kymmiejournals]

I hate that I have a weakness for a shade of pink book covers.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest book review.

It’s very disturbing. Sure, the character is experiencing mental health issues and it's not something light to discuss, it was brave for the author to tell Juliet’s story, how she was able to write what was happening to the character’s mind, and I don’t expect perfection or a good plot because the mind or POV of the character itself is a huge web string of emotions.

I can't relate to Juliet but I understand her issues and worries - I tried to. It was difficult for me to read her thoughts knowing she's a vulnerable teenager and at the same time trying to contemplate her existence. I just want to give her a hug and comfort her.