The the Memory of Light

by Francisco Stork

• ISBN10: 0545910935
• ISBN13: 9780545910934
• Publish Date: 26 January 2016
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Arthur A. Levine Books
• Format: Audiobook (CD)
• Duration: 10 hours and 31 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 stars

I have been wanting to read something by Stork since I saw him on a panel at YallFest several years ago. I knew he would write something very real and raw and honest and touching, and he did.

There were several things I thought were done so well in this book, but what stood out was the way his handling of all the different mental health issues in the book. He showed how complicated it is, and how it affected all those around us, but he also showed that there is hope for those, who suffer from mental health problems.

The friendships formed over the course of the book were my second favorite thing. Vicky formed a genuine bond with the other teens in her therapy group, and being with them opened her eyes in so many ways. She saw beyond her upper crust environment, and actually found a group of people who were a better fit for her. Instead of seeing what she wasn't, her new friends saw all the wonderful things that she was.

I admit, I struggled a lot with Vicky's dad. He reacted in the way most people react when someone they know is battling mental illness. I swear, my own sister said the some of the same things to me during one of my hospitalizations. It's hard for someone on the outside of it to fully understand what it's like for those who are sick, but I was glad that Vicky's dad made some progress with that, and I did like him more at the end of the book.

Speaking of the ending. It was so quiet and really short, but it spoke volumes as to what Vicky's future held for her.

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: This is a book that takes an honest look at mental illness and portrays the complexities of diagnosis and recovery. More concerned with the realities of someone who suffers from depression than weaving an exciting story, The Memory of Light is marked with introspection from the first to the last page. The writing style is beautiful, the characters' anguish palpable and the setting crafted to show readers who don't know much about mental illness what to look out for. At the same time, I think it's a book that someone who has a personal history of mental illness or knows soon who does will be able to relate to and will perhaps even find reasons for hope in.

[Bianca]

Why do people kill themselves? Doesn’t it always boil down to pain? There is pain in the body or the heart or the soul or the mind or all of the above. Body pain is obvious. Heart pain is the pain that comes from others, when they love you too much or not enough or the wrong way. Soul pain comes from feeling your life is one big waste. Mind pain is what I can’t figure out. It’s like when you throw body, heart, and soul pain into a blender, then you add a cup of disgust at all that you are, at all that you’ve become, at all that you will ever be.

So with my father’s question, the only answer I have is because it hurt. The words that settled forever in my head, the ones that kept rising endlessly out of nowhere, the words that others spoke, they hurt. All of it hurt, inside and out, everywhere.