A Tragic Kind of Wonderful by Eric Lindstrom

A Tragic Kind of Wonderful

by Eric Lindstrom

The heart-rending and inspiring novel from the critically acclaimed author of NOT IF I SEE YOU FIRST.

How can you have a future if you can’t accept your past?

Mel Hannigan doesn’t have it easy. Mourning the death of her firework of a brother, facing the loss of three friendships that used to mean everything to her and struggling to deal with a condition that even her closest friends don’t know about. To protect herself and everyone else, Mel tries to lock away her heart, to live quietly without pain – but also without hope.

Until the plight of an old friend, and meeting someone new, shows her that the risk is worth taking, that opening up to life – and who you really are – is what can make everything glorious… And that maybe Mel can discover a tragic kind of wonderful of her very own.

A beautiful, captivating story about living with mental illness, and loving – even with a broken heart.

Reviewed by Joséphine on

4 of 5 stars

Share
Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Initial thoughts: A Tragic Kind of Wonderful is a considerably quick read. It's no wonder then, that with so many personal issues to grapple with, there's not a lot that happened plot-wise. I did like the setting, and it was great to read about a main character who volunteered in a retirement home. The people there were all around lovely and obviously cared for Mel too.

The complexities of Mel's bipolar disorder were presented with great sensitivity. What this book did particularly well was to show how mental health doesn't always affect an individual but several people within a family, that there can be genetic connections.

Yet, for some reason, A Tragic Kind of Wonderful didn't strike me as a particularly memorable book. The prose was tight, but nothing to write home about, and the plot was straightforward. Perhaps this was meant to be a character-driven book but for that, I didn't feel a strong enough connection to Mel, or anyone else.

Last modified on

Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 2 August, 2017: Finished reading
  • 2 August, 2017: Reviewed
  • Started reading
  • 2 August, 2017: Finished reading
  • 2 August, 2017: Reviewed