Anxiety and depression have been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember.  It has taken years and experiments with all types of therapies and treatments to find what works best.  Every person is different and what may work for one may not always work for someone else. I am one of many military spouses that have been diagnosed with an anxiety and/or depressive disorder.  This is why I was very interested in reading this book.

Disclaimer: For this blog book tour, I was gifted a copy of Renee Antonia’s book, in exchange for an honest review. 

I’m Not Okay is definitely a story that intrigued me. I was thrilled to read a story about a teenager dealing with the same things that I have dealt with for much of my life. Although I am not much of a fictional book fan, I wanted to read this to see if there was any truth in the depiction of the anxiety disorder, as I would be able to relate to it.

Story Line:

The main character Alejandra deals with many issues pertinent to teenagers in combination with her anxiety.  The story line is easy to follow and very accurate when it details the episodes someone with extreme anxiety can have and what can trigger it.

Although this book is categorized as fictional, it depicts anxiety very accurately.  The important part is how Alejandra finds and accepts help.  That is something that is very difficult for most people to admit and do.

Pros:

This story is easy to read as well as easy to follow.  I would highly recommend it, most especially to teenagers and young adults who are dealing with some form of anxiety.   The story is interesting and follows Alejandra through her daily life in work, home life, friendships, and relationships.  This would be very relatable for others her age experiencing similar situations.

Cons:

As a former teacher, I cannot write an honest review without mentioning the grammatical and capitalization errors in this story.  This book had an amazing storyline, but I would highly recommend  correcting the errors found in the writing.  This is something that a proofreader could have edited before the book went to print. While I know that might be expensive for a new author, it is well worth the money spent.  I did find out that the author was twenty when she wrote and self-published this book. If you can look past the grammatical errors in the story, you will find a lovely and relatable book that can inspire others living with anxiety.

To learn more about Renee Antonia, check out her guest post by clicking here.

Book Information: 

Print Length: 203 pages
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: BookBaby (June 24, 2017)
ISBN-13: 9781483598062

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