Glyn Dillon

Another book picked up on impulse from the staff recommends table at the library. The cover was wonderful, the synopsis on the inside was intriguing - it was a fast, easy sell. But then it got put aside, and it wasn't until the day it was due that I got around to reading it. But once I opened it, I couldn't put it down. Into the bath, out of the bath, getting dressed, downstairs to read on the couch (too noisy), back upstairs to read in the bed until I was done. (Thank goodness it was my day off!)

The art was so lovely and expressive. The characters were original and relatable. I wanted to reach in and give them all a big hug. Even when they were at odds - maybe especially when they were at odds. The way Nao's OCD is handled is very interesting. Her violent morbid fantasies are disorienting at first (as I'm sure they're supposed to be), but then they're almost familiar. Most people have these horrible thoughts that pop in unbidden - about suddenly wrenching the wheel and driving off the road... the damage a pair of scissors could do.... don't boil the baby (an inside joke for those familiar with The Poo Bomb.) Most of us recognize the thought as aberrant and not likely to happen and so shake ourselves and move on. Nao gets stuck in them. While this sometimes controls her behavior, she is understandably reluctant to let even those she is very close to in on what's going on inside her mind.

My only criticism is that the resolution seemed to happen a little fast. I would have liked to know a little more detail about how Nao got from point A to Point B, figuratively. But otherwise, this is a wonderful and moving book about the way our brains sometimes sabotage us. And this wonderful bit from the foreword: "The restless mind will make you believe that it is you. That you are it. You are not.… (más)