ARC Review: A Danger to Herself and Others by Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Title: A Danger to Herself and Others

By: Alyssa B. Sheinmel

Pages: 352

Publication: February 5th 2019

By: Sourcebooks Fire

Genre: YA|Contemporary|Mental Health

You can buy it HERE: Book Depository

Only when she’s locked away does the truth begin to escape… 

Four walls. One window. No way to escape. Hannah knows there’s been a mistake. She didn’t need to be institutionalized. What happened to her roommate at her summer program was an accident. As soon as the doctors and judge figure out that she isn’t a danger to herself or others, she can go home to start her senior year. In the meantime, she is going to use her persuasive skills to get the staff on her side.

Then Lucy arrives. Lucy has her own baggage. And she may be the only person who can get Hannah to confront the dangerous games and secrets that landed her in confinement in the first place.

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I want to thank Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review

This is a very GOOD book, although I expected to read it a lot, I admit I went into it with few expectations and managed to pleasantly surprise me. I think the book in general is very deep, powerful, addictive and has a mysterious and even a dark touch that makes it very compelling . I’m so grateful to have read it before its release date because now I can recommend it non stop!

The book follows Hannah’s point of view, she has been hospitalized in a mental institute after the doubtful accident that brought her best friend to a coma. Hannah is sure that there’s a mistake and that she shouldn’t be there, but as her parents have taught her, she’s determined to maintain a flawless behavior and use her persuasion skills, until everything is cleared up, and and so prove to the doctor that she’s not what they call “a danger to herself and others”, to finally return home. But one day Lucy arrives as her roommate and little by little Hannah realizes that Lucy is the only one who can help her face the dangerous games and secrets that took her there in the first place 

Before continuing, I must mention some Trigger Warning: for suicide attempt and eating disorder, among others. 

I think that in order to explain well A Danger to Herself and Others I would say that it’s a contemporary story focused on a mental illness. 80% of the book is developed with our main character in confinement, she’s hospitalized in a mental institution so we go through her days there, but all this within her own mind. It was very interesting for me to be able to explore Hannah’s mind, that’s what makes of this book something so compelling and real. Besides discovering things about her, we ‘ll also meet other characters with their own stories and affliction.
The most interesting thing, is the subtle way that this book has to show you a mental illness, I think it’s taken from a very real perspective and I really like how you can tie things together that will lead you to understand things that seem inexplicable at first. It’s a very smart and complex plot, that get more and more interesting as you advance through the story.

I really love the writing style, it’s very clear and extremely addictive , although took me a long time to read it, (which had nothing to do with the book itself but with which I’ve been very busy), it’s a very fast and easy to read book. With saying that if I had time I would have devoured this book in one day, it’s so addictive.

I love the main character, Hannah is the kind of characters I love to see in mystery and suspense movies. She’s very hateful at the beginning of the book, I was like “Who does she think she is?”, But then ends up liking her. There’s so much we don’t know at the beginning and that’s wonderful, now that I see it, it’s so smartly told. Returning to Hannah, she’s a bit egocentric and a little disrespectful at first, but she’s also very smart and it shows. She’s so proud of her life and of her “perfect” millionaire parents and doesn’t stop repeating how mature she has always been and how proud her parents are of her for being such a mature girl from such a young age. Andthis facade of her being that perfect girl isn’t really true. And at first you’ll not see it because it’s very well done, as I said, but then you’ll begin to see patterns in her behaviors, some impulses or obcessions, and you’ll begin to open your eyes to many truths and possibilities of who Hannah is

I can’t honestly talk much about this book without spoilers or revelations, it’s one of the most difficult reviews, because anything I say could be a spoiler, so I’ll try to be careful. But keep in mind that there’s much more about this book that I can’t tell you, but I recommend that you find out, because it’s worth it

Now that I’m thinking a lot about the book, I think it’s quite serious too, it touches topics, as I said, quite delicate and takes you through many emotions along with the characters, and although in the beginning there are some things that seem inexplicable or little bit unrealistic at the end when you have a more complete perspective, then you understand better and everything makes sense. It was very hard to read at times, since it’s a book that has mental illness as a central point. It’s frightening what the human mind can do. It was incredible, very intense and informative

To finish I can recommend this book with total security, if you would like a quick but very deep and shocking reading at the same time, then you should give it a try, on the other hand I’m not sure to put this book in the mystery category as such, but I would qualify it as a contemporary about mental illnesses, engaging and very suspenseful. I also recommend it if you’re looking for a unlikeable character, you’ll love this one 

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4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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