For the month of June I took part in Mental Health Awareness Month hosted by Leah from Uncorked Thoughts and Ula from Blog of Erised. I really felt this feature allowed a broad variety and mix of bloggers to come together and openly discuss issues that are often brushed under the carpet, and I know that even with the statistics (that 1 in 4 adults will suffer some form of MH issue) I was surprised at how many of us have faced a MH problem, and was also touched by how many of us felt we could share our experiences and support each other. This is a wrap-up post with mini reviews of the books I read, links to other blogger’s great posts throughout the month, and my thoughts on mental health in fiction going forward.

Link Me Up!

• Both Leah and Ula have great introductory posts that outline all of the planned features and content for the month including reviews of books that feature MH, some fantastic special guest interviews and excellent giveaways
• I posted videos from TED talks that highlight different types of mental health problems
• Whispers of a Barefoot Medical Student wrote posts that include a medical perspective
• The girls over at Oh, The Books! wrote some fantastic blogs, including Asti’s personal recount of her story, Kelley’s post about her Dark Time and a great round-up of MH issues in YA fiction
• Simply A did a post on recognising when and how you might need some extra help
• Sarcasm and Lemons did a great post on victim blaming and the effects it can have
• Caffeinated Life did multiple posts, including one on mental health in classic literature
• Zigzag Timeline did a great post called Raise Your Hand If You Were A “Messed Up” Teen

Books and Reviews

I posted a quick review for both books in the True North series, which unknown to me when I went into them, actually touched on quite a few mental health issues. I didn’t get around to reading as many books as I would have liked to this month on MH, BUT I was surprised just how many books are out there that deal with the subject matter, and plenty of them have been added to my TBR (Leah has a pretty good list on Goodreads to get you started!), I intend to include more MH fiction in my reading in future on a regular basis. I purchased Severed Heads, Broken Hearts this week and got my hands on the Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock audiobook for free from SYNC Audiobooks, who are giving away two free audiobooks every week in Summer.

You can also check out my review of The Silver Linings Playbook (3.5/5) and The Shock of The Fall (4/5).

Giveaways

I’d like to say a very big “THANK YOU” to both Leah and Ula, throughout Mental Health Awareness Month I participated in various giveaways and I won three. Three! I received a copy of Pantomime, Far From You and a £10 Amazon Gift Card. Many thanks, ladies!

Did you participate in Mental Health Awareness Month? Link me up to your posts below, or recommend great reads that feature MH!