After the loss of her grandmother, Kokoro will face the biggest challenge of her life: psychosis. Based on true events, this autofiction will spiral you down the path of a mentally ill twenty-year-old in Southern Ontario, Canada, who has to fight for her sanity.
Assessment:
Plot: Set in the greater Toronto Area, Kita’s autobiographical novel grapples with the realities of the inadequacies of Ontario’s mental health system. As the narrator falls deeper and deeper into mental illness, her hopelessness and exasperation are palpable.
Prose/Style: Heavy-handed exposition dulls the immediacy of the plot. However, there are evocative descriptive passages of hallucinatory imagery that will draw in any reader.
Originality: Kita’s openness and raw prose give this standard tale of battling mental illness a decidedly sharp edge.
Character Development/Execution: Kokoro’s inner demons and insecurities take center stage. Her struggles are perhaps best realized in her arguments with her Asian immigrant parents and through her hallucinations.
Blurb: This fast-paced work of autofiction sees a young woman strive to overcome mental illness during her university years.
Date Submitted: May 08, 2021
