July 6, 2021
Netgalley
Fiction, arc. Digital, publisher invite
256 pages
Atria Books
ISBN: 9781982167356
8/13/21-8/16/21
Isabel DaSilva (she/her)
Associate Marketing Manager
Atria Books | Simon & Schuster
@atriabooks | @isabelrosedas
I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This review is my voluntary and unbiased opinion.
This is a humorous story of a quirky, depressed 27 year old who tells her story through the internal musing of her mind. Often her thoughts are logical and sometimes overly obsessive. She is aware of her own mental health limitations and how it overshadows her life. She somehow manages to live alone in an apartment which she allows to become cluttered with dirty dishes and trash. I find it to be an external view of her internal state of mind. That is messy, chaotic and disorganized.
Gilda is in a car accident where she’s certain her arm is broken. She handles it like someone broke her pencil. She’s calm and says she’s alright as she drives herself to the ER. As it turns out, she is well known in the ER for her frequent visits due to panic attacks and fear of death. She had been fired from jobs for being late for work or not showing up. Trying to make sense of herself in the world is not new to Gilda who came out as gay to her brother Eli at 11. Although she has relationships no one has really understood her until she met Eleanor. Although no particular diagnosis is provided it is clear that Gilda has ADHD and is somewhere on the autism spectrum. She tends to be self absorbed often forgetting about Eleanor who is the devoted and understanding friend she needs.
Gilda sees a flyer about a support group at a church but when she shows up the priest mistakingly thinks she’s there for an interview. The church secretary has passed away and they are in need of a replacement. Gilda has always been intelligent but at some point she becomes unfocused and distracted. She finds herself in unexpected situations because she gets caught up in her own thoughts and never verbalizes her confusion. She finds that she is now replacing Grace as the church receptionist. She manages to do such a good job and begins to learn more about the people with whom she works. She feels like a fraud and gets lost in pleasing other people.
Some people might find the story depressing if they aren’t familiar with mental health issues like ADHD and ASD. Gilda is practical with concrete logical thinking. She learns a lot about herself as she pretends to be a Catholic, church going receptionist. Again, she finds herself being set up on a date with Giuseppe, by a well meaning church woman. Her attempts to make everyone happy eventually reaches a breaking point. There’s a weird situation regarding the death of the former secretary and Gilda emailing her friend Rosemary.
It is a hopeful story where Gilda learns to speak up for herself and finds what truly makes her happy.
https://bookwormreviewblog.blogspot.com/2021/09/everyone-in-this-room-will-someday-be.html
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/3960202714
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRj3ujNLqwK/?utm_medium=copy_link
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3842326267
No comments:
Post a Comment