Review: Disconnected by Lisa Cronkhite

Seventeen-year-old Milly has a huge problem on her hands.  She is being bullied by Amelia Norris. Day in and day out, Amelia torments Milly and even threatens to hurt her, but she can’t tell anyone—not a soul.  Milly’s reasoning—she does not want anyone to know where her tormentor lives.  They only share one thing in common.  Both co-exist as one in the same body. Milly is so disconnected from her past that she feels compelled to find out what truly happened to her when her parents were still alive.  After a mysterious fire, she and Grandpa George move into Aunt Rachel's Victorian home where Milly then begins to unravel puzzling clues to her family history. Through dreams and scattered memories, Milly journals her breaking story, trying to cope by putting the shattered pieces back together, all the while resisting with her inner demon.  Amelia is determined to cut Milly out of the real world—literally. Milly starts to wonder who her real family is after stumbling across Aunt Rachel’s notebook—having the intuitive sense that something terribly awful is missing.  All she had thought to be true now seems like one big lie

Paperback, 200 pages

Expected publication: June 3rd 2014 by Poisoned Pencil

 

Terri's Thoughts:

 

I received this novel from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.  The expected publication date is June 3, 2014.

 

This book is a YA book however is a little different than the majority of the books in the genre at the present time.  This book deals with the journey of an eighteen year old girl who is suffering from mental illness.

 

The majority of this book reads like a monologue with the battle between Milly and her multiple personality disorder with her alter ego being the not so friendly Amelia.  I was frustrated throughout the story as I wanted Milly to get help and get Amelia out of her head.  I guess that is the whole point.  Someone suffering from mental illness and does not know it does not know how to reach out for help or even know that there is something wrong.  The reader experiences this from the outside in and I can't even imagine what it would be like to suffer what Milly was suffering from.

 

It is clear that Cronkhite is knowledgeable on the topic and I feel that she did a good job sharing this knowledge in the story.  While the topic may be a little heavy for the YA audience it is written in a way that they would understand and be interested in the story. 

 

I think this is a very good way to educate the YA audience about a relevant and more common than one would think disorder.  Mental illness often carries a stigma with it and educating through fiction is a great way to bring the subject to the forefront so that people can get a better understanding.

 

Thank you Lisa Cronkhite for writing a relevant story about a topic that does not get enough discussion.