But if she's so hopeless, why can she always summon a desire for her favourite street food, the hot, spicy rice cake, tteokbokki?

These sections consist of a back and forth between the two in which they look back at the week just gone, discussing the highs and lows of the past seven days. Grateful for Baek Se-Hee’s bravery, for her therapist’s support, and for stumbling upon this incredible work. There are so many personal details and the author’s willingness to share her thoughts and experiences, even if they portray her in a negative light, gives such an intimacy within the book.Born in 1990, Baek Seheestudied creative writing in university before working for five years at a publishing house. This book showed me how blurry the lines could be between mental health and personality / character, and emotional needs. Her therapist becomes a guiding light, showing that it’s okay to seek help, that it’s a brave thing to do. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. each chapter brought on new issues and we slightly pick up from the previous chapter but there is no overall character growth.

it was inspirational to see how i could advocate for myself/my experiences, and i thought the nuance was interesting that depression doesn't always mean being suicidal and it can manifest in other ugly ways. It’s a book featuring a woman looking back at her issues, reflecting on them and reaching out in an attempt to help. It’s hard, it’s a long game, and although probably life changing, it doesn’t feel like it at the time. It’s not just a story; it’s like peeking into someone’s personal diary, where they pour out their heart and soul. the writing style is very blunt and straightforward which i found myself appreciating (for this topic) but i lost interest over halfway, for the same reason.If you do not want to talk to someone over the phone, these text lines are open 24 hours a day, every day. There are some really relatable things that she talks about, and I think she's really good at capturing some of the urgent, desperate, and irrational feelings someone has while spiraling into self-hatred/negative thinking cycles or having a panic attack, but the bulk of the book is literally just transcripts of her talking to her psychiatrist. Baek führt von außen betrachtet ein normales Leben: Sie hat einen Job in einem Verlag, der ihr Spaß macht, Freunde und eine Partnerschaft, die sie sehr erfüllt. Recognising yourself in the author apparently happens to some readers but the level of advice and support is so poor that I warn anyone hoping to actually find some guidance and clarity in it that it is most likely not going to happen.