Disability Diaries: Challenger Deep by: Neil Shusterman!

I'm so excited to be taking part in the week long event Disability Diaries, which is showcasing disability diversity and why it's important to talk about it! A few lovely bloggers are hosting this event that runs until next Saturday, so make sure to check out their posts! As my contribution for the event, I'm going to be reviewing an amazing book that I just recently read, called Challenger Deep by: Neil Shusterman.

While brainstorming ideas of what I wanted to do for my post, I was reading a book called Challenger Deep. It turned out to blow my mind on how amazingly it dealt with mental illness, so I decided that raising awareness about this book was going to be my post. Everyone should read this.

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary
Published: April 21, 2015 by: HarperCollins
Pages: 320
Rating: 5/5 stars

Caden Bosch and other members of a crew of sailors are heading out on a ship set sail for challenger deep, the deepest part of the Marianas Trench. Caden's job is to draw everything that they discover along the way. However in reality, Caden is not on a ship. He is not going to challenger deep. He is a high school student suffering from schizophrenia and anxiety, and he has been sent to a mental health facility to get better. As Caden goes about nine weeks of therapy, a cocktail of drugs, and new friends with their own battles, Caden in his mind, is setting sail for the adventure of a lifetime. And nobody understands but him.

This book blew me away in how it was executed. Not only did it handle mental illness in a way that was so raw and so real, but it was also incredibly unique in weaving Caden's psychosis into the storyline. It had a very mystical tone to it, while still staying true to the theme.

The book contains a lot of drawings drawn by Caden, as he is on his ship. These were such a unique touch and the author's note at the end explains the pictures in further detail that will leave you surprised and speechless. They were there for a reason, and that reason, was beautiful.

This book is so real. It touches upon not only a variety of mental illnesses, but also about medication, family struggles, and even how to heal. I don't think this book was a very triggering book because it is more about showing that healing is possible, but obviously always be cautious when approaching any mental health book. I loved reading about Caden's healing process and how it was effected by the other people at the hospital.

Overall, I think this book handled the issues at hand brilliantly. This was the first book about schizophrenia I've read, and it was done in a way that showed hope, that showed highs and lows, and showed that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I fell in love with the overall metaphor of this book and I hope you will too.

Have you read Challenger Deep? What did you think?

That's it for my disability diaries post! Check out all of the other ones too!

Emily @ Paperback Princess

The Thanks U Give Blog Hop: Top 10 Reasons Why I'm Thankful for the Book Community!

I'm so excited to be participating in this week-long Thanksgiving inspired blog hop, hosted by Mishma @ Chasing Faerytales and Hazel @ Stay Bookish! Be sure to head on over to the masterpost and look at all the other posts happening this week! It's such a positive time :D There is also a giveaway going on so be sure to enter that at the end of this post!

Seeing as I'm Canadian, I actually celebrated Thanksgiving in October, but it's never too late to give thanks to my favourite group of people ever: The Book Community!

This isn't just for the people with blogs, this is a shoutout to all the booktubers, book tweeters, authors and just anyone on social media that shares the same love for books that I do. I love you all. So without further adieu, here are the top reasons why the book community is awesome, along with some amazing links to people/organizations/accounts in the book community that you should follow:

1. DIVERSITY! The book community is one of the most socially-aware fandoms out there. We are constantly calling out the bullsh*t, and we never fail to speak up to injustice! I am so thankful that people in this community are willing to make change.

Some awesome advocates for diversity:  Ava, Naz , Heidi , Nuzaifa 

2. THE HUMOUR! Seriously, the book community is hilarious. With witty tumblr posts, funny tweets about our favourite characters, the book community never fails with the bookish humour!

Some hilarious bloggers that'll brighten up your day: Tika, Alwyn, Jenny, Cait

3. THE AESTHETICS! Book aesthetic accounts are one of my favourite aspects of the book community. Seeing pretty little pictures of your favourite books and characters can be so satisfying!

Some great book aesthetic accounts: Character Aesthetics, All Caps Books, HP Aesthetics 

4. BOOKSTAGRAM! Bookstagram is definitely a talent, something that I don't have, but those who do are so appreciated! And oh-so-beautiful.

Some great bookstagram accounts: True Confessions of a Book Lover, Not Gary Cooper, Seelie Knight, Brown- Eyed Bookaholic

5. THE RAVEN CYCLE FANDOM! Getting specific here, I freaking love this fandom. I love how artsy it is, how diverse it is, and how we all agree that Reece King would be the perfect Ronan Lynch.

Some great Raven Cycle Fan Accounts: The Raven Queen, Trc Aesthetic, WikiTRC 

6. THE AUTHORS! Of course, where would we be without the people who started this all? I am so thankful to authors and all that they have given me.

Some of my favourite authors to follow: Sabaa Tahir, J.K. Rowling, Rainbow Rowell, John Green, Rick Riordan

7. THE BLOGGERS! Of course, my heart will always hold a special place for the book bloggers. Thank you all for taking the time to craft quality, amazing and inspiring posts.

Some of my favourite book blogs: Veronika and Ruzaika, Charlotte, Denise, Geraldine, Mishma, Cee

8. THE BOOK EVENTS! When bookworms get together, chaos ensues. (but in a really good way.) Although I don't attend a lot of them, I am forever grateful for the opportunities for bookworms to come together and meet in real life.

Some great Book Events: BEA, Bookcon, Comic-Con

9. NERD-FEST! I love that I'm in a community that's so proud to be nerds! I love how we've established nerds as being a positive thing that we all proudly are.

Some of my favourite booknerds: Sierra, Em, Breanna, Brittany

10. WE HAVE EACH OTHER'S BACKS: No matter what, there is always someone to talk to in the book community. Thanks to time zones, there's someone to talk to at 5:00 in the morning, to 5:00 in the evening. People are always willing to listen, and it's like having thousands of best friends. And for that, I am so grateful.

And now for the giveaway! Harper Collins are generously giving away FOUR 2017 ARC's, so be sure to enter on The Masterpost

So thank you, thank you book community, for being awesome. I don't know what I'd do without you.

What are you thankful for?

Emily @ Paperback Princess