Book Reviews: fAdE tO bLuE and mOnOchrOme

fAdE tO bLuE by H.M. Jones

He did not go gentle into that good night... Fade to Blue, H.M. Jones
fAdE tO bLuE is H.M. Jones‘ prequel to mOnOchrOme. Those of us who read Monochrome met the fascinating character Ishmael. This prequel gives us Ishmael’s back story and explains more about how the hellish world of Monochrome works. Monochrome is a creative metaphor for depression, specifically suicidal depression.
Ishmael’s childhood was filled with trauma and neglect. As the novel opens, he finds his mother’s body after she dies by a particularly gory suicide. He descends into a suicidal abyss, and finds himself in Monochrome.
Though my life was far less traumatic, like Ishmael, I was a suicidal young adult. What saved me, and what keeps Ishmael alive, was the fight to live. Fight depression. Fight those lies depression tells you.

mOnOchrOme by H.M. Jones

Monochrome: What would you do to save your most precious memories? H.M. Jones
mOnOchrOme by H.M. Jones is a blue cold scary fantasy world, a metaphor for depression, an infernal purgatory where the protagonist Abigail survives by paying for her basic needs with positive memories.
As Abigail struggles to leave Monochrome and return to her baby, she fights the despair of postpartum depression. She fights the lies depression convinces her are truths.
Monochrome is a powerful, compelling novel. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it as a work of fiction that told important truths about depression through the metaphor of Monochrome.

Depression Lies

Depression lies. You matter. You have value. You are loved. Those you love are not better off without you. Fight the lies depression tells you. Fight and reach out for help. Call 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK.
You are not alone. I, too, have experienced the hell of severe suicidal depression. I’m thankful that I fought it and got the help I needed. Those I love, those who love me, are thankful, too.

Please Don’t Ask Me to Review Your Book

Recently I’ve written two book reviews, and am about to write one more. BUT, I do NOT consider myself a book reviewer, so PLEASE don’t ask me to review your book.
As a mental health writer, I have many online connections, authors whose writing is fueled by mental illness such as depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder. My heart wants to reach out and support all mental health writers (all writers, poets and artists, for that matter), but I simply cannot.
I read far fewer blogs than I once did and very few mental health memoirs or novels, preferring to escape living with mental illness. Usually I read novels which do not involve the subject of mental health.
That said, I did read both mOnOchrOme and fAdE tO bLuE and thoroughly enjoyed them both.
Thank you.


Comments

12 responses to “Book Reviews: fAdE tO bLuE and mOnOchrOme”

  1. Sounds like a lot of work!

  2. Kitt, I’m soo embarrassed, but relieved as well. When I commented it apparently was under wordpress.com. I had just been experimenting with that blog and had one uncorrected entry. My blog is with wordpress.org hosted by godaddy. So, I spent tonight deleting that old blog and wondering just how many people I’ve been responding to thought that was my blog. UGH! It took me a long time to figure out that wordpress.com was not wordpress.org. I thought the dot com paid wordpress site would give me more features, but it doesn’t. So long story short. Thanks for responding. If you hadn’t, I could have gone on forever.

  3. As long as there are lots of photos of Scottish collies.

  4. Thanks! Flattered.

  5. I think I made the mistake of renaming the post. Oops.

  6. I’ll check it out

  7. Miss Lucy Harwood just finished writing a procedural detective novel featuring Scottish collies like herself as sleuths. Is there any chance you might bend your rule so you could review her
    Great American Novel for the Canine Crowd? ?
    (I realllly didn’t want to ask you but she begged me – she gave me her “pathetic puppy look” and I caved!)

  8. Kitt, I appreciate you so much as a mental health warrior and am honored to have you as a reader. Thank you so much for your thoughts and genuine blog posts. I enjoy reading them and often resonate with them.

  9. ? We are all shadows on the wall of time (metaphor). Believe your blogs cast a good shadow.
    Keep Trucking. Thanks, Kitt.

  10. Great reviews, Kitt! I don’t blame you for not wanting to read mental health memoirs.

  11. Kitt,
    I’m getting a “page not found” on that link
    On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 11:51 AM, Kitt O’Malley wrote:
    > Kitt O’Malley posted: “Fade to Blue by H.M. Jones Fade to Blue is H.M. > Jones’ prequel to Monochrome. Those of us who read Monochrome met the > fascinating character Ishmael. This prequel gives us Ishmael’s back story > and explains more about how the hellish world of Monochrome w” >

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