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Wild Awake Hilary T Smith Books

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Wild Awake Hilary T Smith Books

Kiri adored her older sister Sukey, and was devastated when she died. Kiri grew up believing it was an accident, but when she finds out that Sukey was murdered - and that her parents kept it from her - Kiri begins to slide into a mental breakdown. For the years that Kiri believed Sukey died in an accident, she threw herself into her piano lessons, becoming a very accomplished young pianist and also part of a band. Shortly before she is to be in a prestigious music program, Kiri gets a call to pick up her sister's belongings. It is this call that starts off the wide ride of "Wild Awake".

Kiri tries to put together the pieces of what actually happened to her sister, and her parents are of little help. They are away on a cruise, and steadfastly refuse to talk about it. Adding her struggle to find out what happened to Sukey to her already manic pace of life, Kiri begins to crack. While out on a bike ride one evening, she meets Skunk. Skunk suffers from paranoia, but in a strange way they become each others life raft throughout this story.

For me this was a hard book to read, and one of the harder reviews to write. I worked in a mental health clinic for several years, and saw children who were so beaten down by their mental health issues. Some suffered from severe depression, or were bipolar, or paranoid schizophrenia. To see them struggle to break free of their illness, to try to have a 'normal' life, was heartbreaking. The author did an amazing job of capturing the inner torture Kiri goes through - her denial, the fear of making mistakes, the misplaced adoration of her sister, the distant behavior of her parents. I saw so many of these kids in Kiri. As such, I wouldn't recommend this book for younger readers. Even older readers (including adults) may have a tough time with this book. Some will find their own strength in this book, some may even realize their drive is actually a form of mania and seek help. Kiri is a tough chick who finds her breaking point yet is the better for it.

I loved this book for its raw, uncomfortable portrayal of mental illness. The author didn't pull any punches, and I respect her for that. It's time that mental illness isn't treated like something to hide, or be ashamed of, or swept under a rug like nothing is wrong. Kiri's story is important in that it is one many teens experience but are too scared or too ashamed to seek help. Kiri tries her best to keep it all together, to not make mistakes, to fulfill everyone's high expectations of her and those she has set for herself. This book would be great for a high school English class as a group read and discussion as the character and subject are something I would suspect a few of the students could truly relate to, and others that could use a bit of empathetic eye opening to the struggles some people go through.


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Wild Awake Hilary T Smith Books Reviews

It's a dark kind of novel, gut wrenching, it made me feel too much.
Excellent book.
Hilary Smith is a writer with an interested eye. She notices clocks, carpet, earrings, t-shirts - small poetic details. There are plenty such details in this novel. Beautiful prose writer.
Great Book, great depiction of someone with bipolar disorder
This is a fun read all the way through. I was fully absorbed, and found myself thinking about the story all day. The story and the characters, while really out there, are totally realistic and believable. There were no boring or fake parts to slow down the reading. Wild Awake is on the young adult shelf, but I'm old, and I liked it. We did stuff like this in the 60s too, and the book reminded me of those wild times.
This book is a poignant coming of age story that avoids most of the cliches of the genre. It offers a compelling account of a young woman's first battle with mental illness and first real experience with love. It is set in the context of a whodunit and i was riveted. I think i read it in its entirety in less than 48 hours. I've been a fan of Hilary T. Smith's work since i found her blog, "The Intern," four years ago and am ever so glad that she is now writing novels.
Grade C-

WIDE AWAKE follows Kiri Byrd's descent into psychosis. Seventeen year old Kiri is the ultimate unreliable narrator, an undiagnosed, hypomanic girl left on her own for six weeks while her parents take a dream anniversary cruise. Her drug addicted, mentally ill homeless older sister had been murdered five years ago, so in their infinite wisdom, Kiri's parents figured leaving her alone for the summer to be a great idea.

She proceeds to alienate her friends and family, while befriending scary people in a bad part of town. Kiri isn't likable, and she's hard to empathize with as she make bad decision after bad decision. Even though her mental illness is at the root of her behavior, I had a hard time caring about Kiri. Skunk, her boyfriend, was a much easier character to embrace. He, at least, had some insight into himself and he behaved much less narcissistically.

Hilary T Smith alludes to her own mental illnesses in her bio, so WIDE AWAKE must be very personal to her. She authentically captures a teen having a manic episode, but felt like Smith told, more than showed the frenetic energy of a manic episode with too many passive verbs. I wished she had immersed me a into the nonstop whirlwind of thoughts, feelings and sensory sensations I've heard from bipolar and manic clients.

WIDE AWAKE lacked a message and a point other then describing a teen's mental decline. There seemed to be s lack of ending, except, perhaps, a set up for treatment, maybe. Nothing about Kiri's personality suggested she'd embrace, respond to or stick with treatment. I don't think I'd recommend the book to teen clients for those reasons, though I might to parents as a caveat for going off medication.
Kiri adored her older sister Sukey, and was devastated when she died. Kiri grew up believing it was an accident, but when she finds out that Sukey was murdered - and that her parents kept it from her - Kiri begins to slide into a mental breakdown. For the years that Kiri believed Sukey died in an accident, she threw herself into her piano lessons, becoming a very accomplished young pianist and also part of a band. Shortly before she is to be in a prestigious music program, Kiri gets a call to pick up her sister's belongings. It is this call that starts off the wide ride of "Wild Awake".

Kiri tries to put together the pieces of what actually happened to her sister, and her parents are of little help. They are away on a cruise, and steadfastly refuse to talk about it. Adding her struggle to find out what happened to Sukey to her already manic pace of life, Kiri begins to crack. While out on a bike ride one evening, she meets Skunk. Skunk suffers from paranoia, but in a strange way they become each others life raft throughout this story.

For me this was a hard book to read, and one of the harder reviews to write. I worked in a mental health clinic for several years, and saw children who were so beaten down by their mental health issues. Some suffered from severe depression, or were bipolar, or paranoid schizophrenia. To see them struggle to break free of their illness, to try to have a 'normal' life, was heartbreaking. The author did an amazing job of capturing the inner torture Kiri goes through - her denial, the fear of making mistakes, the misplaced adoration of her sister, the distant behavior of her parents. I saw so many of these kids in Kiri. As such, I wouldn't recommend this book for younger readers. Even older readers (including adults) may have a tough time with this book. Some will find their own strength in this book, some may even realize their drive is actually a form of mania and seek help. Kiri is a tough chick who finds her breaking point yet is the better for it.

I loved this book for its raw, uncomfortable portrayal of mental illness. The author didn't pull any punches, and I respect her for that. It's time that mental illness isn't treated like something to hide, or be ashamed of, or swept under a rug like nothing is wrong. Kiri's story is important in that it is one many teens experience but are too scared or too ashamed to seek help. Kiri tries her best to keep it all together, to not make mistakes, to fulfill everyone's high expectations of her and those she has set for herself. This book would be great for a high school English class as a group read and discussion as the character and subject are something I would suspect a few of the students could truly relate to, and others that could use a bit of empathetic eye opening to the struggles some people go through.