Wildflower - Janine Carbone - 3.5 stars

I was approached by the author with this book and I decided to read it in exchange for an honest review. I wanted a break from all the YA I had read this month and this seemed like the right book to choose. I found this to be a simple book, easy to follow and understand and engaging all at the same time. I was hoping for it to be a little more complex than it was, but it was still wrote pretty well. It is said to be a psychological thriller, but I felt it was too simple for that genre. It felt to me to be more of a story about mental health and even though I found it to be simple it still told a pretty profound story. So with that aspect of things it was good.

In this book we have Faith who suffers from several mental health issues, with flashbacks of her life with a mother who was not much of a mother at all and has now passed away. Faith seals her memories and emotions off to most people, she would rather live a life of solitude. She does meet some people she cares a lot about, her best friend Casey and her boyfriend Jason. Through their strength and strength of her own she begins to be able to overcome some of her issues, but when she comes face to face with evil she feels herself plunging back into the spiral of terror, depression and anxiety.

I found that the plot line of this book held several triggers, especially through the flashbacks she was suffering in lieu of her childhood. There is some mystery and some thriller, but I found it mostly focused on mental health. As I said this story is not all that complex but still tells a pretty profound story. I found the plot relatable to my own life and some parts were difficult to read for me. But these types of stories are important so people can see that metal health issues are very real and a prominent part of our society today.

I liked Faith's character, I found her real and very believable. Again I found that I could related to Faith and what she was going through. I feel that the Author wrote her character well and she touched on those very important issues of what it is like to suffer from anxiety and other issues that go with that. I feel like Faith started to grow well by the end of the story and she showed those strengths that are important and needed to allow her to heal from her past.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested a books/stories that touch on real life issues in our society today, such as mental health issues. I am giving this book a 3.5 star rating, and I look forward to more from this author in the future.