Carrie Mac

Maeve, a sufferer of severe anxiety, moves in with her recovering alcoholic father and her very pregnant stepmother and falls for a girl who's not afraid of anything.

10 Things I Can See from Here

Moth

The writing in this book conveys the idea of anxiety well. It’s scattered and a mess, your mind constantly going and going to things you don’t want to think about. However, this sometimes makes the story unclear at different moments. One point Maeve is emailing Ruthie and the book states that Ruthie messaged her back almost instantly ‘like last time’. But after that chapter you continue to read and realize that isn’t actually the case, Ruthie never messaged her back. I reread that part again and again and I’m still confused why it was worded that way, if it was possibly a mistake in the editing.

There are a few things I DON’T agree with. One being that the idea is Maeve isn’t allowed to be on anti-anxiety medication due to her parents wanting her to wait until her brain is done developing. But the book almost hints that people with anxiety just need a girlfriend to make things okay. Though it’s not directly saying that, Maeve’s anxiety goes down when she and Salix are dating. My fear is that this will become another ‘magic cure’ for people to tell us with anxiety that we just need a relationship to get better, that we don’t need our medication, which is dangerous. I also don’t agree with the fact the only person of color that we know of for sure in this book dies and dies pretty quickly. I think the death was a growing point for the main character, but it gets tiring having PoC die in stories just to further a main character who we don’t actually know the race of.

(Full review can be found on my blog)

“You can say that you’re sorry. You can say that you’re going to stop. You can say that you’re going to get help. That’s what the hell you can say.”

I read this book a few months ago and I’m only just getting around to writing a review now but I first of all just wanted to say how special this book truly is.

One of the worsts things in this world is having to witness someone you love struggling with addiction or alcoholism. 

Maeve was a character that I really saw myself in. I understood her anxiety. I understood her anger.

Her brothers and their silly antics made me giggle out loud multiple times. I truly just loved every single one of these characters and the story that came with them.

The fact that this book was also wlw on top of everything just made it just that much better. This book truly holds a special place in my heart.

Emily

Review to come!!! This got 4.5/5 stars due to a minor trigger near the beginning of the book.

Belle Ellrich

Whew boy, this book MESSED ME UP!

Carrie Mac is a new favorite author of mine, and it all started with me reading her newest release Wildfire. When I found out my bookstore had 10 Things I Can See from Here, I knew I had to pick it up.

Something I noticed quite a few other reviewers had a problem with was the "erratic" tempo of this book. It flipped from the current timeline to Maeve's past pretty often, but unlike the other reviewers, I actually liked that about this book! The entire book was kind of set as Maeve's anxiety, and I found this to be a really interesting format for it. Carrie Mac did a really fantastic job of picturing and describing the anxiety in each scene, and she put just as much effort into that as she did everything else.

In terms of character development, I was a little back and forth on it. This book, in my opinion, wasn't as great as Wildfire. This book was pretty good, and I really enjoyed it, but it was missing those elements from her newer book that I was looking for.

Salix's character kind of portrayed a means of disruption in Maeve's anxiety. In terms of comparison, she was the kickstand that stopped the bicycle from falling. She did a lot for Maeve, and I feel like she definitely contributed more to the relationship than Maeve did.

Maeve's character was a little displayed. It took a while for her character to show development, and when she did, it kind of all came at once.

One thing I wasn't the biggest fan of in reading this book was how Maeve kind of just brushed off that she'd been sexually assaulted. It was addressed that she didn't realize it at first, but then when she came to terms with it, she just kind of said "oh well" and went back to trying to make amends with the friend that did it.

All in all, I did enjoy this book. For everything listed, I rate this book 3.75 stars. I think this was a good example of how much Carrie Mac improved since writing this and when compared to Wildfire, which is something I always like seeing. I look forward to seeing what she releases next!

Perfect for fans of John Green's Turtles All the Way Down and Nina LaCour's We Are Okay, this is the poignant and uplifting story of Maeve, who is dealing with anxiety while falling in love with a girl who is not afraid of anything. Think positive. Don't worry; be happy. Keep calm and carry on. Maeve has heard it all before. She's been struggling with severe anxiety for a long time, and as much as she wishes it was something she could just talk herself out of, it's not. She constantly imagines the worst, composes obituaries in her head, and is always ready for things to fall apart. To add to her troubles, her mom--the only one who really gets what Maeve goes through--is leaving for six months, so Maeve will be sent to live with her dad in Vancouver. Vancouver brings a slew of new worries, but Maeve finds brief moments of calm (as well as even more worries) with Salix, a local girl who doesn't seem to worry about anything. Between her dad's wavering sobriety, her very pregnant stepmom insisting on a home birth, and her bumbling courtship with Salix, this summer brings more catastrophes than even Maeve could have foreseen. Will she be able to navigate through all the chaos to be there for the people she loves? An ALA Rainbow Book List selection A Bank Street Best Book of the Year "With Maeve, Mac delivers a character who's heartwarmingly real and sympathetic, and her story provides a much needed mirror for anxious queer girls everywhere."--Kirkus, Starred review "This is a good companion book for other anxiety-riddled stories, such as The Shattering by Karen Healey, and Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella."--Booklist "This hopeful offering will resonate with young people for their own lives, even if the journey is hard and takes time and patience...[a] compelling portrait of a teen's experiences with anxiety and challenging family dynamics."--SLJ "Mac carefully makes clear that Maeve is plenty able to find joy other places than the perfect girl and that she's working at dealing with her own problems; the romance is therefore lovely and cozy and free from overtones of dependency. The descriptions of anxiety are true and powerful, and romance buffs will likely revel in a book celebrating deep connection."--The Bulletin "Mac is good at showing how a dread-filled mind works... [An] affecting story.''--Publishers Weekly

10 Things I Can See from Here

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