Krystal Sutherland

"Esther Solar is determined to break a curse that has doomed her entire family to debilitating phobias, only to encounter a new fear she hadn't counted on: first love"--

A Semi-definitive List of Worst Nightmares

Jasmine Neville

3.5 stars 
I thought I knew what this book was going to be about but I was definitely wrong but I still enjoyed it. Recommend checking out trigger warnings before picking this up

Kathryn 

Like a 4.5 

This book was one hell of an adventure

Kailey Webb

RATING: 4 Stars

This book was recommended to me by a friend who adores romance. I wasn't sure whether i would like this or not but it wasn't a bad book. It's an easy read and quick to get through, this will help when in a book slump. It's a little slow at the start but it starts to come together eventually.

Ella Zegarra

uno de los mejores en representar la personalidad de personas con enfermedades mentales

Original de: El Blog del Gato - El Extraño Gato del Cuento

este ibro es como hizo sentir vergüenza ajena de una manera tan palpable y sonora como lo hice esta vez, tuve que bajar mi celular (donde estaba leyendo), taparme la cara y básicamente soltar de esos gritos/chillidos sin mucho sonido… Así como un pterodáctilo. 

A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares es un libro divertido, que toca de manera real lo que es vivir con ansiedad, depresión, sobre lo que es vivir en una familia con predisposición a enfermedades mentales. 


  


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Jessica Williamson

4.75 Stars

*Update (2/4/21) Is this my fourth or fifth re-read? I don't know. Honestly if you're not reading this book yet, what's wrong with you? It's amazing. There was something I noticed this time around that is a spoiler so don't read it if you don't want to know (view spoiler)[ Esther talks at the end about how Horowitz has been leaving Orchids on her pillow to prepare her for her becoming the Girl Who Would Be Death, but in one of the flashbacks/stories it's mentioned that locks seem to fall open at Horowitz' touch, a skill he shares with Jonah. So now I'm over here wondering if he's actually trying to prepare her for Jonah becoming the next apprentice and not her. (hide spoiler)]

*Update (2/23/20) Third re-read. God I love this book so much. I might have been sobbing by the end. I don't think I've done a good enough job in the past of talking about how dark this book can be. So yeah, it's dark and it hurts.

*Update (1/23/18) I've actually read this book twice this month. It is SO good.*

What an amazing way to start off a reading year! 

The main thing you need to know about this book is that the writing style is a-effing-mazing! It's whimsy, quirky, and full of weird. I loved everything about Sutherland's writing style and the way this story came across the page.

Esther is a weirdo. She's okay with that, and so am I. Esther suffers from anxiety (and probably depression) but believes her fears are the result of a family curse rather than a mental illness. 

Eugene, Esther's twin brother, is afraid of the dark. Scratch that. He's afraid of the things lurking in the dark that he KNOWS are out to get him. Eugene believes their entire family has an issue with mental illness, one they prefer to overlook and try to find easy fixes for.

Jonah. A thief with a heart of gold. Jonah has his own issues, but what he really wants to do is help Esther overcome her fears.

The plot in this is just so amazingly wackado, you do not even understand. BUT IT WORKS. It works so well. With the strangeness of the characters, the plot makes them all just fit into their roles so perfectly. I cannot express to you how much I love this book.

So here's the disclaimer, this book deals with depression, anxiety, suicide, self-harm, and death on some very DEEP levels so if those things trigger you, it's probably not the book for you. On the other hand, as someone who suffers from anxiety and depression, the author did her homework. The descriptions were so on point it just made the story that much more real for me.

I don't say this often, in fact I don't know if I ever have before, but I have the urge to crack this baby back open and read it again. It was THAT good.

Simone Kuling

Love this book !! Her worst nightmare has a good meaning that I really requested. Maybe I will do the same as Esther did 💓💓

Ever since Esther Solar's grandfather mt Death, her entire family has been cursed to suffer one great fear in their lifetime - a fear that will eventually lead each and every one of them to their graves. Take Esther's father, for instance: he's an agoraphobe who hasn't left the basement in six years. Then there's her twin brother, Eugene, whose fear of the dark goes far beyond he things that go bump in the night. And her mother, Rosemary, is terrified of bad luck. As for Esther, she's managed to escape the curse ... so far. She doesn't yet have a great fear because she avoids pretty much everything. Elevators, small spaces, crowds - anything that might trigger a phobia is off-limits and recorded in her semi-definitive list of worst nightmares. Esther thinks she has it all figured out, until she's reunited with an old classmate - and first crush - Jonah Smallwood. An unexpected friendship between the two develops and together they face one phobia at a time, only to discover the one fear they hadn't counted on: love.

A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares

Rebeca 

5 out of 5 stars!!!!
😭😭😭😭😭 this book was truly amazing!!!!! It started off kind of slow and I'm not gonna lie, I wanted to DNF it, but thankfully I continued to read on and then I became enthralled in the life of Esther. Not just her anxiety or the things she was going through, but everything her family was going through. The struggles that each member of her family faced. Not the cursed part of them, but the actual parts that Esther was finally able to see. That her family members were just that, human beings. This was truly beautiful in so many ways and I would definitely recommend it to every single person.

Kirilee Chapman

Amazing depictions of mental health. Wonderfully written. 

Es muss ja nicht perfekt sein

Pippa 

So ein seltsames aber trotzdem tolles Buch!! Ich hatte meine Probleme rein zu kommen und musste mich erst an den Schreibstil gewöhnen aber dann hat es mir wirklich gut gefallen. Ich fand das Thema Angst bzw Phobien war manchmal viel zu oberflächlich und fast lächerlich dargestellt. Es gab auch in den angebrachten Situationen wenig innere Monologe was mir gefehlt hat. 
Es gab auch eine Liebesgeschichte, die einerseits ganz typisch war (beliebter junge verliebt sich in seltsames Mädchen, beide haben dunkle Geheimnisse, streiten und trennen sich usw) andererseits konnte es keine normale Liebesgeschichte sein, da das ganze Buch nicht normal war.
Wirklich ein einzigartiges Buch!

Een bijna definitieve lijst van nachtmerries

Charlot van Dijk

Toen ik begon met dit boek, had ik geen idee wat ik precies moest verwachten. Het verhaal ging alle kanten op, en het was heel apart om te lezen hoe de familie van Esther zich door de angsten heen werkt. Jonah is een apart karakter die Esther helpt, maar zelf ook met veel problematiek kampt en daardoor gaat alles net niet helemaal zoals het zou moeten gaan. Ik denk dat als je het boek leest en niet zozeer de onderliggende betekenis ziet, dat je het echt een rotboek zal vinden. Maar de onderliggende betekenis in dit hele boek is prachtig doorverweven en het zorgde ervoor dat ik - ondanks de vreemde stukjes- dit echt wel een heel sterk boek vind!

A Semi-definitive List of Worst Nightmares

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