This book did not touch me at all. I think it's mainly because I couldn't stand the main character. I feel really conflicted about that, because her being a bitch is part of her mental illness, and the entire point of the book is that she can't help that she was born this way. But Olive (the main character) is just annoying me so much. Not really in being mean, because I think that's very understandable and relatable. What annoyed me is that she went to a camp to learn how to deal with her mental illness, and then she concludes that the professionals don't know how to help her so she decides to do her own thing. Hun, if you were able to help yourself, you wouldn't be in the situation you're in. I really loved the message of the book overall about kindness and, most importantly, being kinder to yourself. It’s a message that really hit home for me and my own mental health issues and I really appreciated that the author highlighted that. It’s such an important message. I feel that I would be okay with this because after all, it's simply her mindset. And having a character coming up with her own plan creates an interesting plot. However, she kept doing this and it became repetitive. The issue for me was that the credibility of the story was low due to issues I had with the writing. The author divides sentences over multiple lines to place emphasis on the words, like this: The

This book is about Olive, a teenager who has a hard time coping in this world..... "Being normal". Her doctor suggest a solution in terms of Camp Reset, a place where she might have a chance of finding normality. This book is just so full of beautiful thoughts and words and things, And the message that kindness is so important is so so beautiful and so wonderfully portrayed through out. The fact that Olive isn’t 100% in the right all the time is very clearly on display throughout this book. Other characters, both her peers and the adults around her, constantly question her in healthy ways. Sometimes it’s difficult to parse, because everything is from Olive’s point of view, but I read her treatment by mental health professionals not so much as overbearing as well-meaning but perhaps not as helpful as they could be. That is to say, I didn’t interpret this as Bourne trying to depict a “bad” experience with psychiatry and therapy so much as showing that psychiatrists and therapists are only human, and they won’t always say or do the right things for every patient.

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The end wasn’t exactly what I wanted. I feel like we didn’t really have a complete ending. Even Olive’s storyline was rushed and not really over, I would have loved to see her talk to her parents during the final weekend of camp. That’s why I’m giving this book 4 stars. Following Olive's first manic episode, she is offered a place at Camp Reset, a new residential facility, 'the country's first teen residential camp for brain wellness.' From there we explore friendships and importantly, kindness. Convinced that kindness is the key, it becomes the focus for Olive as she tries to reset.

Because of this, I feel it's kind of more respectful to Olive not to discuss what she is dealing with. Saying that, knowing a bit more about mental illnesses through the reading I've done, I did have a theory about what she might have, which was partly confirmed. More on that later. Even though she doesn't want to know exactly what it is she has, she definitely has some thoughts about it. During a Core Beliefs class, the teens are given a sheet of paper listed with negative core beliefs, and they are asked to circle two they feel applies to them. The idea is that they then reword it to say "I would prefer it if I was not..." and rework it into something more positive. This was actually really interesting, and something I think everybody could do with thinking about - whether you have a mental illness or not, we all, at times, suffer from self-doubt, low self-esteem, or negative thoughts about ourselves, and I found it really interesting. Anyway, Olive is looking through the list, after circling one, trying to decide on another, because there are several that she thinks.EACH character with their flawed actions, reactions and outbursts seemed absolutely real. Holly Bourne does not sugar coat the recovery process or makes it magical. She keeps it frank and that is what makes this book stand out to me. The character growth of not only Olive’s but of the supporting characters like Lewis, Sophie, Hanna and Jamie was commendable. But there comes a point when things really don't go very well. Her psychologist, Dr. Jones is worried about her and thinks there needs to be a change in her meds, she has Dr. Bowers, a psychiatrist, to sit in on their one-on-one therapy session, to discuss alternative medication, and he completely puts his foot in it. Disclosure: I received a physical ARC of Are We All Lemmings & Snowflakes as part of my participation in a blog tour organized by The Nocturnal Fey. This, however, affects neither my opinion nor the content of my review. Many thanks to Erika and Usborne Publishing for the opportunity!