Maddy Banks is just like any other stressed-out freshman at NYU. Between schoolwork, exams, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, it's normal to be feeling overwhelmed. It doesn't help that she's always felt like the odd one out in her picture-perfect Connecticut family. But Maddy's latest low is devastatingly low, and she goes on an antidepressant. She begins to feel good, dazzling in fact, and she soon spirals high into a wild and terrifying mania that culminates in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
As she struggles to find her way in this new reality, navigating the complex effects bipolar has on her identity, her relationships, and her life dreams, Maddy will have to figure out how to manage being both too much and not enough.
With her signature "deep empathy and insight" (Booklist), Harvard-trained neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova has crafted another profoundly moving novel that makes complicated mental health issues accessible and human. More or Less Maddy is destined to become another classic like Still Alice.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
January 14, 2025 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781668026120
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781668026120
- File size: 4285 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Library Journal
August 1, 2024
In the latest from neuroscientist Genova (author of the bestselling novel Still Alice, adapted into an Oscar-winning film), Maddy Banks is a stressed-out freshman at NYU. She's depressed and overwhelmed, and then a manic episode leads to a bipolar disorder diagnosis. Now she must learn to navigate her new reality as she struggles with how being bipolar affects her identity, relationships, and dreams. Prepub Alert.
Copyright 2024 Library Journal
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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Booklist
October 15, 2024
Neuroscientist Genova, who has previously explored the ramifications of Alzheimer's, Huntington's disease, and ALS in fiction, now turns her gimlet eye to bipolar disorder. Maddy Banks is a sophomore in college at NYU, searching for her passion when she walks into a comedy club and discovers it. Maddy believes doing stand-up is her calling, but it also sets off a manic episode that leads her to believe Taylor Swift is looking to collaborate with her. Things come to a head when Maddy goes home to Connecticut for Thanksgiving and winds up hospitalized. Her diagnosis of bipolar disorder comes with a host of complications--medication that brings her mood crashing down, a persistent metallic taste, and skin issues and weight gain that affect her self-esteem. Maddy gradually balances out, but her fretful mother doesn't want her to return to stand-up, fearing it will trigger the whole syndrome again. Genova paints a realistic and often painful picture of the toll mental illness takes on both the affected person and loved ones, making for a visceral, harrowing, and undeniably powerful read.COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Publisher's Weekly
September 23, 2024
In the stirring latest from neuroscientist and novelist Genova (Still Alice), an NYU student’s life is changed by the onset of bipolar disorder. Twenty-year-old Maddy Banks, an aspiring songwriter and stand-up comic, is accustomed to life’s ups and downs, but at the start of her sophomore year, she feels “the opposite of okay.” During her first manic episode, she engages in risky sexual behavior, racks up $20,000 in debt, and believes she’s writing songs for Taylor Swift and a comedy special for Netflix. After threatening her mother with a knife, she’s briefly hospitalized and reluctantly moves back home to Connecticut, where she attempts to find stability. Eventually, she returns to the city, where she performs at comedy clubs and stops taking her meds. After another manic episode and hospitalization, Maddy must decide if she’s ready to follow her doctor’s orders and figure out what is “normal” happiness and sadness versus the onset of mania and depression, and what she can do to embrace her disorder without letting it define her. Maddy is a well-drawn character, offering readers a sympathetic look at what it’s like to live with a bipolar diagnosis, and Genova’s signature empathy and insights are on full display. It’s a remarkable achievement. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME. -
Kirkus
December 15, 2024
A diagnosis of bipolar disorder derails a young woman's college experience. Maddy Banks has just finished her freshman year at NYU when she has her first episode, seemingly out of nowhere. High school was a breeze, though she allowed her boyfriend to monopolize so much of her time that she graduated without friends. Then he broke up with her, and she spent the next year grieving instead of partaking in college life. When mania hits, Maddy believes Taylor Swift wants her to write her biography and Netflix wants to give her a comedy special. The lows involve cutting and suicidal acts. For the next year or so, Maddy, her mother, and her older sister try to adjust to a new normal that includes medication, hospital stays, therapy, sobriety, and mood check-ins--a two steps forward, one step back dance that trips them up more than it keeps them in sync. Genova has a great grasp of bipolar disorder and how it can manifest in daily life. The story is told from Maddy's perspective, which provides a firsthand account of manic depression but also limits the book's possibilities. Maddy grew up in an affluent Connecticut suburb, and she's the definition of sheltered. The other characters, who might have provided a more rounded picture, have no depth. Maddy's mother relishes her role as a trophy wife, her stepfather is a rich afterthought, and her older brother and sister are perfect, establishing Maddy as the black sheep of the family. The setup feels stale considering how much mainstream discourse around mental illness has changed in the last decade. Selena Gomez made a whole documentary about bipolar disorder, but Maddy doesn't even seem to Google it. Genova makes Maddy's interest in standup comedy a central part of the story, meaning she had to write some funny bits for her character; she clearly studied the subject and deserves kudos for taking the risk, but the novel stays firmly in the territory of after-school specials. This story would serve young adults dealing with mental health issues and anyone who seeks to understand them.COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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