Toby has live with her mom for ten years. Her mom has a mental illness. When it overwhelms her, she doesn’t leave her bedroom and stop loving her.” She has never known her dad. Toby has only a tiny amount of information about dad. She took the only picture of him when her mom died. It is a picture of her dad and mom were teenagers. One day Grandma gets a phone call that upsets her. It is to tell her that Toby’s dad is coming to see Toby. Grandma tells Toby that her dad is coming but is not welcome at her home. Toby doesn’t want to see him as she has not ever got a birthday card or any type of communication from him ever. Why is he coming now? Grandma tells her he is gay. Grandpa gets to tell that he wears dresses. Toby finds that some what confusing. Why does Toby’s dad wear dresses? Will she see him? If Toby does see him, what will she do?

Thee author has written a novel with richly drawn characters. There is the mystery of her parents, the love Toby doesn’t feel, the relationship with her friends, death and Toby trying to deal with being a 15 year old teenager. I enjoyed this well written book.

This book was so deep and moving. There were times I had to put it down until the tears stopped. It is a HEAVY topic and I can see some people having a really difficult time getting through it. I'm so glad I got to read this and I can't wait to have a physical copy to add to my shelf. If suicide is a trigger for you, walk away. Otherwise, be ready for an EMOTIONAL story.

I wish there wasn't a hundred character minimum because this review can be summed up into 6 words, I did not like this book.

An ARC of this novel was sent to me by NetGalley for reviewing purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I tried really hard to like this book- but I couldn't finish it. I personally dislike the author's writing style and I found it way too depressing for me.

Dark and sad, but also good. I was heartbroken for Toby - her depression, her suicidal plans, and her early recovery. This brought me to tears multiple times. I wish there had been more discussion of some treatment for Toby, but the mental illness pieces of this were well-told. (Language, sex, LGBTQ+) TW: Suicide and depression

This book is both heavy and hopeful. The whole thing is one big trigger warning though, so proceed with caution.
There is a lot of trauma in these pages, primarily focusing on suicide and homophobia in a small minded small town, but both were handled pretty reverentially. I do think that the "Drag Dad" situation was more of a way to get peoples attention for the book than it was an important part of the overall story, although the performance scene at the end was pretty great in the grander scheme of things, it just didn't feel terribly necessary.

I got an ARC of this book.

Drag queen dads? I'm in. Except the dad isn't even in the story for the first third. He isn't on page much after that either. 

The book itself wasn't formatted well. I couldn't tell when scenes would change. The MC would be talking to her grandma in the kitchen and then there would be a reference to the park and I realized the scene had changed and it was a totally different character. There were no page breaks or those fancy squiggles that would let me know that this was a new scene. 

The writing was eh. There was a chance for a story, the story itself wasn't bad, but the execution was pretty terrible. The characters were all flat. The plot wasn't engaging, since I couldn't get a feel for any of the characters. They could have been interchanged in pretty much any scene and the story would not have changed. 

There were some wonderfully dangerous ideas about mental illness in the book. So schizophrenia (which is clearly what the author was describing, but to be fair the author only ever seemed to mention voices) doesn't generally manifest in young teens. It is an older teen to young adult manifestation. The younger it manifests the more severe it is. So the fact that the mom was showing such severe signs at 14/15 shows either the author doesn't know a ton about schizophrenia or completely undersold just how mentally ill the mother was. Either way, no. Then there were the super graphic suicide attempt. There was the constant graphic planning of multiple other suicide plans with no warning. But don't worry, despite these graphic attempts and personally triggering me, the MC was able to stop being suicidal within a week of her attempt. She was happy and completely changed by the end of the book. The book takes place over about a week or two. So also, no. All the trauma that the MC faced would not magically be better because he dad visited her for the first time in 15 years. 

The first suicide attempt also was after a weirdly graphic almost sex scene. The sex scene was not necessary to tell the story. It just served as two random penis jokes later in the book. They weren't even good penis jokes. Instead one was an incest reference and the other was his penis looked like a pickle. If this sex scene was not the scene directly before the super graphic suicide attempt, it wouldn't bother me that the sex scene existed. 

This book felt like it was using the idea of gay, but without delivering on the gay through the whole thing. Here is this gay dad plot and he is even a female impersonator which is like high level gay. Yet, he never shows affection for his partner. At one point he is asked point blank if he is dating his partner and he beats around the bush. He doesn't even openly admit to  having a partner. Only the people around him talk about him being gay, outside of jokes he makes, most of which are about him being a woman not him being gay. There is constant homophobia and none of it is ever addressed. It reminded me a lot of a "trans" book that was told from the perspective of the cis sister and had so little to do with the trans character that I just felt cheated. Welcome to the gay dad version. 

I am just let down by this book. I almost DNF repeatedly.

2.5🌟

Thank you to Netgalley for the free ebook to review.

I wasn’t a fan of this one. I saw the cover and read the synopsis and thought it was going to be amazing. I appreciated the attempt at the harder subjects to write about. Suicide, mental health, gender nonconformity can all be tricky things to touch on and I feel like this one fell a little flat. If I was younger when I read this, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

This is a unique approach to the "reunited with your father" plot. Not just because the father is a female impersonator. Largely because of Toby's approach to her father. She's ambivalent. She's resentful of his absence, fearful that their relationship won't live up the her expectations. And the father is, in fact, something of a disaster. Add in mental illness and it's a complex read with a thread of raw reality. None of the characters are idealized. In fact, they are all deeply flawed constantly choosing the wrong way.

A heavy read that missed the mark. I didn’t mind how dark it was...not every read is a lighthearted one. It just wasn’t properly executed.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a heavy book. The things discussed in this book are hard and heavy and a bit triggering. It was a bit hard to swallow and I didn't love it. I felt it was a bit harsh.
I don't feel the queer community or the mental health representation was done justice at all.

Overall, not a book I would recommend.

Break in Case of Emergency is a contemporary tale of 15 year old Toby who is dealing with her mother's suicide 5 years ago. She is struggling, especially when her father comes into the picture for the first time since her conception. Her father is... interesting... and isn't what she was expecting - or wanting.

I did not love the LGBTQIA representation or mental health representation. I understand it was done with an explicit purpose, but I don't feel like they were represented properly. I feel it was meant to bring attention to depression and suicidality along with a country town's aversions to the LGBTQIA population (it's also set in 1992), but I feel that it misses the mark on both cases. Toby's mental health journey is a main plot point, but it's like it's set up so well and then just falls flat 2/3 of the way through and is finished too quickly.

I felt confused by this book a lot of the time, and I feel it just wasn't my style. I didn't connect with the characters, but I did like the use of flashbacks to present information. I felt that was done very well and provided needed context to what Toby was going through at any given point.

*3.5 Stars*

I really thoroughly enjoyed Break in Case of Emergency, so I'm not sure why this wasn't a 5 star read for me, I just never fully connected with Toby. It was a very raw story of mental health, suicide, family, and teenage angst. My favorite character hands down was Toby's father, even though he was unlikable at times, he was definitely the comic relief in this novel. I will say though, that even though I didn't absolutely fall in love with the characters, I thought the authors note was amazing. Definitely do not skip it, and major props to Brian Francis for going above and beyond in his research of teenage mental health!

*Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review*

I really liked this book but it was definitely emotional. It felt like it was up and down and maybe even had an effect on my mood. But it is a powerful story of depression and acceptance.

***TRIGGER WARNING***
Suicide, depression, mental illness, parental abandonment

Despite it being a unique and interesting story idea, this was pretty average to me. This was another instances where an author tries to put too many plot lines into one story. The depression and suicide talk really had nothing to do with her long lost gay dad. Even after her father comes into her life, she still goes through with her plan—his presence doesn't stop her. I also think it all was wrapped up pretty quickly, especially for the severity of the situation. 

I truly think that if the two storylines were separate stories, then they would be really strong. The writing was impactful, even funny at times and could have been developed more. I would have liked to learn more about the mother's mental illness. It was kept kind of vague, but that could have also been because of the time period—late 80's/ early 90's. However, if it was its own story, you could put it during any time period and nothing would have been affected. 

If the plot about her dad was done as its own book, it would be a great unique story that especially reflected the time period. Those scenes were definitely humorous but still held a lot of emotion and dramatic moments—a great pitch for a dramedy.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really truly tried to give this book a decent chance because the premise sounded so dang promising! Unfortunately, it was a giant miss for me. Not only was the formatting wonky and made it hard to read, but some of the choices just made me so irritated! First of all, it is the year of 2020, there is no reason why 1) Someone should be using the slur g*ypsy and 2) No one should EVER dress up as someone's culture for Halloween. That is racist AF and highly insulting. I thought we'd moved pass that. Unfortunately, that scene in the beginning left a horrid taste in my mouth and left me unable to enjoy any of the book.

Unfortunately this one fell short for me. I loved the premise and where this one could go. But it did remind me a bit of an episode if Friends where Chandler essentially has the exact same father. Was not bad but not my favorite.

I was disappointed by how this book ended up going, as I feel like the basic themes had a lot more promise than the true course of the plot and character dynamics and resolutions.

The mental health aspect was a huge theme that I think Francis explored pretty well throughout the novel, both in the MC and her mother's struggles with continuing with their lives, and it was really interesting to see how the excuses the MC kept making helped her better understand what happened with her mother so many years ago.

I love the idea of a beyond unconventional father being dropped into a familiar place that didn't have a lot of acceptance ready for him. But his character was exceptionally unlikeable. I think the development of the character, the immaturity and baffling extent to which he acted out for the first half of the novel, involved resolving too much in a way that was too easy.

I didn't like any of the other characters very much at all, either. A generalization, but their gaping flaws felt real, but no other part of them really did to me. It felt like they were nothing but their shortcomings, and redeeming qualities were negligible to nonexistent.

Still, I applaud the author for his work to bring a different set of circumstances to his characters and for tackling issues like suicide, acceptance, and small-mindedness.

My thanks to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for the ARC!

This book was such a quick read - I read it all in one day and I have not done that in such a long time. You are dropped right into the middle of the main character, Toby's, life. I was really into the book at the beginning, especially through the novels discussion on mental health. But the main part of the novel's plot, Toby's father, felt strange to me. I understood what Francis was going for (feeling like an outcast), but it started to lose me there after. If you replaced his main personality point with something else, the novel would have worked the same. (I am not sure if I am wording this correctly without sounding mean). I respect what Francis was going for; I think this is a really great novel for teens and I think it has an important message, despite my reservations for the novel.

3.5 stars

I appreciate that this novel handles the issue of suicide without romanticizing it (as various other contemporary YA novels do).

The main character experiences a great deal of family trauma: a mother who struggles with mental illness and completes suicide, a father who is absent, grandparents who appear to love her very much but are not excellent at communicating this (or at communicating about the central issues in her life), and her own experiences with mental illness. Readers get an in-depth perspective into the thoughts of a person with suicidal ideation, the experiences of those who survive a friend or family member's suicide, and the sense of isolation that a person may feel while appearing to be typical and even happy on the outside.

While I appreciate the way this issue is addressed, I really struggled with the portrayal of the main character's father, Arthur, who is gay, and who also has an international career as a vocal performer who wears traditionally women's clothing (both on stage and off, at times). The ancillary characters are described as conservative and religious, and the small town of Tilden is referred to in numerous ways as less than enlightened. In fact, Arthur explains that he had to leave the town to be himself, that Toby's mother was the only one there who accepted him for whom he really is, and that his own mother shut the door in his face when he returned for a visit. All of that noted, I'd have like to see some more modern language and thinking around Arthur's identity in the novel. He does gain some acceptance from the group at the end - as does his partner - but a lot of this falls into stereotypical tropes, and I found this element distracting from the greater purposes of the work.

I'll be recommending this one to students and colleagues as a strong representation of various aspects of suicide, but never without the caveat that the LGBTQ+ - related elements read as if they were articulated by a member of the Tilden community.