The Fragility of Light by Heather Lonczak is a powerful, emotional exploration of mental illness and the fragile nature of the human mind. Sunny Zielinski, a young woman on the brink of a promising future, is torn apart by personal loss and descends into a harrowing psychotic break, believing she is being hunted by the Nazis. As she struggles with delusions, hallucinations, and the confusion of her illness, the novel delves deep into her complex relationships with her family, particularly her Holocaust-survivor grandparents, and the strangers she meets in psychiatric care. Lonczak paints a poignant picture of the emotional toll of mental health battles, highlighting themes of love, resilience, and the slow path to recovery. It’s a heartfelt and unflinchingly raw narrative about finding hope amid despair.

Beautifully lyrical, astonishingly honest and sparkling with humour and insight, This book tells the truth not everyone can

The Fragility of Light is an interesting yet deep read of a young lady who finds out she struggles with mental illness. Written so beautifully from three main points of view, Sunny, her husband Joshua, and her father Peter. This story takes you on a ride through so many different facets of Sunny's journey of her illness, yet it seems like a true story rather than a fictional work. One woman who feels so alone, and yet the power of love from her family that brings her back from the brink. Exceptionally done and hard to put down.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*

This was a hard book for me to read. It hit very close to home due to me having children with mental illness.
The book follows the main character, Sunny, when she learns that she has schizoaffective disorder, which is a mental illness combination of things such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The thought to me is terrifying, and Sunny went back and forth in denial at times, causing her to discontinue meds and do other things that went against her treatment plan. This in turn caused numerous issues in her personal life.
The book goes back and forth between her, her father Peter and her husband Joshua. We get to hear from their point of view and how it is changing their lives as well. It is a well thought out book, and although it was hard for me to get through, I still enjoyed the story.

The Fragility of Light is a book iIthink about often after reading it. At first I found it quite slow and hard to read though but it soon picked up the pace and made for an informative and thrilling read. Events from the novel were sometimes hard to read through due to the nature of them and how real they felt in comparison to toher books that deal with simmilar themes and subject matters, especially as someone knowing people who go through similar symptoms. One thing that threw me off while reading however was the almost wattpadlike image other characters had of Sunny. Often her pre-illness self would seem too good to be true and like the 'perfect' host to be turned sick by grief and generational illness. Other than this I found each of the character's viewpoints to feel real and I loved seeing how each of them handled the events unfolding in the novel. Lonczak's writing beautifully encompassed the raw and horrific feelings of dealing witih grief and mental illness, specifically that which turns lives upside down and feels impossible to ever recover from.

THE FRAGILITY OF LIGHT by Heather Lonczak is, without a doubt, THE best novel I have ever read about mental illness. If I could give it 10 stars, I would.

When Silvia ‘Sunny’ Zielinski was just eight years old, her mother, Gracie, died. Her father, Peter, did everything he could to raise her and enlisted the help of his parents in that endeavour. Being Holocaust survivors, she learned at a very young and impressionable age, and more so as an adult in her own reading, of the atrocities committed against the Jewish people.

When she meets Joshua at San Diego State University, her lifelong love has entered her life. Sunny hears voices in her head telling her to die, and that she’s worthless but never tells anyone about them. As her life moves along, she has a breakdown at work one day and is misdiagnosed. What ensues is years of a revolving door of medication, hospital stays, therapy and the unwavering love of her husband and father. During this time, she learns of her own mother’s mental illness struggles and what really happened with her death. As she continues to research the lives of her parents and grandparents, her hallucinations begin to include the SS and the concentration camps. When she loses both of her beloved grandparents in short succession, she eventually ends up on the streets in a psychotic state. Will Sunny ever find peace?

Few novels literally bring me to tears with both heartbreak and beauty, but THE FRAGILITY OF LIGHT did just that. This is a story of the struggles of mental illness, generational trauma and a beautiful love story between couples and parents and grandparents for a child. The author somehow weaves these very complex and emotional storylines into the most powerful and beautiful book I have ever read. I could feel my heart pumping as I ran from the SS while also feeling loving arms wrapped around me. While the author has written children’s books, this is her debut into adult fiction and I am so very happy that she took the risk and that I had the chance to find it. There is so much grief and sadness and hope. Heather Lonczak is definitely an author that I will be watching closely in the future. If you are struggling with mental illness yourself or caring for someone who is, DO NOT MISS THIS BOOK!

Thank you to NetGalley and Ivy Lane Press for this ARC opportunity. All opinions are my own and given voluntarily.

Trigger Warnings: mental illness, death, mentions of suicide, suicide attempt, mention of living through the Holocaust, generational trauma, parental neglect

Sunny Zielinski has a promising future ahead of her. Recently, she lands a job as an editor and gets married to the love of her life, Joshua. Her close close-knit family is her rock, especially her loving grandparents - Holocaust survivors who helped raise her.

Following two major losses, Sunny finds that she’s losing herself. Then, she experiences her first psychotic break and is dropped into a world of fear and confusion as her delusions, hallucinations, and mood symptoms take over, Sunny is enveloped into madness. As Sunny attempts to navigate her symptoms, she struggles between what is reality and what is her illness, who’s there to help her, and what she needs to do to get better.

Told mostly through Sunny’s point of view, there are chapters with her husband Joshua, and her father, Peter, as they all try their hardest to help Sunny in her road to recovery.

My first words of this were just: Wow. This is definitely not an easy read. This will pull at your heartstrings before it helps you stitch it back together near the end.

The author, Heather S. Lonczak holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology along with a lot of other studies and experiences within the field and this novel shows she knows what she’s talking about. I appreciated how the doctors interacted with Sunny when they were talking to her about her illness and about taking her medicine. They treated her like a real person with an illness and not just the illness itself.

The novel is the slightest bit wordy in my opinion, but all the words help you immerse into Sunny’s life all the more. I especially loved reading Joshua or Peter’s chapters after some intense moments of Sunny’s as they tended to give you more insight of habits or events that Sunny either didn’t realize she was doing, or that she thought no one else would know about.

Overall, this novel is a wonderful look at a family adjusting to a new mental diagnosis. It doesn’t shy around the ugliness that a mental illness can cause and the struggle a family can go through. Highly recommending this novel for those who want to read about an experience of a newly diagnosed woman as she and her family try to find her way out of the darkness.

*Thank you Ivy Lan Press and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

This is a powerful and moving novel of mental health, resilience, and the enduring bonds of family. It is beautifully written.
Many thanks to Ivy Lane Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This novel hits on mental health, resilience, and the power of family bonds. This book walks you through the life of a lady with mental illness and her daily battles. She has a great family support group that help her at every corner and turn. A page thriller that you will get invested her life.

The author gives us a look into aspects of mental illness and makes it real. Not an easy book to read, but it appears to be realistic.

I was so excited for this book when I saw the premise on Netgalley! I found it really took a long time for me to get into it, but once I got past that I enjoyed it. It switches between the POVs of Sunny, her husband, and father, but I there wasn't much differentiating their voices, and often would repeat sections from each of their POVs, feeling repetitive.

Characters: I didn't feel very connected to them, which partially due to the similar tones noted above. As well, I kinda felt like they were responding realistically but in an idealized way, if that makes sense? It was mentioned repeatedly that Sunny was lucky to have such a supportive loving family, but it tipped into feeling less believable - or, maybe, relatable, I suppose in a sad way 😅 6/10 (x2)

Atmosphere: Very stark and realistic, but I didn't find it to be very immersive. 7/10 (x2)

Writing: Nothing technically wrong with it, it just read a bit flat for my tastes. 6/10 (x3)

Plot: 8/10

Intrigue: This is taking a hit for the slow start - for a good chunk of the book it felt like a chore to read. 5/10.

Logic: Everything made sense. 10/10

Enjoyment: I'm glad I picked it up and pushed through the beginning. 7/10 (x3)

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A heartbreaking and inspiring novel about mental health.

This novel is an impactful exploration of resilience amidst a profound loss. The author is able to weave Maya's grief with her journey of self-discovery. The intricate character development is what put this book over the edge for me, with the prose offering moments for introspection. However, I did find the pacing of the book to be slow with many aspects of the plot remaining stagnate to make room for the thematic depth and introspective components.

Wow!
I’m not sure how to put into words how well written this novel was.
I felt like it was a true account of a young woman and her struggle with mental illness.
It is told in 3 POVs. Sunny herself, her husband, and her father.
Having such supportive family and friends truly made a difference in her acceptance and her ongoing recovery.
I have much more to say. I am still absorbing it all. I will add more later.
I definitely have a new appreciation for psychiatric disorders and mental health in general.
Thank you NetGalley and Heather Lonczak for the opportunity to read this in exchange of an honest review.
I will be purchasing a hard copy of this one!

As someone that is very curious about mental health and human nature, this seemed like a great book to read. At times it felt really heavy but was very descriptive.

The story was told with all the happiness, bumps and bruises that naturally come with the subjects discussed.. It gives the reader some insight to the complexities of mental illness. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to expand their knowledge on mental illness.

Thank you to Netgalley for offering this book for an honest review.

“The Fragility of Light” is an important book which provides needed information and sheds compassion on mental illness—specifically schizoaffective disorder. While it is not without its writing flaws, the novel reads well enough and grabbed me from the onset. I should say, though, that I have a dear friend with schizoaffective disorder and was therefore already radically interested in the topic. I appreciate that the author—a PhD in educational psychology and a master's degree in clinical psychology—is well credentialed for writing this book. Her compassion, empathy, and understanding are a standout in this book. While fictional, it is educational, informative, and ultimately encouraging. It shouldn’t take the place of nonfiction for anyone dealing with loved ones (or themselves) with this illness, and yet, because it is so easy to read, understand, and absorb, it might well serve some readers better than a nonfiction book.

The author effectively goes into the mind of a young woman, Sunny, who has a psychotic break after a traumatic event and ultimately is diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder (which is not the same as schizophrenia and should not as I understand it be considered schizophrenia-light). The chapters written in Sunny’s point of view during her psychotic breaks are harrowing, including a homeless period, times she runs away, and a near suicide. Yet that harrowing quality is part of the strength of this book and helped me understand my friend’s mind set in ways the textbook approaches of reading had not. My friend has many things in common with Sunny—the family history of mental illness, the traumatic event that triggered the break, the running away, the suicide attempt. Now I understand my friend and what she goes through so much better—which is why I say this is a very important book.

The novel suffers from stiff, unnatural dialogue and bouts of narrative telling (violating the oft-preached writers’ class emphasis on “show don’t tell”) and there were definitely plenty of info-dumps in the book. Yet, really, though I saw these issues plainly as I read, in the end I did not mind because the info dumps were important, the story moves along with its compelling story, and I wanted to read, admire, and praise the novel for what it does so very well—tell a compassionate, illuminating story.

All in all, this is a good book, and as I said, a very important one. I would especially recommend it to anyone who is or knows someone dealing with mental illness. But even if you are somehow blessed not to know a single soul with mental illness, this is still a gripping, compelling read about the triumph of love (and modern psychotropic drugs) over a devasting mental illness. If only everyone with a mental illness had the family support, the insurance and funds, and the access to mental health medical providers that Sunny had, we would have far, far fewer homeless people.

I received a free copy from Netgalley but these are my honest opinions.

I thought about making this a DNF several times. The writing came across as amateurish and made it difficult for me to want to continue. I pushed on, though, because I was interested in the subject.
A young woman, Sunny, experiences several psychotic episodes, and is diagnosed with a mental illness that completely upends her almost picture perfect life.
While her short bio shows extensive experience with the subject matter, this appears to be the author’s first adult novel, and the chunky writing shows it.
Thanks to #netgalley and #ivylanepress for this #arc of #thefragilityoflight in exchange for an honest review.

I was captivated by this book. Watching Sunny go through all of her trials was both empowering and frustrating. I love the representation that this book gave mental illness. It really showed that something like this disorder can happen to anyone at any time, regardless of “status”. While this book was heavy, I thoroughly enjoyed it. From a technical standpoint, there are a lot of typos/missed words that made some of the sentences hard to read at times but nothing that made me give up on the book in its entirety. I would recommend this book to a friend in a good headspace.

This is a deeply personal story of a young woman, Sunny, who slides into mental illness. It is so well-written that it seems as if the author is telling her own story, but this is fictional. Sunny is Jewish, newly married, and when her grandparents, who were holocaust survivors and lived in a tiny house on the family's property died, she is devastated, Sunny is very close to her father, but has always felt that her stepmother disapproved of her. Sunny becomes paranoid and thinks that Nazis are coming to get her, She is hospitalized several times, but does not get well. During one of her stays at home, she runs away and cannot be found. How this family copes with their loss and with Sunny's mental illness is heart wrenching, yet gives hope for any family facing this situation.

Took me so long to get through this book mainly because of a lot of stuff this book covers especially mental illness. As someone who lives with mental illness I often yelled at sunny telling her not to do certain things Iike her stopping her meds. As i know what these things will do. It really touched home for me as I too have had struggles with mental illness.

TRIGGER WARNING : subjects include mental illness, suicide, self harm, the holocaust, Jewish people and racism of Jewish people

Sunny a women who after her Jewish grandparents deaths ends up with severe depression. Then she starts having delusions and hearing voices. She then starts thinking thr nazis and the ss is after her and hearing voices calling her names. She eventually ends up in hospital and on a psych ward where she is diagnosed first with schizophrenia. Shortly after she goes missing after she stops taking her meds. Then she is diagnosed with schizoeffective disorder. She finally ends up overcoming her mental illness with the support of her doctors and family but has to overcome challenges on the way.