𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰
𝐀𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧, 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝. 𝐈 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐔𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲, 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐁𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬, 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝.

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC!

This poetry book was supposed to lift me up from my poetry slump. If anything, it just pushed me deep back in.

The story follows a girl who is clearly depressed due to her strained relationship with her mother. And then slowly takes us through her life where she contemplates self-harm and then slowly grows to love herself.

The only issue here is its repetitive. Its like reading one poem "I am thirsty", the next "I am thirsty so I had water" , and another "I am thirsty like never before" and so on and on.

After a point, you just know what the particular poem gonna be even before it starts.

#DiariesofaBorderline #NetGalley

The book is very nice with lots of insight in the authors mind. There are lots of things I can recognise myself in, just from having dealt with mental health issues before - even though they are different from the authors struggles.

I did find some of the poems very similar to each other, and therefore a bit redundant at times, which is why I rate it 3 stars instead of 4.

Definitely a book worth reading!

The lines in "Voodoo" are very powerful
"She can trace the lines on her wrist and her thighs, screaming, hoping the light recognizes she's never been fine.
She hides in her mind The monsters conjure themselves awake to take her light and murder it with a stake.
She's nothing but a waste.”

Through verses of poems we take a look through the life of Blue! Her vulnerably, honesty and Borderline Personality Disorder shows us how her lite has ups and downs.
It lets us in on how the mind works in mysterious ways!
Blue did an amazing job breaking the book up into parts and letting her words make the reader feel the raw emotions. Great poetry book.

An evocative journey through the experience of living with the stigmatized and misunderstood Borderline Personality Disorder.

Blue Evergarden's collection leaves no stone unturned in depicting the reality of the unrelenting pain and loss of self. The flipside of which is the desperate need to be seen and find oneself again through the haze of trauma.

This collection of poems takes the reader through the depths of the Borderline experience and doesn't hold back. Readers should be aware of dark subject matter and approach the material with caution.

I enjoyed seeing the full cycle through BPD. From immense pain to reconciliation with your current and past self.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was dark and depressing at times but I think it will benefit people who struggle with BPD to understand they're not alone. I found it interesting yet slightly repetitive. I also think it would benefit people who do not have BPD but maybe know someone with it, to help them understand what life is like. As a social worker myself, I think this will help me better understand my clients with BPD.

Acknowledgements:
Thank you to Author Blue Evergarden and Platform NetGalley for providing free access to an electronic copy of this work.

Review:
A deeply open and personal diary-meets-memoir, this collection provides insight into an anxious, borderline mind and poses the question, “Do life events/circumstances cause or exacerbate our instabilities?” Author Blue Evergarden consistently provides a vulnerable voice while sharing tidbits of an actual life lived.
Some of the recurring elements and themes are highly repetitive, which some readers may recognize as authentic to the anxieties and doubts plaguing individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). There are pieces I feel may benefit from being put together as they echo the same stories but do not always push commentaries further to differentiate themselves.
The narratives and flooding thoughts are highly relatable to various audiences. BPD experiences are authentic and not accentuated for the sake of any agenda but to provide raw insight.
This is a great example of vulnerability which connects strangers through empathy and shared/similar emotions.

Highlights:
I am drawn to the letters between young and older selves; these are layered with nuances in experiences and life lessons learned. Phenomenal questions and hindsight insights are presented in raw naivete here.

This book was rather beautiful but it was incredibly repetitive.
I really enjoyed the part of healing younger self but as said it was really repetitive

This was a hard read and brought me to tears many times, but it is beautiful and perfect and canc reate such awareness around the struggle with all mental health differences.

this was the most relatable poetry book i've read in so long. the way blue evergarden writes is absolutely beautiful!

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⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

First, I want to say a huge thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Just… wow. As someone who struggles with mental health, this book felt like reading pieces of my own soul on the page. Blue Evergarden captures the raw, messy, and painful reality of living with BPD in a way that doesn’t sugarcoat or romanticize it but also doesn’t make you feel like you’re completely alone in it.

The writing is hauntingly beautiful, like poetry wrapped in chaos, and the emotions hit so hard that I had to take breaks just to breathe. The way the author describes love, abandonment, self-destruction, and the desperate need to feel something, it’s all so painfully relatable. There were so many times I wanted to scream, “Yes! This! Someone finally gets it!”

This isn’t an easy read, but it’s an important one. It’s not just for people with BPD, it’s for anyone who has ever felt broken, lost, or too much. If you want to understand what it’s like to live with this disorder, or if you just need to feel seen, Diaries of a Borderline is the book you need to read.

5/5 stars. No question.

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