Bloomsbury USA Children's Books/Bloomsbury USA Childrens and NetGalley for providing me with an egalley of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
This is my second book by this author. He seems to touch on subjects that are very thought provoking. Mental health issues abound in this book and for me it was hard to read a lot of it.
I didn't love the letter format. It was just ok but didn't really help move the story along like I would have hoped. The book was long at 544 pages and I really needed something to keep my interest which was not happening for me.
The writing is done well enough but because of the format, the pacing was slow for me. And the plot was kind of all over the place. There was so much going on.
Unfortunately, I was not loving this title and ending up skimming much of the middle so I could get to the end and see if it wrapped up well. It did not. There is really no closure in the final pages. I also found myself bypassing reading this book for other titles in between and just not wanting to pick it up. I was honestly just bored. I don't think this author is for me as I also did not finish the other book I tried to read by him.

Whisper to Me by Nick Lake is an emotional, beautifully crafted story about love, mental health, and forgiveness. Told as a long letter, it follows Cassie as she tries to explain her struggles and mistakes to someone she cares about. Raw and honest, it’s a powerful read for fans of heartfelt, introspective YA.

I received this free eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

This has been on my TBR pile for so long, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. I really enjoyed the storyline and seeing the characters change throughout the story was a great character development. The plot was great and kept my attention. I'm glad I got the chance to read this and will be on the lookout for more in the future!

Unfortunately this book has gone in my DNF pile. It just wasn't engaging me like it would have years ago when I first requested it. My reading tastes have changed a lot over the years as I've gotten older and unfortunately some of the books requested years ago have been affected by my reading tastes and the fact that a lot of books for younger audiences haven't been grasping my attention as of late. I thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I thought that this book was very well done. I have had this book in my review pile for years now but for some reason never picked it up. I decided to finally give it a try and went into the story rather blindly since the only thing that I remembered about the book was that it was a YA story. It turns out that this is a story about dealing with mental illness, grief, romance, and even a bit of a mystery. I am glad that I finally read this emotional story.

This is a rather long book at 544 pages and it tells a big story. I started reading this book as I went to bed and planned to read one chapter before setting it aside to go to sleep. This book is not broken up into chapters like I am used to seeing. The book is broken up into two sections but there are breaks within each of the sections. The story is told as if it were a letter that Cassie is writing to the boy she hopes will give her a second chance.

There is a lot that happens in this book. A lot of those things don't occur until the second half of the story so it would be a bit of a spoiler to discuss those plot points in this review but I did appreciate the way that many later events were foreshadowed in the first part of the book. The first part of the book focuses almost entirely on the evolution of Cassie's mental illness. She describes when the voices start and exactly what they make her do. I felt her anguish and couldn't imagine living with that kind of pain. She has quite the journey as she receives treatment for her condition.

The book also follows Cassie as she deals with moving forward in her life with her illness. We do learn more about her past and the trauma that may have played a part in the development of her condition. We also get to see Cassie making friends and even getting to know the boy that she is writing the letter to. I loved getting to see Cassie having some fun and experiencing some of those typical teenage milestones. The relationship between Cassie and her father wasn't perfect, not at all, but it felt genuine. They both have a lot of pain, and more than a few issues, and don't always know the best way to interact with each other.

I would recommend this book to others. This was quite the emotional journey and I thought that the mental health aspect of the story was very well done. I wouldn't hesitate to read more of Nick Lake's work in the future.

I received a digital review copy of this book from Bloomsbury USA Children's Books via NetGalley.

*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*

DNF-ed at 18%

I have spent 2 weeks trying to read this book and I just can't do it. I can't, I put in a solid effort but I am a person who reads one book at a time. And honestly since starting this book I dread picking up my Kindle and reading because the book is hot garbage. I am so bored out of my mind and confused. Within the first 18% of the story I must have read the phrase "more on that later" or some variety of that at least 10-20 times. Nothing says lets keep the reader hooked like making them wait to find out any information crucial to the plot.

I feel like this book doesn't do the 'mental health' health world justice. Cassie is crazy, at least from what I get but what Nick Lake tries to portray as a spiraling teenage, he fails to capture the emotional range of a teenager. Nick fails to grasp the quick wit and playful banter that he is so desperately trying to access in Cassie's mind and instead comes up with dry humor and a stagnant story line.

I mean after 18% into a novel, I should know more than Cassie hears voices, something bad happens but who the h*ll knows when any of those details will be revealed, her dad collects bugs and swears a lot, and she found a severed foot on the beach. Not a whole lot to work with here....

So I decided to skip to the end of the book, because maybe this will improve but NOPE! I see that this is an open ending type of read. Oh yes, why thank you author as I am already bored out of my ever loving mind and then you don't even have the courtesy to give me closure?! And at this moment folks is the point where I decided to cleanse myself of this book and I will not be returning.

I unfortunately was not able to read this book before the archive date. Someday I hope to read and review it for my blog. I will give a 5 star review on here so that I don't mess with it's rating.

I tried to read this book so many times. I have re-read the first 15-20 pages at least 4 times, but I just can't seem to push through. The lack of chapter breaks, the quirky narration, and the heft of the volume are just too much for me to take on.

I thought Whisper to Me was a cute read. I was surprised by how long it is, I did not expect it. While cute, it didn't grip me and I didn't feel connected to the characters much, but it's still a great book. Thank you for giving me a chance to read Whisper to Me.

I still haven't finished this book, I keep starting it, but I just can't get into it. I really wanted to like this one though.

I haven't read any books by Nick Lake before I came across this one, and I'm absolutely in love with how wonderfully written and beautiful that this book is! I love the characters and the storyline (and that gorgeous cover makes this book seem like the perfect summertime story).