A beautiful, brave, but also heartbreaking at times read. A true story of strength and perseverance. I look forward to Rowans next book!

Rowan’s first book ‘Love Lives Here’ was an incredible memoir about being a transgender family, an absolute must read! So I was super excited to be able to read their next memoir about mental health. After writing his first memoir, Rowan experiences the most awful online hate and their mental health suffers. This memoir focuses on their journey to recovery. It’s beautifully written and another absolute must read, though please see the content warnings.

Excellent follow-up to their first book. At first, I thought it was a bit woe is me but it turned out to be a very raw and emotional account on the lifelong effects that bullying and targeted hate can have on a person. An excellent reminder that your words have consequences. Terrific writing and excellent structure to the storyline. Could not put this one down.

I loved Rowan’s previous book and so looked forward to this one. And while I did like this one, I missed the informal and folksy way the first book interacted with the reader. This book was a bit more technical and even a little preachy. Not really in a bad way, just more removed. I believe the book will have widespread interest and appeal with the parts that discuss online bullying. Clearly it’s a huge problem and understanding the disastrous effects is a something we can all relate to. I look forward to reading Rowan’s next book.

Wow. What an incredibly brave, powerful and vulnerable memoir from the bestselling author of Love lives here. In their previous book, Rowan (formerly Amanda) detailed their partner's transition story from a cis man to a trans woman and the effect it had on their family.

In this new book, Rowan talks openly about their mental health crisis, suicide attempt, therapy, early childhood trauma, addictions and drug abuse and later in life their struggles with social media trolls, transphobia, depression, body dysmorphia and so so much more.

The final chapter is particularly revelatory as they share their own transition story embracing themselves as Rowan, a trans man, and the struggle they had coming to accept this part of themselves. Another standout, not to miss memoir!!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and Libro.fm for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!! Highly recommended, especially for fans of books like Elliot Page's Pageboy.

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Rowan Jette-Knox is back with his second book, a memoir of trauma, healing, and poignant vulnerability. Rowan shot into the spotlight in 2019 with his first book, "Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family". As with this first book, Rowan gets extremely vulnerable with readers about his life and experiences, while protecting the privacy of his loved ones. In "One Sunny Afternoon" Rowan recounts his experience with suddenly becoming a public figure and how past traumas combined with that experience to create a perfect storm, resulting in him seeking mental health assistance one sunny Saturday afternoon in the spring of 2020.

After everything that has happened to him, it's incredibly courageous to stand up and publish a book like this knowing that helping even one person is worth the vulnerability. Rowan is frank and unfailingly honest in this book, and I think a lot of people will resonate with his story. For those of us who do not directly sympathize with what he has gone through, I think it will help us empathize with others around us and be better support systems. At its very core, this book asks us all to think about what others may be going through, and tells us how to be better safe spaces. In addition, it draws attention to the life-long trauma that can be caused by bullying, a word many people say is overused and has lost its meaning. Bullying, whether it be on the playground or on social media, has life-long effects that can compound with other traumas, resulting in crises later in life. It never loses its hold on its victims, and Rowan reminds us all that it takes nothing to be kinder and more compassionate.

*Please note that since the printing of this new book, Rowan has come out as transgender, changing his name to "Rowan" and using he/him pronouns. This review reflects that change, despite the deadname on the cover of the published book. The publisher is working to correct this in subsequent reprints and digital editions.

Rowan has a beautiful way with words and a remarkable ability to articulate the most complex of human emotions in the written word.

Many aspects of this memoir were relatable. I learned a lot about myself while reading Rowan’s candid retelling of his traumas and life experiences.

This memoir is raw and real evoking a wide range of emotions from tears of sadness to tears of happiness. Rowan's unwavering bravery in baring his soul and recounting deeply intimate experiences is truly commendable, making this memoir an immensely impactful and sincere narrative.

I appreciate the care effort that went into writing this memoir, however it ultimately wasn't for me.

I don’t think I would assign a star rating to this memoir if it wasn’t for NetGalley. It’s too much of a deeply personal story to “rate” as many memoirs are.

This is an in-depth look at the author’s mental healthy journey, where they almost lost their life and the ways they came back from that. It is eye opening and brave.

Their previous memoir, Love Lives Here, is one of my favourites. Unfortunately I had a hard time staying engaged in the middle of this one as i found it got a bit academic and while I think it will be helpful for the right reader, I got bogged down in the explanations and theories.

Mx Knox peeled back layers of truth to rewrite their story. I'm dealing with my own trauma therapy, I learned something about myself from the book. I hope therapists/caregivers read this to learn more from those dealing with heavy histories. Thank you,

I sadly just couldn’t get into it. Life to short to commit to an okay book when you could find one that provides a fantastic escape! I tried to as keep going and ultimately I know other will enjoy it more for books appeal to everyone in a different way! Thank you for providing this ARC for me to try reading.

I so appreciate that Net Galley allows US readers the chance to read Canadian books! Reading this book made me want to read Amanda Jette Knox's first book which I was not aware of. An important family story with a crucial perspective.

This book covers a lot of ground. It's written in a slightly more academic, less-folksy way than Knox's first memoir, with detail about trauma and some steps to overcome it. Knox is clear that this is not a roadmap for everyone to follow but instead, insight into her particular experience and what she needed to do.

The most fascinating parts to me are the instances when Knox talks about social media pile-ons and 'cancellation.' I feel like we are coming close to a cultural reckoning about the nuances behind 'cancel culture' — that we need to be accountable while recognizing that we can only control ourselves, that social media anonymity doesn't do much good in seeking accountability, and that words said over the internet have real-life consequences including major mental health impacts. I'm sure that writing about that part was challenging, given Knox's related trauma, but it was refreshing to see someone take a public, nuanced stance.

Liked her previous book better. This one was harder to get through.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

Absolutely adored love lies here, So there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to read one Sunny afternoon. Knox had me crying right at the beginning because this book hits so close to home, Although not myself I was sitting in the hospital with 2 of my children during covid with mental health issues wondering if I was gonna have a family at the end of it all, a story like this is so hard to give a star rating to, sometimes life and struggles so raw but captivating.

Knox is so brave in my opinion. I did not read her other book but One Sunny Afternoon was captivating, She tells the story about suicide, and recovery and mental health. It's an important book to read. She's an excellent writer that really knows how to weave a story. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Five stars!