Summary
“What Is Wrong With Me?” is a psychological fiction by Kristin Hammoud. The story revolves around Anna who suffered from a traumatic experience as a teenager and nobody knows about it. As she grows up, she finds it hard to speak her mind, allowing people to control her. Despite the obvious mental torture that she constantly feels, she doesn’t seek help for her emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Will Anna find her voice in the end?
Review
Since I have both good and bad feedback about this book, I’ll start on the things I like about it: (1) I like Anna and Luke’s sibling relationship because it’s not toxic. Luke is the only person she can talk with that doesn’t make her feel agitated, (2) I like the unexpected turn of events towards the end. What Anna uncovered about her mother-in-law was a twist that I didn’t see coming, (3) I like the part where Jen nailed Anna’s primary issue when she said you can’t help anyone when they don’t want the help. Anna constantly asks what is wrong with her and yet, she doesn’t seek help, and it’s what drives her miserable life. I know her baggage was not her fault, but it’s her responsibility to herself to heal from that instead of accepting things as they are, (4) Though Anna’s realization was long overdue, I’m glad at how the story ended.
As for the things I didn’t like about this book: (1) The biggest flaw of the story is that there is no character development. Anna, her mother, and the rest of the characters were the same from beginning to end. They did not undergo growth or substantial change for almost the entire part of the story. The only time Anna’s character finally did what she was supposed to do was towards the end. That means I had to endure a character who doesn’t use her head for about 95% of my reading duration and it was a very stressful reading experience as Anna remained just like her mother who doesn’t have self-worth, (2) There is not one character that I like in the story except for Luke, and (3) Lastly, the beginning of the story was not painted clearly. Just that Anna doesn’t like her dad and that her mother is not happy, but there was never an instance when her hatred for her father was justified. It just felt like Anna’s focusing too much on the negative things in her life and isn’t grateful for what she has. She has shelter, she has food, she goes to school, she gets along with her brother, and she has a mother who cares for her and a father who provides well for the family, but she’s just constantly dwelling on the bad things.
Overall, I’m giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. It has a clear message that emotional abuse is just as bad as physical abuse, and that Anna and all the women who have no self-worth need to speak themselves, and start loving themselves.
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