The book How To Disappear by Sharon Huss Roat, follows the main character, Vicky Decker, as she struggles with her social anxiety escalating when her best, and only friend, Jenna, moves away. To cope with her loneliness she turns to social media, creating an alter ego named Vicurious who has the confidence Vicky could only dream of possessing. Using her photoshopping skills, Vicky places her disguised self in different scenarios, ranging from riding a Hippogriff to hanging out with Ellen on her show, to post on Instagram.
Vicky comes to Instagram as Vicurious for an escape from her pain only to find that she isn’t alone. As her followers increase, it becomes evident that there are others who feel the same way and who begin to rely on Vicurious as a source for easing their own pain. Vicky is faced with the decision to either sink back into the shadows or finally step out into the open.
I love how Vicky turns to Instagram originally as a way to cope with her struggle, but she finds herself helping others going through similar situations. The depiction of social media as a positive resource for helping others is a rare point of view. Rather than highlight the negativity and hate culture so often associated with social media, Roat incorporates an online platform into Vicky’s story as at first, an escape that transitions into a platform to help others.
Vicky’s character, struggling through feelings of depression and loneliness, creates a picture of a teenager many of us can relate with. I love that regardless of the severity of someone’s mental health situations, this book depicts a teenager struggling and surviving. It doesn’t show a girl relying on a boy to make her whole again, but instead a girl constantly battling her anxiety, portraying a true image of how these situations never really disappear but can get easier to push through.
If you enjoyed Helena Fox’s How It Feels To Float, Angelo Surmelis’s Dangerous Art of Blending In, or Maria A. Andreu’s The Secret Side of Empty, then How To Disappear is definitely a book to add to your to be read shelf. Each of these books show teens struggling with their mental health and pushing through.
I’d rate this book a 4 out of 5. I love the message and I love Vicky’s character. I loved watching her push through each situation, sometimes falling but never giving up. The only negative feedback I’d give would be that it is a tad redundant and slow in some parts, but regardless an amazing book with an important message.
Vicky comes to Instagram as Vicurious for an escape from her pain only to find that she isn’t alone. As her followers increase, it becomes evident that there are others who feel the same way and who begin to rely on Vicurious as a source for easing their own pain. Vicky is faced with the decision to either sink back into the shadows or finally step out into the open.
I love how Vicky turns to Instagram originally as a way to cope with her struggle, but she finds herself helping others going through similar situations. The depiction of social media as a positive resource for helping others is a rare point of view. Rather than highlight the negativity and hate culture so often associated with social media, Roat incorporates an online platform into Vicky’s story as at first, an escape that transitions into a platform to help others.
Vicky’s character, struggling through feelings of depression and loneliness, creates a picture of a teenager many of us can relate with. I love that regardless of the severity of someone’s mental health situations, this book depicts a teenager struggling and surviving. It doesn’t show a girl relying on a boy to make her whole again, but instead a girl constantly battling her anxiety, portraying a true image of how these situations never really disappear but can get easier to push through.
If you enjoyed Helena Fox’s How It Feels To Float, Angelo Surmelis’s Dangerous Art of Blending In, or Maria A. Andreu’s The Secret Side of Empty, then How To Disappear is definitely a book to add to your to be read shelf. Each of these books show teens struggling with their mental health and pushing through.
I’d rate this book a 4 out of 5. I love the message and I love Vicky’s character. I loved watching her push through each situation, sometimes falling but never giving up. The only negative feedback I’d give would be that it is a tad redundant and slow in some parts, but regardless an amazing book with an important message.