“I was 12 and had just been kicked out of school for hitting another kid. I had a beginning eating disorder (I wasn’t eating) and was scratching my arms to bleed. My parents decided to home-school me until they could figure out what to do and had me order a bunch of books (books were my only comfort throughout childhood). I ordered The Bell Jar just because I thought it looked interesting, and honestly it was just what I needed.
I was so incredibly lost and felt like a complete failure, just like the main character. I got to work through my feelings, and realize I had to recognize that I was only human, and sometimes we are just completely lost when our world shatters. Somehow that book made me reconsider everything (I was also considering suicide at the time, which the main character also does), and I started fighting to do what made me happy instead of what made others happy. I still love to read it to remind myself of how far I’ve gotten.” —starwhy
Get it from Bookshop or Amazon.