Last year, I saw the movie that's based on this book and enjoyed it. And then I was kind of bummed with myself for not having read the book first; I like to read the book before the movie so I can do my own imagining first. So I was a little worried that the book wouldn't be as great since I knew what would happen but the book was still super good! 
 Part of the reason I liked this book as much as I did was because of how much I related to Craig's struggles. There were several descriptions of his illness that had me nodding my head because I'd thought the exact same things. The descriptions and feelings just felt right, or at least true to my experiences. I've seen some reviews disappointed that Craig's character is very privileged and has a solid support system and resources to get help- and I get it, this was definitely the "best case scenario" story, he was definitely super lucky. But I also get how mental illness doesn't care about your privileges- and the guilt from feeling like "I have it all and I still feel like crap, what's wrong with me?" It was clear that Ned Vizzini's own experiences were heavy influences in this story, which is probably why it was one of the better written mental illness stories I've read in a long while. 
 Was this book problematic and cringe-worthy at times? Yeah, there were some parts I felt probably should have been handled way better (the transgender patient at the hospital was especially poorly handled). I could have done without the idea that finding a relationship helps "save" a person (largely because this just doesn't work in real life, trust me). But overall I really just dug this story and felt like it captured mental illness really well. So my rating is probably based more on personal feeling/relatability rather than how good the book is technically. 
 RIP to Ned Vizzini, my heart hurts knowing we won't see any more of his writing in the future but I do hope he's found peace of mind.