After John’s suicide, the family desperately tries to rescue Michael from the same fate.
John’s and Michael’s issues ripple out and deeply affect the whole family. Imagine Me Gone tackles the complexities of mental illness and confronts some tough issues. It has hunted me since I was young and will continue until I am dead” (p. What really caught my attention was how John, the father, described his mental illness – as a monster (p. I was immediately struck by how the author beautifully and hauntingly described what mental illness can feel like. The book gives readers a look at the complexities of mental illness from multiple views which helps the reader better understand how each member of the family deals with their father and brother and the toll it takes on them. Yet, using multiple narrators serves an important purpose in this book because it allows the reader to see how both the father and the son’s illness impact the whole family. I am not usually a big fan of multiple narrators because it can be hard to make a connection to the characters.
The story is told from the point of view of five family members and how they deal with the complexity and nuances of a father and son suffering with mental illness. However, it is a realistic portrayal of the conflict, loss, devotion, joy, sorrow and humanity felt by each family member. Utah Valley Me Gone is not a light read nor is it a very optimistic or uplifting story about mental illness.
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