Everything Here is Beautiful is a lovely examination of mental illness and its effects on various relationships. The story focuses on two sisters, one of whom lives with an unspecified mental illness (is it bipolar disorder? maybe it’s schizophrenia). Told through various points of view, the illness plays a role in each character’s life.
Miranda and Lucia are Chinese-American sisters. Miranda, the elder, is the responsible, practical sister. While the younger Lucia has far more eccentricities. And is battling with mental illness. After the death of their mother, they are each other’s only family. The struggles between these two sisters felt genuine on every page.
While the other characters in this book, especially Manuel and Yonah, are well-drawn and genuine, the sisters stole the show for me. The plight of each of these characters brought the story more devastatingly real.
This was a beautiful tale shedding light onto the plight of family’s facing mental illness.
