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Maybe someday
49
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
46/100Critics
53/100Scholars
Author:
Melissa Bond
Publisher:
Gallery Books
Date:
June 14, 2022
s Melissa Bond raises her infant daughter and a special-needs one-year-old son, she suffers from unbearable insomnia, sleeping an hour or less each night. She loses her job as a journalist (a casualty of the 2008 recession), and her relationship with her husband grows distant. Her doctor casually prescribes benzodiazepinesâa family of drugs that includes Xanax, Valium, Klonopin, Ativanâand increases her dosage on a regular basis. Following her doctor's orders, Melissa takes the pills night after night; her body begins to shut down and she collapses while holding her infant daughter. Only then does Melissa learn that her doctorâlike many doctorsâhas over-prescribed the medication and quitting cold turkey could lead to psychosis or fatal seizures. Benzodiazepine addiction is not well studied, and few experts know how to help Melissa as she begins the months-long process of tapering off the pills without suffering debilitating, potentially deadly consequences. Each page thrums with the heartbeat of Melissa's struggle.
What The Reviewers Say
... propulsive, poetic.
[Bond's] descriptions of life as an addict are deeply personal and harrowing..
This is an engaging testament to the powers of self-advocacy and resilience written with lyrical clarity and heart.
Bond’s story, with lines like 'the blood orange night turns red and screams through my eyes,' is an eloquent cautionary tale..
