"Hearts aren't designed to feel anything too immensely for too long, be it joy, sorrow, or anger. Everything passes in time. All colors fade."
~ The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang.
Just finished my new favorite book. Never had a book resonated (again) with me so deeply: from the "masking" habit, or the Asian stereotype of perfectionism, the love-hate relationship with music, or even caregiver burnout.
It's not your usual meet-cute trope, but Quan still is one dreamy book boyfie. I'm not much into the macho persona, but the gentle, patient, documentary-loving Quan, who knows what to do and say and can calm Anna down during her moments-- this checks all of my boxes.
More than the obvious romance feels, I'm glad it was able to let us peek into the mind of an individual with aspergers syndrome. It's usually the quiet ones, the introverts, the people pleasers who suffer long in silence. Having the chance to define such condition as aspergers gives the person a reason to have clarity to so many unanswered questions: Why do I seem so different? Why can't I get along easily with others? Why cannot I move on? Why does my mind keep me in limbo? There is an answer, and there is someone who understands. It's not wrong, because actually: its autism spectrum.
In my case, its high functioning anxiety syndrome. (But more on this on another post, when I'm brave enough to write about it)
Thank you Helen Hoang for this amazing book, and for sharing with us your story through Anna. Let more struggling voices like yours be acknowledged and accepted. Let more untold stories be heard.
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