Your Voice is All I Hear by Leah Scheier

    April has been dreading the start of her sophomore year at Fallstaff High ever since her lifelong best friend, Kristin, transferred to an upscale school on the other side of Baltimore. The two of them had been attached at the hip for as long as they could remember and now, April would have to learn how to survive high school without her best friend at her side. The first day takes a complete turn for April when she meets the new boy, Jonah. The two of them instantly gain a strong connection and April begins to think that this school year might not be as bad as she had imagined.
    However, Jonah isn’t the average, boy-next-door that April had thought he was. As they grow closer and spend more time together, April begins to see some unique and not-so-pleasant changes in Jonah and she, at first, doesn’t know what to think of it. After months of denial, Jonah eventually cooperates and is diagnosed with schizophrenia which quickly affects both Jonah and April. April quickly has to decide between love and betrayal. If she decides to stick by Jonah and protect him, she could be at risk of losing everything close to her. She won’t let Jonah go without a fight, but she struggles as the voices in his head grow louder and more powerful.
     Leah Scheier does an amazing job with portraying the complications of mental illnesses without romanticizing the idea of it either. She shows the struggles that both the patient and their loved ones suffer from, and in doing this, she creates an engaging and emotional story for the reader. The ending definitely took me by surprise but it was totally worth the read.
     I would definitely recommend this story for anybody, especially teenagers, who is interested in mental illness or a good romance story. It really opens up your eyes to mental illness and takes you through a rollercoaster of emotions.