By: Lisa Genova
Narrator: Tessa Albertson
Simon & Schuster Audio
ISBN: 9781668026168
Publisher: Gallery Books
Publication Date: 01/14/2025
Format: Hardcover
My Rating: 5 Stars (ARC)
A breathless, riveting novel about a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the stability and approval found in a traditionally “normal” life for a career in stand-up comedy.
Maddy Banks is just like any other stressed-out freshman at NYU. Between schoolwork, exams, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, it’s normal to be feeling overwhelmed. It doesn’t help that she’s always felt like the odd one out in her picture-perfect Connecticut family.
But Maddy’s latest low is devastatingly low, and she goes on an antidepressant. She begins to feel good, dazzling in fact, and she soon spirals high into a wild and terrifying mania that culminates in a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
As she struggles to find her way in this new reality, navigating the complex effects bipolar has on her identity, her relationships, and her life dreams, Maddy will have to figure out how to manage being both too much and not enough.
With her signature “deep empathy and insight” (Booklist), Harvard-trained neuroscientist and New York Times bestselling author Lisa Genova has crafted another profoundly moving novel that makes complicated mental health issues accessible and human. More or Less Maddy is destined to become another classic like Still Alice.
My Review
Powerhouse NYT Bestselling Author, Neuroscientist, Speaker, and Empathy Warrior delivers the highly anticipated, compelling, informative, emotional, and essential novel about mental illness with a twist— MORE OR LESS MADDY.
A young woman is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and takes charge of her life, finding her path as a standup comedian.
Readers will fall in love with Maddy Banks and her emotional journey for normalcy.
About...
Maddy Banks, age 19, a freshman at NYU, experienced a recent breakup with her boyfriend. From grieving and believing Taylor Swift wants her to write her biography and Netflix wants to offer her a comedy special, she is experiencing highs and lows and has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. How will this change her life?
Maddy grew up sheltered in an affluent Connecticut suburb. She is known as the family's black sheep, the odd one.
From the highs to the lows, manic depression, cutting, and suicidal thoughts, Maddy is caught in the middle. How will she cope with her mind, emotions, feelings, and actions— she feels like she cannot control?
From meds, hospital stays, sobriety, and hovering by her family watching her every move. Everyone thinks they know what's best for Maddy. But she cannot handle the heavy medications keeping her in a fog.
As she struggles to find her way with this complex diagnosis and how it affects her life, dreams, and relationships, Maddy has to figure out her way.
My thoughts...
MORE OR LESS MADDY is brilliantly told, and the author uses her expertise infused with compassion, wit, and humor to deliver an essential must-read.
As a long-time fan of the author, I can attest to her mastery of storytelling. Once again, she delivers a captivating story that will remain with you with a better understanding of mental illness.
I enjoyed Maddy's journey when she discovered her passion for comedy. Despite her mother's protests, she is determined with her writings, stage, and comedy. She defies all the rules, sneaking out to pursue her dreams. You will laugh out loud!
It is a powerful, harrowing, humorous story with well-drawn, highly relatable characters and insights. Genova's skills are on full display, diving into the mind and mysteries of bipolar and mental illness and all those (including family) that surround them with empathy and understanding.
Genova expertly delves into the complex neurological disorder and its challenges, through fictional narratives combined with raw and emotional family dynamics.
A Top Book of 2025! I highly recommend it.
Recs...
MORE OR LESS MADDY is for fans of the author, for those who want to understand bipolar and mental illness and its misconceptions, and for those who are experiencing the judgments, uncertainty, and stigma for a bit of hope, healing, and understanding.
Thanks to Gallery Books for the opportunity to read a digital ARC via NetGalley for my honest thoughts.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars +
Pub Date: Jan 14, 2025
Praise
“Genova paints a realistic and often painful picture of the toll mental illness takes on both the affected person and loved ones, making for a visceral, harrowing, and undeniably powerful read.” —Booklist
"As ever, Genova brings both an expert understanding of the neuroscience and a masterful eye for compelling characters in an emotionally textured narrative. Maddy's story is completely absorbing; it may keep readers up all night... Affecting, harrowing, beautiful, and enlightening, as well as a great pleasure to read."
—Shelf Awareness
“Stirring . . . Maddy is a well-drawn character, offering readers a sympathetic look at what it’s like to live with a bipolar diagnosis, and Genova’s signature empathy and insights are on full display. It’s a remarkable achievement.”
—Publishers Weekly
"Quite simply, there is no one like Lisa Genova when it comes to exploring the mysteries of a human brain in a way that allows you to feel like you’re living through the experience with the character. In her latest foray into what makes our minds tick, she dives into what it means to have bipolar disorder, by brilliantly allowing us to empathize with a young up-and-coming comedian who - like all of us — is trying to understand what makes us normal, what makes us special, and what makes life worth living.”
— Jodi Picoult, #1 NYT bestselling author
"In her poignant and fearless new novel, Lisa Genova masterfully navigates the intricate web of emotions that accompany a family grappling with the unforeseen challenges of a mental illness diagnosis. Genova's deft blend of humor and compassion grabs the reader from the very first page even as she unveils the hidden ripples that reverberate through a seemingly idyllic facade, interrogating themes of familial bonds, love, resilience and the expectations placed upon women. A riveting page-turner that will touch your heart!"
—Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of SEARCHING FOR SYLVIE LEE
"MORE OR LESS MADDY is a riveting, deeply empathetic examination of a bright young woman’s struggle to understand and accept a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. Lisa Genova’s discerning, scientific mind and remarkable gifts as a novelist are at their finest as she reveals the thrilling heights and devastating lows of this often-stigmatized condition. Sparkling with humor and at times, heartbreak, this roller coaster ride of a novel will have you holding on for dear life, while never wanting it to end."
—Ann Leary, New York Times bestselling author of THE FOUNDLING
About the Author
Photo credit: Greg Mentzer
New York Times Bestselling Author, Neuroscientist, Speaker, Empathy Warrior
Lisa Genova graduated valedictorian, summa cum laude from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology and has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University.
Acclaimed as the Oliver Sacks of fiction and the Michael Crichton of brain science, Lisa has captured a special place in contemporary fiction, writing stories that are equally inspired by neurological conditions and our shared human condition. She is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels STILL ALICE, LEFT NEGLECTED, LOVE ANTHONY, INSIDE THE O'BRIENS, and EVERY NOTE PLAYED.
Her first work of nonfiction, REMEMBER: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting, published March 2021, became an instant New York Times bestseller.
STILL ALICE was adapted into a film starring Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth and Hunter Parrish. Julianne Moore won the 2015 Best Actress Oscar for her role as Alice Howland. Film adaptations for INSIDE THE O'BRIENS, EVERY NOTE PLAYED, and LEFT NEGLECTED are in development.
STILL ALICE was adapted for the stage by Christine Mary Dunford and premiered at the Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago in April 2013. It has since toured worldwide.
In 2015, Lisa was named one of the U.S. Top 50 Influencers in Aging by Next Avenue. She has appeared on Live with Kelly &Ryan, the TODAY show, CNN, PBS Newshour, Dr. Oz, and NPR and has been featured in the PBS specials Build a Better Memory Through Science and Supercharge Your Brain, as well as the documentary films To Not Fade Away and Have You Heard About Greg.
Her first TED talk, "What You Can Do To Prevent Alzheimer's" has been viewed over eight million times. Her most recent TED talk, "How Memory Works--and Why Forgetting is Totally OK" was the sixth most watched TED talk of 2021. A sought-after speaker/edutainer, she has headlined in speaker series alongside Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Gloria Steinem, Jay Leno, Malala Yousafzai, and Goldie Hawn.
She received The Pell Center Prize for Story in the Public Square, for "distinguished storytelling that has enriched the public dialogue," The Sargent and Eunice Shriver Profiles in Dignity Award, The Global Genes RARE Champions of Hope Award, and The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology Media Award for "informing the public about treatment and ongoing research in medical illness."
She has received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Bates College, The Alzheimer's Association's Rita Hayworth Award, The Huntington’s Disease Society of America Community Awareness Award, and the Grubby Award for literary excellence.
