By Kaylie Seed
Rosena Fung’s Living with Viola is a graphic novel that takes the reader through the life of Olivia, a preteen who is living with anxiety and panic disorders. Fung has managed to create a very relatable story that will be easy for young readers to grasp, while also addressing the importance of mental illness and mental health. Mental illness and mental health are tough topics for most people to talk about, but starting the conversation at a young age will help preteens understand what is happening and how to seek help from a caring adult in their life.
Olivia is finding it difficult to make friends at her new school, and is also feeling the pressure to be the perfect daughter to her Chinese immigrant parents. Olivia begins to feel the pressure to be perfect both in school and at home, and begins to feel anxiety creeping into her life. It manifests itself as Viola, a shadowy twin who does everything to make Olivia’s life miserable. As the graphic novel goes on, Olivia learns to speak up about her thoughts and feelings, which in turn helps her learn how to live with Viola. While Fung is addressing a serious topic, she has managed to do so with art that is bubbly, fun, and easy on the eyes. Readers will find themselves immersed in Living with Viola not only through the words but through the beautiful art as well.
Olivia is a relatable character and I found myself seeing a lot of similarities to my own life. As someone who lives with generalized anxiety disorder, it was so refreshing to see a story about mental illness that was about learning to live alongside it rather than to cure it. I thought that Fung did an amazing job at showing preteens that having these thoughts and emotions is nothing to be ashamed of and that seeking help is something to be proud of. Living with Viola was a wonderful read.
Thank you to ECW Press for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
Note from Kaylie:
We all have mental health, and it is important to take care of our brains when they get sick just as we would take care of our bodies. Support is out there and while mental health is still stigmatized today, talking about it is the first step to breaking down barriers. I’ve included some Canadian links below in regard to mental health and where to find resources. Please note that this list is not fulsome and we encourage you to do your own research.
https://firelight.ca/2021/01/28/indigenous-mental-health/
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/mental-health-services.html