All the Little Things

By: Heidi Dischler

Narrated by: Sarah Kuklis

Breathe.

Caroline always tells herself when the panic sets in as her chest tightens, her throat closes, and her hands and feet begin to tingle.

Fix it. You’re alone. You’re going to die.

Ever since her mother died alone after taking medicine that caused her to have an allergic reaction, Caroline can’t even be away from people she knows without her emotions spiraling out of control. Her only solace is in writing lists. Lists about why dying alone sucks. Lists about how great community college will be. Lists about why her dream college isn’t the right one for her.

Lists won’t save her as her anxiety gets worse due to the looming date of her college decision, though. Her grandparents don’t want her to stay at the local community college, but she can’t risk leaving without falling apart.

Caroline continually hides her pain from everyone: she never lets her therapist in and refuses to take her meds in fear of dying like her mother. When Bennett Williams comes back to town, though, Caroline grows closer to him and the maturity and healing that he has seemingly found after his brother’s suicide. He can see through her pain. He understands why she can’t leave. But Bennett doesn’t let her hide behind her darkness. He pushes her to get better—to grow through her pain.

As Caroline becomes caught between being comfortable and being happy, she must choose whether or not she is willing to face her darkness and chase her dreams, or if she’ll push her darkness back, staying only in places that don’t make her think: Breathe. Fix it. You’re alone. You’re going to die.

©2022 Heidi Dischler (P)2025 Heidi Dischler

Beautiful

The main character experiences loss and anxiety very realistically. Heavy topics are interspersed with heartfelt moments. I like the romance and side characters and I wish we could have seen more of them.

Enjoyable, relatable

I enjoyed this YA novel about a high school girl dealing with severe anxiety after a family tragedy. I could relate to it in some ways more than others. It was nicely written and satisfying. The narrator did a great job.

Relatable story

I have received a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The story follows Caroline as she navigates through her final year in high school as she is dealing with anxiety from the tragic death of her mother. The story describes the choices Caroline is making and why she is making them based on her anxiety while showing the support system she has to help her through everything. The story does a great job of showing how much things can change when something major happens like a death in the family and how people's perspective change. The story also does a great job of showing how important a support system is for someone going through something like this and how discussing the events, with the right people, can help. This is really shown by Caroline's interactions with Bennett Williams and her therapist.

Overall, the story is very relatable and done well and a book I would refco0mmend to an interested reader.