Ballasted Wings

Why That Day?

De: Susan Knox Kopta

Narrado por: Kathleen Li

Ballasted Wings:

This cautionary bipolar tale is a warning of what may happen when medications are not stabilized, life style changes are not accepted, and self-care is not prioritized. This penetrating narrative takes us on coexisting mother-daughter journeys. It is sure to pierce your heart.

Alexis soared. She achieved, achieved, achieved, then crashed on broken wings. Alexis was diagnosed weeks before her 2006 college graduation: Bipolar I with rapid cycling. Alexis’ diagnosis was before the dawning of social media. She and her mother had very little information, few resources, and scarce support. Alexis seeks ballast but finds it not. Rather, she is confined, not once, but three times to inpatient psychiatric care.

On medical leave from college, in a medicated haze, her thinking clouded, she veers dangerously off track. Her situation, perilous. Thrust into Alexis’s world, you feel her pain, disconnection, desire.

©2019 Susan Knox Kopta (P)2020 Susan Knox Kopta

3.5/5

Narrated by Kathleen Li
Run Time: 1 hr and 13 mins

Summary:
A mother recounts the heartbreaking journey of her bipolar daughter’s life.

Additional Comments:
- The back cover copy pretty much spells out the story, but since I didn’t read it, the conclusion struck me as a twist.
- Performance/reading 4/5 stars: Kathleen Li has a nice voice for nonfiction. Her reading rhythm is natural, which is good when given a book like this.
- Story/writing 3/5 stars: The writing itself is very stilted with very little flow.
- There are sections written in third person with a very far perspective. It has a caveman style ring to it. Alexis does this. Alexis does that. I guess it could be going for clinical detachment. Other sections are written in first person, which makes sense since this is the mother’s recounting based on notes and journals.
- Story itself: Is sad as promised.
- The retelling comes across as the mother’s coping mechanism. She wants her daughter’s life to mean something, so this stands as a “there’s hope and resources, get thee to some before it’s too late” sort of tale.

Conclusion:
It’s a short and bittersweet tale of a bright life cut short by a mental illness.
*I received a free copy of the audiobook. I have freely chosen to share my thoughts on it.