Book Review: A Different Kind of Same by Kelley Clink

Members of the Vise Library were selected to review A Different Kind of Same.  We received a copy of Kelley Clink's book for an honest review.

About the book:

Two weeks before his college graduation, Kelley Clink’s younger brother Matt hanged himself. Though he’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a teenager and had attempted suicide once before, the news came as a shock―and it sent Kelley into a spiral of guilt and grief. After Matt’s death, a chasm opened between the brother Kelley had known and the brother she’d buried. She kept telling herself she couldn’t understand why he’d done it―but the truth was, she could. Several years before he’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, she’d been diagnosed with depression. Several years before he first attempted suicide by overdose, she had attempted suicide by overdose. She’d blazed the trail he’d followed. If he couldn’t make it, what hope was there for her? A Different Kind of Same traces Kelley’s journey through grief, her investigation into the role her own depression played in her brother’s death, and, ultimately, her path toward acceptance, forgiveness, resilience, and love.

This book gives an honest memoir into grief, suicide and mental illness and what it is like to suffer through this.  Kelley tries to navigate through her grief to understand the "why" of what her brother did.  She goes through her brother's things to gain that understanding.  She does gain more of an understanding about her brother and she gives a real and honest look at struggling through depression.  This book also shows the process of Kelley and her family trying to heal after something so horrific.  Kelley not only tries to understand the "why" of what her brother did, but also the "why" of mental disorders.  I think a lot of us either know someone who does or suffer with some kind of depression.  This book will make you feel what Kelley is going through and it is written so well.  I think she handles a difficult subject matter and makes the subject where it can be discussed.  This book sheds some light on a taboo topic and will make you wonder why it is that way.  I am so sorry that Kelley and her family had to go through this, but I think it is great that she has written a book so that she could try to understand and possibly help others along the way.

Buy the book:

     Amazon

       Barnes and Noble
      Parnassus Books

About the author:

Kelley Clink grew up in southeastern Michigan. She has degrees in literature from the University of Alabama and DePaul University. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in numerous magazines and literary journals, including Under the Sun, South Loop Review, Gettysburg Review, Colorado Review, and Shambhala Sun. She is the winner of the 2014 Beacon Street Prize in Nonfiction and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She lives near Chicago with her husband and son.

Connect with the author:

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