by Bassey Ikpi.

A part of me was writing non-fiction short stories about things I remembered while another part was preserving the lies I tell myself to ensure the truth doesnt kill me. This book is about those truths and the ways in which we parcel facts in order to survive.

Bassey Ikpi

This was number 10 on my to-read list, majorly because I’m not really into non-fiction but I made an exception for this book because it is about mental illness and highlights the day to day struggle of living with Bipolar II.

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A part of me was writing non- friction short stories about things I remembered while another part was preserving the lies I tell myself to ensure the truth doesn't kill me. This book is about those truths and the ways in which we parcel facts in order to survive _________________________________ 📢📢📢 You see this book, yes this one with the purple cover. Do yourself a favor and read it. I don't have the words yet but when I do, there would be a blog post dedicated to the awesomeness that is @basseyworld #quotes #bookstagramnigeria #bookstagram #read #literature  #library #currentreads #read #reader #shereads #bookblog #bookphotography #bookcollector #booksofinstagram #booklover #booknerd #bookaholic #bookaddict #bookcommunity #celesteNg #bookblog #booksbooksbooks #booknerd #bookdragon #basseyikpi

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Blurb:
A deeply personal collection of essays exploring Nigerian-American author Bassey Ikpi’s experiences navigating Bipolar II and anxiety throughout the course of her life.
 
 Bassey Ikpi was born in Nigeria in 1976. Four years later, she and her mother joined her father in Stillwater, Oklahoma —a move that would be anxiety-ridden for any child, but especially for Bassey. Her early years in America would come to be defined by tension: an assimilation further complicated by bipolar II and anxiety that would go undiagnosed for decades.
 
 By the time she was in her early twenties, Bassey was a spoken word artist and traveling with HBO's Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam, channeling her experiences into art. But something wasn’t right—beneath the façade of the confident performer, Bassey’s mental health was in a precipitous decline, culminating in a breakdown that resulted in hospitalization and a diagnosis of Bipolar II.
 
 Determined to learn from her experiences—and share them with others—Bassey became a mental health advocate and has spent the fourteen years since her diagnosis examining the ways mental health is inextricably intertwined with every facet of ourselves and our lives. Viscerally raw and honest, the result is an exploration of the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of who we are—and the ways, as honest as we try to be, each of these stories can also be a lie.

From the very first chapter titled, This Essay is to prove to you that I had a Childhood, Bassey Ikpi tugs on your heartstrings.

She begins and I quote:-

I need to prove to you that I did not enter the world broken. I need to prove that I existed before. That I was created by people who loved me and had experiences that turned me into these fragmented sentences, but that I was at one point, whole, that I didn’t just show up as a life already destroyed.

My Summary

Guys, I kid you not when I say that I had huge gangster tears rolling down my cheeks after reading this. At this point, I shut my book, took several deep breaths because I knew my life was about to be changed forever.

I’m telling truth but I’m lying is a raw and unnerving glimpse into the author’s life and her battle with Bipolar II. She broadens our understanding of mental health by giving us a candid and honest picture of how mental illness impacts our lives.

In What it feels like, she gives us a peek at what it feels like to be in her shoes. In my opinion, Bassey Ikpi’s writing is pure literary magic because I felt the frustration, the confusion, the fear & wild emotion that comes with living with this illness. It was beautiful and scary, all at the same time.

The verdict

I’m in awe of this woman. It had to take a tremendous amount of courage to be that candid, to strip yourself bare and give strangers access to parts of yourself that you’ll rather have hidden. She gave us a front-row seat to view her imperfections, mistakes, fears, and shame, urghhh! I can go on and on about this book.

Honestly, it’s hard to critic a memoir because whether you like it or not it’s someone’s reality and it’s their right to tell their story as they deem fit. That been said, this book is 100 shades of awesome!!! Please do yourself a favor, get this book and read it!!

bassey ikpi
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