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Secrets for the Mad

Dodie Clark

4.30 · Rating details · 6,124 ratings · 839 reviews

When I feel like I'm going mad I write.

A lot of my worst fears have come true; fears that felt so big I could barely hold them in my head. I was convinced that when they'd happen, the world would end.

But the world didn't end. In fact, it pushed on and demanded to keep spinning through all sorts of mayhem, and I got through it. And because I persisted, I learned lessons abo ...more

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Hardcover, 256 pages

Published November 2nd 2017 by Ebury Press

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The Amazing Book Is Not on Fire by Daniel Howell

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Dec 06, 2017 Evan Edinger rated it it was amazing

Rating should be 3 just to be a 6/10

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Sep 08, 2017 Nat rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, nonfiction, memoir, photography, essays

“When you can’t find your purpose in a day, make it to look after yourself.”

I went into this book not knowing too much about the author, other than being absolutely in love with her cover of the song Novels with Rusty Clanton. I must've replayed it over a hundred times since I found it back in April.

Source

I consider it to be one of my all-time favorite songs, thanks to its visceral lyrics that make my heart skip a beat without fail. So I was bound to read Secrets for the Mad sooner o ...more

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Jun 15, 2017 Yesy (The Book Vagrant) marked it as to-read

Shelves: nonfiction

I'm not one to get excited about YouTuber memoir-type books (as I don't tend to read nonfiction in general) but I want to get my hands on this so bad! Dodie is lovely and wonderful and just YES PLEASE! ...more

flag 39 likes · Like · see review

Sep 08, 2017 Kate (GirlReading) added it

Shelves: non-fiction

If you weren't already aware of what a wonderful, talented human dodie is, you will be after reading her book.

*I will be posting a full review nearer the release date.*

With picturesque writing, each short story feeling like an all consuming snapshot of her life, you can tell dodie is a songwriter. Her writing is somewhat lyrical and tells a secret story, just like her songs, but in a way that makes you feel like you are living it.
Although the stories are very personal, they're also so relatable ...more

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Jan 21, 2021 Reading_ Tam_ Ishly rated it it was amazing

"People experience their mental health problems in different ways, but for me, I flip back and forth between optimistic and utterly hopeless."

***one of the best books read in 2021.

One of the unique, non-fiction reads which I am going to cherish forever, this book talks about mental health which focuses in details about DPD (depersonalisation disorder/dissociation/derealisation).

I love the relatable sketches in between the pages. I love the poetry as well as the prose. The whole content is just w ...more

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Oct 30, 2017 Romie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, bi-mc, queer-books, read-as-an-arc, owned-books, disabilities-mental-health, non-fiction

Is there a better way to write this review than to listen to some music by Dodie herself? I don’t think so.

Dodie Clark is my inspiration. I read this book I like her music and her videos, but I didn’t expect to find so much of myself in her, to be so deeply touched by her words — though I should have known because her songs alone have the power to make me laugh and sob.

I didn’t know about her suffering from DPD, and I won’t say I’m glad she does, but gosh, reading about her experience made me fe ...more

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Jun 15, 2017 g marked it as to-read

MY FAVORITE PERSON EVER WROTE A BOOK GO PRE ORDER IT GO PUT IT AT THE TOP OF YOUR TBR GO SUPPORT DODIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM L I V I N G!!!!!!!!

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Jan 17, 2018 Allwynne rated it really liked it

Shelves: biographies-memoirs, mental-health-psych

A lovely written book from a simply lovely human. :)

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Apr 06, 2018 Weronika Zimna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, in-english

Three sympathetic stars?

This book has some really nice and touching passages, some lovely words and tips, some wonderful lyrics and stories, but it’s also a chaotic mashup of e v e r y t h i n g. It even includes recipes! It’s hard for me to wrap my head around it.

I just... would happily read a collection of Dodie’s essays that would be taken care of by a careful editor. This book is a half-memoir, half self-help book. As I’ve mentioned, it contains some lovely parts yet I can’t help but feel a ...more

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Mar 14, 2019 Lea (drumsofautumn) rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction

Dodie is somone who I've been following online for a super long time and it's been great to see her grow and develop, both as a human and as a musician.
Usually I'm not hugely interested in YouTuber memoirs and if I am, I tend to go for audiobooks, but I knew that this wouldn't be one of those memoirs with rAnDoM stories from a really boring life but actually something that would pack a punch and include some self-help, as Dodie is someone who's always very honest and open about her mental illnes ...more

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Jan 11, 2018 Desiree rated it liked it

Shelves: lgbtqa, mental-health, non-fiction

I'm gonna be honest here, this wasn't... spectacular. Dodie is a beautiful writer in terms of song lyrics, she can write a stunning song for sure, but I don't think that talent necessarily translates strongly to memoir writing. It wasn't terrible, really it wasn't. I enjoyed it. I mean, it's a memoir, so it's hard to really have an opinion about people's personal experiences.

This memoir had a strong focus on mental health - dark, scary, sad issues. Like derealization/depersonalization, anxiety, I'm gonna be honest here, this wasn't... spectacular. Dodie is a beautiful writer in terms of song lyrics, she can write a stunning song for sure, but I don't think that talent necessarily translates strongly to memoir writing. It wasn't terrible, really it wasn't. I enjoyed it. I mean, it's a memoir, so it's hard to really have an opinion about people's personal experiences.

This memoir had a strong focus on mental health - dark, scary, sad issues. Like derealization/depersonalization, anxiety, depression, disordered eating, etc. It was very honest. I especially thought the depth she went into about her experiences with derealization was super interesting - and uncomfortably relatable in some ways. That isn't something I've seen talked about much at all, so it's cool she's shedding light on the subject. She also talks about grief and bisexuality and body image and music and a lot of really good, important topics. I don't really have anything bad to say about this book, it's all good stuff. Unfortunately I just think the execution of it didn't capture or affect me in the way that it potentially could've. I think that it comes mainly from the fact that at certain points it felt, not disingenuous, but a bit "did this really happen like that or are you just trying to be inspirational" kind of thing. Like the story with "Luna" at the very beginning, I don't know.

The extra bits, the poetry/lyrics, notes, etc., didn't really add much for me either. I found her handwriting ridiculously hard to read, which is kinda funny, and I'm not very into poetry. Although I did stop to listen along to She and 6/10 when those lyrics popped up in the book, which was nice.

I'm not trying to speak negatively about this because I genuinely had a good time reading this. I think Dodie's a cool person and I like what she's doing musically. And overall I think Dodie did a great thing with this memoir in that she really stressed the importance of mental health and positive self image and seeking help instead of just talking about staying positive and loving yourself - which is also super important. So I don't regret picking up this book. I think YouTuber books are very hit or miss, mostly because it seems like a lot of YouTubers don't have the passion for it, which is fine. Publish whatever you want. Not every book is meant to be a masterpiece of literature. But I think in this case Dodie put a lot into this book, it seems like, a lot of deeply personal stuff. And I think for the right person this book could be really special. Or maybe if you're more into Dodie as a YouTuber and/or an artist, you might get a lot more out of this. 3(.5)/5 stars! ...more

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Sep 23, 2017 Inge rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, mental-health

3.5 stars

If I had to describe Dodie, it would be utterly lovely. You watch her YouTube channel and even though she writes songs about soul-heavy and feel-heavy topics, you can't look at her cute face and hear her gorgeous voice and not smile. Even though she talks about the things that we find hard to put into words, the feeling you get from her is one of happiness.

"I woke up as heavy as lead, an ocean of worry weighs me down in bed.
But there's things to do! There's a life to live; must ignor

...more

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Jan 28, 2018 Gesine rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I couldn't give it less than 5 stars. Dodie is such a lovely human and I loved how open she is in the book and how she writes about such important topics.
There are also beautiful drawings, snapshots of her life and lyrics from her songs, all fitting to the chapters. I loved to listen to these songs while I was reading the book 🌻 ...more

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Jun 20, 2017 bethany marked it as to-read

Shelves: anticipating

I'M SO PUMPED OH MY GOSH THE LOVE OF MY ABSOLUTE LIFE IS PUBLISHING A BOOK!!!!! GO HER!!!!! GO DODIE!!!!! ...more

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Sep 18, 2017 Lauren James added it

I loved the mix of drawings, song lyrics/poems and prose, that felt really nice. Dodie is very honest (her guide to sex is particularly important) and I think this book is going to do great things for her viewers.

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Apr 25, 2020 Aya Mouqed rated it liked it

I started this book to hopefully get over the huge reading slump I was in. Fortunately, it kinda did its job.
As for the book itself...
I love Dodie!!!!! But this kind of youtuber memoir thing isn't for me :(
It was nice to know the stories behind the songs I grew to love and know by heart, though ❤️ ...more

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Dec 24, 2017 Anita Tamm rated it it was amazing

I finished this wonderful piece of art with tears in my eyes, my hands shaking. I love dodie so much it hurts.
Appreciate what you have and that you're growing and learning, do not be scared of being afraid and honest. ...more

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Sep 17, 2017 Mel González rated it really liked it

Shelves: beautiful-writing, mental-illness, ownvoices, lgbtq, trigger-warning, 2017, bisexual

"You inspire me. You make me want to write like you. To be colourful like you. To dance and twirl and radiate like you. But.
You make me want to starve, to look like you. To always look like you, and when I don't, it hurts."

TW: mental illnesses (depersonalisation, eating disorders, depression), abusive relationships, self harm.
*ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review*

This was an incredibly deep exploration on Dodie's life and her perspective on a lot of h
"You inspire me. You make me want to write like you. To be colourful like you. To dance and twirl and radiate like you. But.
You make me want to starve, to look like you. To always look like you, and when I don't, it hurts."

TW: mental illnesses (depersonalisation, eating disorders, depression), abusive relationships, self harm.
*ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review*

This was an incredibly deep exploration on Dodie's life and her perspective on a lot of her experiences. I liked this because she obviously thinks about the things that happen in her life profoundly and she had some interesting reflections on topics like mental illnesses, abusive relationships, friendship and self-love. What I love the most is that she included a lot of her songs, some of her old ones and some of her new ones and that gave context for a lot of her stories or viceversa. I also have to say that I've been watching Dodie's videos for many years now and that means that I knew a lot of these stories already but it was great to see them being further explored. I was also expecting a lot from the writing since she's such a great lyric writer and I was happy to see that a lot of the chapters in this book were incredibly told even if I had some problems with the narration choices (I talk about it more later).

I really enjoyed that she delved into her sexuality and how she came to terms with being bisexual and what it meant to her seeing herself in other people and seeing representation around her. I love that especially because I related a lot to the journey that she went through. I could also see myself in her mental illnesses even though we don't have all the same ones, she talked about them with such nuance and detail that I could feel them being extremely close to my own experiences. I couldn't see the drawings really well because I read this on my kindle but the few I could see, I thought were beautiful and they had the same tone as her writing and that was beautiful to see.

What I didn't like that much were the parts when she went away from her own life and tried to give advice to the readers. I'm not saying the advice was bad but I've seen so many youtubers books that gave the same advice over an over and they just take you away from the narration. I know I'm not her target audience probably because I already knew a lot of the advice she gave but I would have preferred seeing more from her own life instead of those instances where she made lists of advice that was very generic and didn't really bring anything new to the table, as opposed to her own narration, which felt very fresh and important. I also had problems with the narration at some points because she decided to change from first person to second to third without any explanation. Especially with the second person, I didn't understand why she said very personal stories in second person. It didn't make a lot of sense. Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot, some parts more than others. ...more

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Sep 11, 2017 Amy rated it really liked it

I really liked this book. It definitely gave me more information about Dodie as a person and that she is a really good writer.

Full review to come...

As many are, I am a fan of dodie's youtube channel so when I saw that this was available to review I was super excited. Secrets For The Mad is a solid and honest read, different from other youtube books with a deeply personal touch.

As a subscriber of dodie's I do really love how honest she is in the book. A lot of the things that she discusses espec ...more

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Mar 11, 2018 Iris rated it it was ok

Not great. I received this free from Atria Books, but all opinions are my own.

I honestly don’t know who this book is for? I found nothing in it relatable at all. Most of the writing is incredibly juvenile, but the subject matter is about drinking and boys and being drunk.

I would say only pick this up if you are a fan, there’s nothing in here that you can’t get out of her videos and songs.

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Nov 01, 2019 Vera rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned, audiobooks

This is one of the best books I've ever read. The entire first hour of the book I cried so much I was shaking. It encouraged me and gave me hope, telling me that even though life is hard and bad things will happen, the world will keep going and so will I. Thank you dodie, this book will forever effect my life. ...more

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Jun 15, 2017 Helena Aeberli marked it as to-read

i can't wait to read this!!!! ...more

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Jan 25, 2018 josh rated it really liked it

all i have to say is that this book is beautiful, raw, and very dodie. i just love her so much.

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Jan 23, 2020 Mayra rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, own

dodie is like my contemporary sylvia plath. she gets me. i get her. and i think i love her.

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Dec 30, 2017 Kellie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

3.5/5 stars
I had no expectations whatsoever going into this book. I was simply curious, and although I'm not the biggest fan of books by YouTubers, I thought I'd give this one a shot since I love Dodie. And I did really like it. It was like reading her diary in some aspects. I liked her advice and the topics that she talked about. It was personal, and that's why I enjoyed it. ...more

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Feb 13, 2018 Chloe (thelastcolour) rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction

i have always admired dodie, i love what she stands for and the awareness she brings to mental health issues. this book was exactly what i needed to read at this present moment in my life. it made me feel less alone, less crazy and broken and i cannot thank her enough for having the courage to write such a personal book

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Feb 03, 2018 rebeccaslifeandbooks rated it it was amazing

This book is amazing, it’s so real. She writes about her live and how she learned and gives tips. Seriously this could be a live saving book because it gives so much hope.
I love it. And I love honestly she writes! :)

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Jan 13, 2020 Thao Nguyen rated it liked it

I couldn’t help to appreciate Dodie’s ability to be so raw, so vulnerable, genuine and open about her emotions and experience. She writes what’s on her mind and this girl’s creativity is truly endless. She makes art out of her broken experiences and (sometimes) has fun with it, just how she challenged herself to keep track of her thoughts in writing while getting drunk on the plane. She inspires people to create, to live life though they might be struggling themselves at the moment.

Dodie writes ...more

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Nov 19, 2017 Elly (imaginemorebooks) rated it really liked it

*** I received an ARC of this book from Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. However, this does not influence my opinions in any way.***

For complete and utter transparency: I was given this book for review, but I was planning on picking it up anyway. Dodie has been one of my favorite YouTubers for years, so I’d be lying if I said the idea of her writing a book didn’t excite me. For those of you familiar with Dodie’s channels, this book feels like a physical form of her seco *** I received an ARC of this book from Atria Books and NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. However, this does not influence my opinions in any way.***

For complete and utter transparency: I was given this book for review, but I was planning on picking it up anyway. Dodie has been one of my favorite YouTubers for years, so I’d be lying if I said the idea of her writing a book didn’t excite me. For those of you familiar with Dodie’s channels, this book feels like a physical form of her second channel, doddlevoggle. It feels very conversational and like a best friend or older sister relaying stories and life experiences.

That being said, this book is very introspective and personal. She talks about deep, thought provoking subjects and doesn’t stray away from the rough parts. Topics of bullying, toxic relationships, and death (among other topics) are all huge topics looming over every chapter. That isn’t to say it is all doom and gloom, however. In her Dodie fashion, every chapter is deliberate and has a message – whether that is to learn from Dodie’s mistakes or to inform the reader that things get better. No chapter is out of place or simply just relaying Dodie’s experiences. Everything has a lesson and a reason for being added into the book.

That being said, each chapter talks about a different subject revolving around one of Dodie’s experiences. Something I did struggle with a little bit was following the timeline. You constantly jump around and the order of events quickly become blurred. The book isn’t supposed to be a clear memoir, so it works in a way of showing that life has its ups and downs, but it also would have been nice to have a clearer timeline.

Similarly, Dodie’s thoughts seem to be all over the place. As I understand it, the book was written randomly in diary like segments and placed together later. Because of that, the flow of the book was quickly interrupted with a new change of subject. Each chapter is short and to the point. By the time you were really getting into the story, it was over and she was moving onto another topic. To combat that, there were lovely breaks between chapters where you can read Dodie’s poems or song lyrics as well as accompanied by drawings and pictures she has taken over the years. They work as a nice bridge, but don’t hide the fact that the chapters are still a bit choppy.

Despite the book being a little choppy and more like a stream of consciousness than a clear beginning, middle, and end to every chapter or thought, I did enjoy the book. It felt like marathoning a bunch of her vloggy/chatty videos back to back in that all the subjects are different, but having the common themes of depression, silver linings, and life lessons. It isn’t the most conventional way to get a point across, and might read a bit weird to someone unfamiliar with Dodie’s content and how her mind works, but overall, it is a read that makes you feel like you aren’t alone and that it may take time, but things do get better. ...more

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Nov 23, 2019 Болоржаргал Г. rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019

6/10... because it’s the new 10/10...

Also also, I finished my reading challenge... perks of having a low goal 😝😝😝

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“When you can't find your purpose in a day, make it to look after yourself.” — 27 likes

“My rotting brain had lied to me; of course talking would help. Of course my loving, caring friends telling me it would get better would help. They fed ropes down the hold I'd been digging, and even if they couldn't pull me up, they at least reminded me that there was a world beyond this, where I'd been before.” — 22 likes

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