Hijacked by C.M Stokes

 Eye opening, Challenging, Though Provoking

Genre: Semi-Autobiographical/Young Adult Fiction

Hijacked by C.M Stokes

It is both an honour and a privilege to be asked to read an Author's work prior to publication. However, it becomes even more special when you learn that is a semi-autobiographical account of living with a mental health condition that consumes that individual's world. I was aware of the symptoms and challenges facing a person who is living with this disorder prior to reading 'Hijacked, but I'm not sure that I ever fully appreciated the extent of it's complexities. My first experience of knowing someone with the same traits, was an ex-neighbour. She had lots of other issues & found it difficult to articulate her feelings, which I desperately wanted to understand, as it was me she came to when she couldn't cope alone, although she always professed to not want help. M. C. Stokes Author wants to create awareness and further people's understanding of this constant battle of being in fight or flight mode but feeling that it is an uphill struggle to do either. I myself suffer from depression & anxiety and recognised quite a number of the central character's inner thoughts and impulses, and although I know I'm not, it was a positive feeling to know that I am not alone. However I acknowledge that Samantha, the central character, feels like this all the time, whereas my feelings are sporadic. Her daily battles are both eye opening, hard to compute for someone not going through them, and it is overwhelming to realise that there are people who walk that tightrope of remaining on this mortal coil....or getting off at the next stop, the next time it becomes too much.

To make the decision to commit the intricacies, albeit by way of a novel, of this deep rooted and enduring burden to paper, and put one's self through the trauma of re-playing a reality that must have been so confusing and frightening, once never mind twice, whilst at the same time, managing a current reality that, although it may have become 'a way of life' is none the less exhausting & tormentative, is an extremely brave thing to do.

I would like to thank the Author for being prepared to let us into her world in order to heighten people's consciousness of mental health. You never really know what's going on with someone unless they choose to tell you.