This week I’m reviewing “The Making Of Brio McPride” by R.A.Ruegg . This book is the inspiration for a film due to be released this year – Spiked! This book was promoted to me as being a cross between “The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night Time” and “Life Of Pi”. Another plus is that 30% of royalties are being given to mental health charities. As I have read both of those books, I was looking forward to a thought provoking read – and I wasn’t disappointed!

BOOK SUMMARY

Sometimes to mend a broken heart, they have to blow your mind.

No matter how many shrinks they throw at him, Brio’s going to prove to his beloved Lizzy that it’s not him who’s mentally ill, it’s the rest of the world.

Logie’s a different kind of psychotherapist, though, and a despairing Brio thinks that maybe this weird ‘narrative hypnotherapy’ actually could help him find the father he never knew. It might even stop him grieving for his mum and worrying he’s gay.

But behind Logie lurks a big-data giant that’ll stop at nothing to win approval for its Al- driven mental health platform. And all Brio really knows as he disappears into the hypnotic haze of his ‘deepmind parable’ is that it’s going to be a life-or-death mission like no story he’s ever written.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

R.A RUEGG is a professional ghost writer and advertising copy writer who grew up in Britain, read law at King’s College, London, then spent several years in the US and East Asia before emigrating to Australia.

MY VIEWPOINT

Wow … this book is intense – emotional, baffling, interesting and definitely thought provoking. Exploring themes such as parenting, mental illness, gender alignment, teenage angst, grief, young love …. this book isn’t straight forward. I must admit I was a bit baffled by the “narrative hypnotherapy “ storyline at first, then all of a sudden its role in the overall tale clicked into my brain and I was then immersed and taken along on this fascinating life journey of 15 year old Brio. So, what did I love about the book? The character of Brio. I was rooting for him, all the way. I wanted him to truly find himself and love who he was. But he’s 15. He’s grieving. He’s looking for his father. He’s wanting approval and acceptance. This is a contemporary tale that isn’t lightweight, but it isn’t all doom and gloom either…there is a sprinkling of hope and love. Definitely food for thought and a truly satisfying read. 8/10

FURTHER INFORMATION

This book is available from Amazon and available to order in all good bookshops.

Check out the Brio McPride website: https://briomcpride.com

My thanks to Cameron Publicity & Marketing for a review copy of The Making Of Brio McPride. All views expressed are 100% my own

All photographs are by Linda Hobden