jbronderbookreviews

Waiting for Fitz by Spencer Hyde

Addie loves nothing more than curling up on the couch with her dog, Duck, and watching The Great British Baking Show with her mom. It’s one of the few things that can help her relax when her OCD kicks into overdrive. She counts everything. All the time. She can’t stop. Rituals and rhythms. It’s exhausting.

When Fitz was diagnosed with schizophrenia, he named the voices in his head after famous country singers. The adolescent psychiatric ward at Seattle Regional Hospital isn’t exactly the ideal place to meet your soul mate, but when Addie meets Fitz, they immediately connect over their shared love of words, appreciate each other’s quick wit, and wish they could both make more sense of their lives.

Fitz is haunted by the voices in his head and often doesn’t know what is real. But he feels if he can convince Addie to help him escape the psych ward and everything will be okay. If not, he risks falling into a downward spiral that may keep him in the hospital indefinitely.

Waiting for Fitz is a story about life and love, forgiveness and courage, and what’s necessary to let go and learning what is truly worth waiting for.

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About the Author

Spencer Hyde spent three years of his high school experience visiting Johns Hopkins for severe OCD. He feels particularly suited to write Waiting for Fitz because he’s lived through his protagonists’ obsessions.

Spencer worked at a therapeutic boarding school before earning his MFA in Utah and his PhD in Texas, specializing in fiction. He wrote Waiting for Fitz while working as a Teaching Fellow in Denton, Texas. He is currently an assistant professor of English at Brigham Young University.

Stories have a way of changing lives—Spencer learned that the first time he picked up a Tom Stoppard play and realized that words can nudge the world and build bridges to hope.

Spencer and his wife, Brittany, are the parents of four children. They love to hike, read, watch movies, fly-fish, and bake.

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My Review

4 stars

Addie has OCD and it has been making her life difficult. She is sent to the psych ward at the Seattle Regional Hospital. While in group sessions she meets Fitz who suffers from schizophrenia. They connect and start having feelings for each other. Fitz then asks Addie to help him escape the hospital.

This is one of those stories that if you read it for the story it is enjoyable. I felt for both Addie and Fitz with their mental illnesses. I think it does a great job of introducing the different illnesses to readers along with how others tend to view them. Although it seemed that the illness became the definition of the person instead of the person being an individual.

But if you look at it from a realistic point things start falling apart. I doubt a lot of this would really take place, especially knowing insurance doesn’t pay for anything near this. I also doubt staff would let a budding relationship between two patients start.

Over all this is a good read. It’s one that introduces some mental illnesses and the struggles those that suffer go through.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.

I would like to thank Shadow Mountain Publishing for the opportunity to read and share this book.