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No One Gets to Fall Apart: A Memoir
A Lit Hub's "Most Anticipated" * An Oprah Daily "Best Book of Fall" * An Esquire "Best Memoir of the Year" * A San Francisco Chronicle "New Book for a Season of Change" * A Zibby Owens "Most Anticipated"
In this poignant memoir, as candid and indelible as The Glass Castle and Memorial Drive, a writer takes on the conflict between the love that binds us to home and the desire to escape it for good .
On a highway in Houston, Texas, Sarah LaBrie’s mother was found screaming at passing cars, terrified she would be murdered by invisible assailants. The diagnosis of schizophrenia that followed compelled Sarah to rethink her childhood, marked at turns by violence and all-consuming closeness.
Digging into the events that led to her mother’s break, Sarah traces her family history of mental illness, from the dysphoria that plagued her great-grandmother, a granddaughter of slaves, to her own experience with depression as a scholarship student at Brown. At the same time, she navigates a decades-long fixation on a novel she can’t finish but can't abandon, her complicated feelings about her white partner, and a fraught friendship colored by betrayal.
Spanning the globe from Houston’s Third Ward to Paris to Tallinn and New York to Los Angeles, No One Gets to Fall Apart is an unflinching chronicle of one woman's attempt to forge a new future through a better understanding of the past.
In this poignant memoir, as candid and indelible as The Glass Castle and Memorial Drive, a writer takes on the conflict between the love that binds us to home and the desire to escape it for good .
On a highway in Houston, Texas, Sarah LaBrie’s mother was found screaming at passing cars, terrified she would be murdered by invisible assailants. The diagnosis of schizophrenia that followed compelled Sarah to rethink her childhood, marked at turns by violence and all-consuming closeness.
Digging into the events that led to her mother’s break, Sarah traces her family history of mental illness, from the dysphoria that plagued her great-grandmother, a granddaughter of slaves, to her own experience with depression as a scholarship student at Brown. At the same time, she navigates a decades-long fixation on a novel she can’t finish but can't abandon, her complicated feelings about her white partner, and a fraught friendship colored by betrayal.
Spanning the globe from Houston’s Third Ward to Paris to Tallinn and New York to Los Angeles, No One Gets to Fall Apart is an unflinching chronicle of one woman's attempt to forge a new future through a better understanding of the past.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published October 22, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
August 30, 2024
The very FIRST PAGE hits me square in the eyes!!! Wham 🥊 Wait… this isn’t my story is it? No, it’s not. However, Sarah LaBrie begins with a phone call she receives in 2017. Once again her grandmother is telling her that her mother was found on the side of the freeway parked and deathly afraid federal agents were out to kill her. This starting the hamster wheel of a tortured schizophrenic. Well, I’m here to tell you that my own mother and grandmother both suffered from horrific delusions as well. My own mother was also picked up off the highway afraid of someone or something trying to kill her. I was immediately catapulted back to my early twenties. Flashbacks to the twilight zone.
Sarah’s story is about a woman from Houston who dreams of being a writer. She starts with fiction and realizes much later that it is her mother’s story she wishes to write.
I could completely relate to her humiliation whenever her mother was around and not knowing if she was going to have an episode or breakdown in front of people. Many trips to institutions where medications are administered and she gets back on track. But I know this is something schizophrenics hate to do, take the dang medicine!
I really felt some sort of connection to this story on the mental illness in families. No one realizes the toll it takes on you and your family until you’re in it. Sarah, I thank you for sharing yours and your mother‘s story with the world. I loved how Lance Banks really had a connection to your mother and that part was real for her.
If you are struggling with your mental health, please reach out to someone. I highly suggest giving this a read if you enjoy strong memoirs!
- Sarah has now produced and written for HBO, MAX, Starz and Hulu/Disney.
Thank you so much @harperbooks @harpercollins and @itsmesarahlabrie for my #gifted ARC copy. It was a pleasure to read and review
June 4, 2024
Sarah Labrie has always had to keep it together. Her mother is schizophrenic and constantly worries about being in danger. Sarah plays along with her mom’s delusions, but there’s no room for Sarah to be the child in the relationship. This is such a strong memoir about the fear of inheriting mental illness and trying to outrun our genetics and family history, all while trying to navigate the world as a young Black woman. This memoir is so rich. It tackles complicated friendships and relationships, career dissatisfaction, deeply rooted insecurities, and the question of whether to start a family with severe mental illnesses in one’s DNA. I felt the author’s fears of falling apart like her mother. She feels like she’s always one setback away from losing it all. The stakes are higher for her as a Black woman trying to make it in a competitive industry. Vulnerability flies off these pages. This book also offers a lot of compassion for people with schizophrenia and makes the reader think about what it would be like to live with such a severe mental health issue. I think this is a beautiful story of compassion and understanding, and everyone should approach schizophrenics with the same kind of tenderness and sympathy as Sarah Labrie.
June 3, 2024
what a beautiful, melodic, personal memoir. labrie’s voice shines throughout, and the interweaving of both hers and her mother’s stories is crafted so beautifully. already recommended to a friend. this was stunning.
(i was given an arc in exchange for an honest review)
(i was given an arc in exchange for an honest review)
October 24, 2024
I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author. Most of the time I was having problems figuring out who was saying what.
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November 9, 2024With thanks to NetGalley, Sarah LaBrie, and Harper for providing this ARC, it is with deep regret that I will be unable to provide a review for this [read] book at this time. I thank you for both the opportunity to read this and for your understanding in this matter.
August 9, 2024
This book was a very sad true account of a woman coming to terms with her mother's mental illness. The book starts off with a woman talking to her schizophrenic mother as she is going through an obvious delusion. It was very sad to witness the pure terror in her mother as she was explaining what was very obviously not true. I can just imagine what this would do to a daughter. The book then shifts from what is currently going on to how our author lived as a child with a woman who had undiagnosed mental illnesses. As a child she had no clue what was going on with her mother she just knew that she was very different, and it was these differences that caused struggles. What I really liked about this book was how the author wrote her mother's as a person who was struggling and needed help she didn't write her mother as a monster and she didn't vilify her illness instead she showed her with compassion. This book made me lose all track of time as I devoured every word. A beautifully written story that I'm very glad to have been able to check out. This memoir shows how important it is for people to be understanding of what others could be struggling with when they don't come across as "normal", but it also shows how important it is to get that diagnosis if not for the person struggling then for their loved ones also struggling. This was a beautiful book from start to finish and I loved how it took what could have been a very dark read but instead filled it with understanding instead. I'm very glad to have been given the chance to check it out and can't wait for my friends to read this as well.
July 10, 2024
Candid, raw, brave, and oh so honest - a million hugs to Sarah for a memoir that doesn’t hold back.
I’m also blown away by how humble she is; she fails to mention her great success writing for shows on television, which only shows what gratitude and humility she has.
I’m such a fan. 💛
I’m also blown away by how humble she is; she fails to mention her great success writing for shows on television, which only shows what gratitude and humility she has.
I’m such a fan. 💛
November 20, 2024
2.5 stars!
I really, really wanted to like this more than I did, and I was so disappointed that I didn't. Based on the summary, I had thought that this would be moreso about the author's relationship (both past and present) with her mother through the diagnosis of her schizophrenia and everything, but instead, we got a little bit of everything going on in her life. Too much breadth, not enough depth. I mean, I know that in some ways, it was all connected, because the trauma of her childhood definitely contributed to her depression and the way that she views the world now, but I never really felt like it was linked too well together in the prose. I wanted more about her developing relationship with her mother instead of bits and pieces throughout the book scattered in between her difficulty with writing, her fraught relationship with a close friend, and her conflict about her partner.
I also just never felt like the author portrayed herself in the most sympathetic way, which made it hard for me as the reader to sympathize. Of course, the way that she reacts to conflict and difficult emotions is likely again influenced by the way that she was raised and how she grew up, but that doesn't make me like or root for her any more despite knowing that. Her conflict resolution skills were pretty much zero for most of the novel, and her partner was really much more patient than I would have been in that situation. I spent a lot of time frustrated at her and sort of feeling bad that I was frustrated because again, I'm sure that the way she was raised didn't help the situation.
However, I did like the discussion of race/culture and the way that mental health is viewed. Again, this was sort of mentioned a couple times, but never super delved into which I would have appreciated more, but the author's grandmother constantly dismissing her mother's mental illness as an actual diagnosis or something to be concerned about and the general view of severe mental health is something that I encounter quite a lot in my line of work. It's something that will take a lot of effort in combating, because as LaBrie said, her mother would probably have been fine (or at least done a lot better) if she just went to the psychiatrist and took her medications and had support with that from people in her life - but in this case, she was up against her own brain and the people around her.
Anyway, I applaud LaBrie for writing so honestly about her experiences, failures, and difficulties in her life. She was very candid about her life and did not flinch from how she portrayed herself, but it made it hard for me to sympathize and therefore connect to her and the book itself.
I really, really wanted to like this more than I did, and I was so disappointed that I didn't. Based on the summary, I had thought that this would be moreso about the author's relationship (both past and present) with her mother through the diagnosis of her schizophrenia and everything, but instead, we got a little bit of everything going on in her life. Too much breadth, not enough depth. I mean, I know that in some ways, it was all connected, because the trauma of her childhood definitely contributed to her depression and the way that she views the world now, but I never really felt like it was linked too well together in the prose. I wanted more about her developing relationship with her mother instead of bits and pieces throughout the book scattered in between her difficulty with writing, her fraught relationship with a close friend, and her conflict about her partner.
I also just never felt like the author portrayed herself in the most sympathetic way, which made it hard for me as the reader to sympathize. Of course, the way that she reacts to conflict and difficult emotions is likely again influenced by the way that she was raised and how she grew up, but that doesn't make me like or root for her any more despite knowing that. Her conflict resolution skills were pretty much zero for most of the novel, and her partner was really much more patient than I would have been in that situation. I spent a lot of time frustrated at her and sort of feeling bad that I was frustrated because again, I'm sure that the way she was raised didn't help the situation.
However, I did like the discussion of race/culture and the way that mental health is viewed. Again, this was sort of mentioned a couple times, but never super delved into which I would have appreciated more, but the author's grandmother constantly dismissing her mother's mental illness as an actual diagnosis or something to be concerned about and the general view of severe mental health is something that I encounter quite a lot in my line of work. It's something that will take a lot of effort in combating, because as LaBrie said, her mother would probably have been fine (or at least done a lot better) if she just went to the psychiatrist and took her medications and had support with that from people in her life - but in this case, she was up against her own brain and the people around her.
Anyway, I applaud LaBrie for writing so honestly about her experiences, failures, and difficulties in her life. She was very candid about her life and did not flinch from how she portrayed herself, but it made it hard for me to sympathize and therefore connect to her and the book itself.
July 20, 2024
An insightful and compassionate memoir about the author's relationship with her mother, who suffers from schizophrenia, and her own struggles with mental illness. I'm often wary of memoirs by the family members of sick and disabled people, but I think LaBrie writes about her mother with a lot of understanding here, without necessarily absolving her of the often brutal way she treated her as a child. It helps, of course, that LaBrie herself clearly struggles with depression and writes about that very well, too — and I don't want to minimize her own experience — but schizophrenia in particular can be pathologized in an ugly way very easily. It's clear she struggles to understand her mother at times, which is understandable, but her quest is to understand her, which I think makes the perspective work.
She also, like the best memoirists, is very hard on herself; sometimes this makes for an uncomfortable read but it also made me admire the book. Clearly, she's spent a lot of time reflecting on her relationships and how they've been affected by this primal relationship, and also how being Black has affected her and her family's experience of and reaction to mental illness and the healthcare system.
Overall, a smart and sensitive book, a good addition to the illness canon (partly) from the family perspective.
She also, like the best memoirists, is very hard on herself; sometimes this makes for an uncomfortable read but it also made me admire the book. Clearly, she's spent a lot of time reflecting on her relationships and how they've been affected by this primal relationship, and also how being Black has affected her and her family's experience of and reaction to mental illness and the healthcare system.
Overall, a smart and sensitive book, a good addition to the illness canon (partly) from the family perspective.
November 5, 2024
PHENOMENAL! DAUNTING! SPLENDID!
While “No One Gets To Fall Apart” is an excellent and easy read, this multi-dimensional masterpiece is like a vintage wine meant to be savored. Not since stories like ”I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings” have I been so impressed, impacted, inspired, and intrigued by a memoir; especially a first one.
This remarkably blunt gem provides a compelling and piercing glimpse into the bumps, bruises, battle scars, dysfunction, and resilience of a gifted daughter of a schizophrenic mother and absent father.
This chillingly personal and absorbing account beckoned me to question my own frailties and wounds resulting from my chaotic and oft tumultuous life living with an alcoholic mother. Like the author, I also gained some clarity and insight, as well as shed some guilt and shame.
This superbly scripted story of an imperfect journey is a MUST READ! It epitomizes a life examined and the beauty and revelation that only comes through deep reflection, truth, grace, and growth. This is a BOOK TO BE CELEBRATED! Hopefully, we’ll hear from this author again.
While “No One Gets To Fall Apart” is an excellent and easy read, this multi-dimensional masterpiece is like a vintage wine meant to be savored. Not since stories like ”I Know Why the Cage Bird Sings” have I been so impressed, impacted, inspired, and intrigued by a memoir; especially a first one.
This remarkably blunt gem provides a compelling and piercing glimpse into the bumps, bruises, battle scars, dysfunction, and resilience of a gifted daughter of a schizophrenic mother and absent father.
This chillingly personal and absorbing account beckoned me to question my own frailties and wounds resulting from my chaotic and oft tumultuous life living with an alcoholic mother. Like the author, I also gained some clarity and insight, as well as shed some guilt and shame.
This superbly scripted story of an imperfect journey is a MUST READ! It epitomizes a life examined and the beauty and revelation that only comes through deep reflection, truth, grace, and growth. This is a BOOK TO BE CELEBRATED! Hopefully, we’ll hear from this author again.
November 15, 2024
So, I’ve had to sit with this book for a few days since I finished it (positive connotation), and all I have to say is BRAVO to @itsmesarahlabrie for the masterpiece that is this story!!! And while I namely read fiction, this one seemed to catch me at the exact right time! I’m really glad that this is one of the few non-fiction reads that has graced my little eyeballs this year!
At just over 200 pages, this memoir packs an emotional punch to the heart and the soul, and addresses the complexities of mental health and its role in family trauma and drama.
This book really emotionally affected me deeply (and had the tears flowinggggg) with the beautiful way that the author was able to articulate some of the most pivotal and heartbreaking moments of her life!!! I cannot even express how much I adored every single word of this memoir, and it’ll be one I’ll never forget!
5⭐️
⭐️NO ONE GETS TO FALL APART, out NOW⭐️
Forever thank you to my friends at @harperbooks for the opportunity to read this beautiful book! Thank you for the complimentary finished copy✨
#noonegetstofallapart #sarahlabrie #harperbooks #harpercollins
At just over 200 pages, this memoir packs an emotional punch to the heart and the soul, and addresses the complexities of mental health and its role in family trauma and drama.
This book really emotionally affected me deeply (and had the tears flowinggggg) with the beautiful way that the author was able to articulate some of the most pivotal and heartbreaking moments of her life!!! I cannot even express how much I adored every single word of this memoir, and it’ll be one I’ll never forget!
5⭐️
⭐️NO ONE GETS TO FALL APART, out NOW⭐️
Forever thank you to my friends at @harperbooks for the opportunity to read this beautiful book! Thank you for the complimentary finished copy✨
#noonegetstofallapart #sarahlabrie #harperbooks #harpercollins
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October 29, 2024I was sold by comps to The Glass Castle and Memorial Drive, and I thought No One Gets to Fall Apart was at its best when Sarah LaBrie was describing her family. I really felt the push and pull she described.
What worked much less for me was all the content on philosophy, in particular that of Walter Benjamin. I didn't think that's what I'd signed up for here. I almost DNFed when she began comparing the differences between his French and English wikipedia pages (it's not a professional publication? Of course there are discrepancies between the two, that doesn't make them meaningful). It was just a lot, and often interrupted my flow/the narrative for me. As ever, YMMV (some seem to not even have noticed this, or it worked better for them!).
Thank you to Harper Books for the free copy.
What worked much less for me was all the content on philosophy, in particular that of Walter Benjamin. I didn't think that's what I'd signed up for here. I almost DNFed when she began comparing the differences between his French and English wikipedia pages (it's not a professional publication? Of course there are discrepancies between the two, that doesn't make them meaningful). It was just a lot, and often interrupted my flow/the narrative for me. As ever, YMMV (some seem to not even have noticed this, or it worked better for them!).
Thank you to Harper Books for the free copy.
October 31, 2024
In No One Gets to Fall Apart, Sarah LaBrie offers a strikingly candid memoir that examines her complex relationship with a mother living with schizophrenia. LaBrie’s prose is both sharp and unadorned, unearthing not only the challenges posed by her mother’s illness but also her own limitations, biases, and emotional struggles in confronting it. This is not a polished narrative of triumph over adversity; rather, LaBrie confronts her own fallibility with an honesty that is as unsettling as it is refreshing. Through this lens, she invites readers to grapple with the imperfect nature of human relationships and the uncomfortable truths about care, empathy, and self-awareness. No One Gets to Fall Apart is a courageous work that pushes the boundaries of memoir, compelling readers to reflect on the complexities of familial bonds and the nuanced impact of mental illness. Highly recommended!
November 4, 2024
From the very first page of "No One Gets to Fall Apart: A Memoir" by Sarah LaBrie, I was deeply moved by her candid and powerful recounting of her journey through personal turmoil and eventual healing. This memoir is not just a narrative; it is an intense, emotional rollercoaster that offers an introspective look into the challenges of overcoming life's toughest moments.
Sarah skillfully interweaves her personal experiences with universal themes of grief, resilience, and hope. Her writing style is both eloquent and accessible, making it easy to connect with the stories and the emotions they evoke. Each chapter peels back layers of her life, revealing vulnerability and the harsh realities that many face but few speak about openly.
Sarah skillfully interweaves her personal experiences with universal themes of grief, resilience, and hope. Her writing style is both eloquent and accessible, making it easy to connect with the stories and the emotions they evoke. Each chapter peels back layers of her life, revealing vulnerability and the harsh realities that many face but few speak about openly.
October 24, 2024
A writing professor Pam Durban used to say in her classes, "A story is finished when you've exhausted its potential for meaning." This raw, unapologetic, beautifully written memoir has done just that.
And its author is one of the most important writers of her generation.
Sarah Labrie is a masterful prose writer and a survivor of some crazy ass stuff you’ll have to read about to believe.
I’m no gatekeeper so here’s what you do: run your sizeable asses to that bookstore or Amazon and don’t sleep on ‘No One Gets To Fall Apart.’ Think of it like a movie that leaves theaters soon and get on it.
And its author is one of the most important writers of her generation.
Sarah Labrie is a masterful prose writer and a survivor of some crazy ass stuff you’ll have to read about to believe.
I’m no gatekeeper so here’s what you do: run your sizeable asses to that bookstore or Amazon and don’t sleep on ‘No One Gets To Fall Apart.’ Think of it like a movie that leaves theaters soon and get on it.
November 5, 2024
Hollow
This book rang hollow for me. I have experienced growing up and living as an adult with a mother who was similar in psychological makeup to the author’s mother. I am a 76 year old, white middle class retired physician. I recognize the author’s angst over her inability to “fix” her mother’s pathology and the lasting guilt which stays with one forever.
However, because of my race, my middle class upbringing, financial stability and my social support system I am almost
totally at a loss when it comes to understanding the author’s experience.
I finished the book and asked myself, “Is that it?”
This book rang hollow for me. I have experienced growing up and living as an adult with a mother who was similar in psychological makeup to the author’s mother. I am a 76 year old, white middle class retired physician. I recognize the author’s angst over her inability to “fix” her mother’s pathology and the lasting guilt which stays with one forever.
However, because of my race, my middle class upbringing, financial stability and my social support system I am almost
totally at a loss when it comes to understanding the author’s experience.
I finished the book and asked myself, “Is that it?”
November 10, 2024
Good, but not great
My mom had schizophrenia, so naturally I was interested in this book. I felt that the author wrote too much about this Benjamin person. I don’t see how it relates to the subject matter of the book. Also, I found myself not liking the author too much,especially the way she used the silent treatment, refusing to take calls, etc. However, I related to her fear of going crazy like her mother, her hopes that her mother would get better, etc. Unlike her I had a “normal” mother until I was 10 and I grieved for her like died.
My mom had schizophrenia, so naturally I was interested in this book. I felt that the author wrote too much about this Benjamin person. I don’t see how it relates to the subject matter of the book. Also, I found myself not liking the author too much,especially the way she used the silent treatment, refusing to take calls, etc. However, I related to her fear of going crazy like her mother, her hopes that her mother would get better, etc. Unlike her I had a “normal” mother until I was 10 and I grieved for her like died.
November 13, 2024
Really captures the mood of having a mentally ill parent
The writing is beautiful and the melancholy, disassociative voice the author adopts in telling her story is perfect. I also have a schizophrenic parent. It cast a pall of sadness, isolation, drifting aimlessness and mystery over my life - not out-and-out ruining it but always humming in the background, always a tide I was swimming against. I thought it was impossible to fully explain but the vibe of this book captures it in all of its uchy not-glory. Brava.
The writing is beautiful and the melancholy, disassociative voice the author adopts in telling her story is perfect. I also have a schizophrenic parent. It cast a pall of sadness, isolation, drifting aimlessness and mystery over my life - not out-and-out ruining it but always humming in the background, always a tide I was swimming against. I thought it was impossible to fully explain but the vibe of this book captures it in all of its uchy not-glory. Brava.
November 19, 2024
A heartfelt and and some times hard to read memoir by an adult daughter trying to help with, grapple with, and understand her mother's apparent late-onset schizophrenia diagnosis and homelessness--while also trying to establish a career, maintain a relationship, and grapple with her own understanding of her own childhood and her mental health.
LaBrie has really put herself out there writing this--it feels very brave, but many many people will be able to relate to so much of her story. This book itself is a testament to her hard work in establishing herself as a writer, even if it is not the novel she was originally working on.
LaBrie has really put herself out there writing this--it feels very brave, but many many people will be able to relate to so much of her story. This book itself is a testament to her hard work in establishing herself as a writer, even if it is not the novel she was originally working on.
September 13, 2024
Wow. This one is a tough read. The author grew up in Houston, the child of a single mother who was difficult at best, and as she grew older she had mental challenges, especially depression, and then her mother began to have increasing difficulty eventually leading to a diagnosis of schizophrenia. The author dealt with this and examined her family history, all while wondering if she was going to have the same problems as her mom. Gripping and a lot going on here.
October 24, 2024
Genius! This book grabs you and does not let go!! An elegy of healing that’s imbued with such hope and humor. Powerful prose. Whether it’s fiction or television shows, I cannot wait to read whatever Sarah Labrie writes next. She’s fucking brilliant.
Bought ten copies for stocking stuffers this Christmas. Do yourself a favor and do the same. Read it and weep. And thank me later.
Bought ten copies for stocking stuffers this Christmas. Do yourself a favor and do the same. Read it and weep. And thank me later.
November 2, 2024
This is such a rich and beautiful book. It has me thinking about my own relationship to anger (and my personality), as well as my connection(s) to my family and past. The author's reading of it is tremendous too. If you haven't already read this one, you should move it Immediately to the top of your list. I love it so much and am aggressively recommending it to everyone I know.
October 31, 2024
I listened to this book in one day. It automatically sucked me in to an intense story of self development and everything that comes with it. Some parts resonated with me while other parts left me emotional. Very proud of Sarah LaBrie for getting to tell her story.
November 16, 2024
Exquisite throughout, Sarah LaBrie joins my other favorite writers of personal work, Miranda July, Carmen Maria Machado and Maggie Nelson. I loved this book, all the different sides of it, and its genuine exploration of how to be, how to to be with others.
Want to read
June 27, 2024#GoodreadsGiveaway
September 8, 2024
My wife has read this story twice. Thourougly enjoyed this book.
October 23, 2024
A riveting account of a young women fighting for her life. Raw. Accessible. Relatable. Utterly personal. Sarah LaBrie is a revelation. I’m excited to follow her success.
November 6, 2024
A beautiful memoir about mental health and family history. Sarah LaBrie is a tremendous talent. Highly recommend.
November 18, 2024
I enjoyed it. It's nice to see these stories represented.
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November 18, 2024Concerned for the author !
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews