This is a short yet powerful book about mental illness and a patient’s week in a hospital. You can tell this book is written from experience yet it is still a work of fiction. The relatable and troubling thoughts of Daniele are moving and powerful and though there isn’t a “plot” as such it’s utterly engaging. It’s raw intensity and Daniele’s poetic way of writing will make sure this book will stay with me.

This novel won the Youth Strega prize in 2020.

Our protagonist here is Daniele, an Italian wild child who does drugs and drinks the weekends away. After an explosion of violence one night in 1994, so intense that it almost inflicted irreparable damage to him and his family, he finds himself sentenced to a week of mandatory treatment in a psychiatric ward.

Reminiscent of the classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, this book is deeply human, strewn with dark humour and told in an authentic voice; the story is autofiction and drawn from the authors own experience of psychiatric care.

The doctors­­, one of whom Daniele dislikes immediately, though another seems genuinely interested­­, promise him a diagnosis and treatment plan for him despite his long history of seeking help but seeing few results. Daniele is wary, and this isn't helped by the gruff, almost callous attitudes of the nursing staff, sadly at a time that compassion is the most essential component to care - as one patient pointed out, they “do a fine job of hurting [themselves] without anybody else’s help”.

Mencarelli accurately describes what it must be like to be in the middle of a very confusing and painful mental health crisis; the crushing feeling of being out of control and lost; the feeling of being misunderstood, the isolation and confusion of not understanding what is wrong with you.

Alongside Daniele’s musings, we get occasional flashbacks of the six patients - men who, like him, have felt the full brunt of life's pain.

Everything Calls for Salvation is only short, but it certainly packs a punch. Mencarelli captures Daniele’s muddled emotional state wonderfully, a blend of shame, confusion, and disdain at the restrictions placed on him. With its emotional intensity and visceral meditative tones, this is a book that will have you pondering over the characters well after you've closed the pages that last time. 4.5/5 ⭐

I struggled with this one. Although I admired the fact that the author was bringing awareness to mental illness, this book just wasn’t for me. There wasn’t anything new I could take away from the book that I didn’t already know. I liked the idea of the author shining a light on the other patients and their stories. I also found it quite repetitive, which obviously affected my enjoyment too. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for a chance to read and review this book.

Set over 7 days in a psychiatric facility….. It is a well written novel, with punchy dialogue that rings true, and the descriptive writing brings the scenes to life.

A short read, with the story spanning only seven days. Set in a mental health ward it is a quick, yet striking, account of the protagonist’s experience.

Everything Calls For Salvation is a heart-warming, thought-provoking short novel all about the intricate details of human emotion and mental health. Though this book spans only seven days, the relationships and the bonds that evolve between the characters are so well developed and by the end you really feel you have known these people and feel their pain yourself. The book touches on mental health perfectly and how deeply encompassing it can become whilst also commenting on the attitudes surrounding it. This is a very quick and immersive read. I would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a introspective read.

I rather liked this quirky little book which looks at psychiatric care from the point of view of the patient.
The narrator finds himself in a psychiatric hospital ward after a break down and we meet his fellow patients as he grapples with the fact that he is there for a week as an involuntary patient
I felt the author was probably talking about a undisclosed date in the past as all the patients were on an open ward which at least in the Uk has not happened for decades .Perhaps things are different in Italy where this story is set z
I found the character development to be very true to life I really believed in the stories we were told throughout the book .I loved the speed at which quite intense friendships formed in this enclosed group and was touched by them
The language is sparse and thoughtful and I felt the author had a very strong voice
I read a copy on NetGalley Uk the book was published in the Uk in October 2022 by Europe Editions

Looking on Goodreads after reading this book I admit I was baffled by the number of 4 and 5 star reviews and as this book seems to have won a major literary prize in Italy, I can only assume that something has been lost in translation. When I picked it up I envisaged an in depth look into a young person's experience in a mental institution. But the whole experience felt very boring and surface level. I found it lacking in almost every way. Nothing much happened, and there was no depth or character insight.

This title has apparently been adapted into a 7 part series on Netflix and it appears to have become a comedy drama with the addition of a love interest which is not in the book which for the subject matter I find rather inappropriate and it seems to result in my being confused at to what the target market is as in the authors native Italy it appears to be marketed towards young people. I am afraid to say that this appears to have been one of the rare times that Europa have failed me.

this book reminds me of I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki as the main character was the writer himself conversed to the reader about his mental health. he described his experiences of admitting to psych ward for one week when he was in 20s and also how he managed to forge friendships with other patients and nurses.

it was overall a heartwarming and giving hopes to those who is battling with mental health. it was an act of bravery where the writer shared his experience to readers. when the writer bonded with other patients, he realized that he was not alone in the battle and every one of them were doing their best to live on another day. from there, i managed to get some insights of psych ward and their patients. the treatment in the ward also quite decent. he also mentioned on receiving the doctor's treatment has different types. it can be a lousy one or well done. it also can be view as a diary style as it opened up a story straight from his heart.

the writer did not jump into any advice how to overcome mental illness he faced nor going into details. it's more to 'just vibes, no plot'. a bit of character development can be seen, the writer himself was in a bad shape at first but he was slowly healed in the end of story, feeling grateful and at peace with his mind and soul. while for other characters, they provided warmth & kindness to writers made me emphatetic towards them as well as rooting for the best.

overall, to me it was a very simple and original infused with some darkly comical story. it works in a slow pace while delving into brotherhood and hopes.

thanks to @netgalley and @europaeditionsuk for the e-ARC ♥️

Everything Calls for Salvation is Daniele Mencarelli’s story about his mandatory week of psychological treatment.

One night, things got out of control for Daniele, so he has to stay one week in a psychiatric ward. He doesn’t know if he can handle being among patients doing (way) worse than him. But soon, he gets to know some of his roommates and learns their stories and pains.

This novel won the Youth Strega prize (Italian literary award) in 2020. I liked it, but I somehow expected something more than just a story about this week. Which was fine, by the way.

Thanks to Europa Editions for the ARC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review, and all opinions are my own.

A claustrophobic story of a young man who is confined to a psychiatric ward where we follow his daily life and that of his fellow patients in an almost diaristic style. I struggled to connect to the narrative, beyond finding that I felt the frustration of the protagonist's experience almost too viscerally at times due to the repetitious nature of the story. Not for me!

A week in a psychiatric hospital in Rome - a week in the life and stories of patients and nurses, an invisible illness.
Great read, just noticed a Netflix series based on the book too I will surely watch.

"What cure can exist for how life is?"

I wasn't sure what to expect from a book set in a psych ward. I've read books with these themes that are filled with harmful tropes and stereotypes, but I had a gut feeling this would be different and I'm so glad I was right. With many autobiographical elements, Mencarelli so accurately describes what it is like to be in the middle of a very confusing and painful mental health crisis. He writes about the feeling of being out of control and lost; the feeling of being totally misunderstood and let down by medical professionals who are there to help him; the utter confusion of not understanding what is wrong with you.

I loved that the focus wasn't on getting better, or the magical, curing powers of being sectioned. This book is totally raw about what it's like to be mad and disabled, forced to live in oppressively white, bright, too-warm rooms where staff don't understand how much it hurts to simply exist. It's about how these "crazies" are hidden away from society with little compassion - how we like to pretend that they don't exist. It's about friendships forged under the worst circumstances, about how liberating it is to be fully seen and not shunned. Daniele is fully seen by his fellow patients, and so beautifully sees them too.

As someone who has spent a lot of time in psych wards, both as a patient and as a visitor, I'm so glad this book is here to remind people that mad people exist. That they are not crazy, dangerous monsters, but people in need of compassion and understanding, and often simply respite from how painful it is to exist inside this body and brain. We need respite from the shunning, dehumanisation, the pretending that we aren't here. I'm so glad I requested this book, thank you to NetGalley and Europa for giving me the opportunity to read and review it.

"For all the crazies there have ever been, swallowed by the nuthouses of history."

Everything Calls for Salvation is a novella set in Italy in 1994. It takes place in a psychiatric ward over the course of a week as the main character wakes to discover he’s been sentenced to mandatory treatment and tries to make sense of what brought him to this point.

The novella consists of introspection on the part of the main character, and chronicling the goings-on of his new roommates. One part is significantly more engaging than the other.

Mencarelli makes some topical points about the treatment of mental health in society which are, from what I can tell, inspired by his own experiences. These passages are the stand-out moments in the novella, and often accompanied by instances of beautiful writing.

‘I hug everything about Madonnina, right down to the marrow - the concealed glory, the promised joy’

Everything Calls for Salvation is filled with a cast of unlikable characters, with whom I felt no emotional connection. My inability to root for or feel sympathy for any of the characters made it impossible to connect to the events of the novella.

I feel I did not read the same novella as the hordes of 4- and 5-star reviews. I do wonder if something was lost in translation, or whether it just strikes a chord with the original audience.

Winner of the 2020 Youth Strega Prize, Everything Calls for Salvation is a striking book by Italian author Mencarelli about a young man who wakes up one morning in June 1994, to discover he is in hospital, having been sentenced to a week of involuntary treatment in a psychiatric ward.

As it begins to dawn on him what has happened, and as he comes to terms with his having been committed, he finds himself relying on the other five mentally ill patients in the ward to steady his grip on his own sanity as he navigates his mental health with the doctors assigned to treat him.

The book is darkly comic, deeply human and distinctly authentic - the author apparently drew on his own experience in writing the book. Bonus points for the mention of Ireland v Italy in the Giants Stadium New York! A short, sharp, memorable read. 4/5 ⭐️

*Everything Calls for Salvation will be published on 20 October. Many thanks to @europaeditions and @netgalley for the ARC. As always, this is an honest review.

**I’ve also just spotted that it’s been made into a @Netflix series coming on 14 October.

Everything calls for salvation is a challenging book, not an easy book for some to read, it is full of emotions, it is perfectly well written and it deals with a difficult theme in an extremely delicate manner.

The book tells the story of a 20 year old boy, Daniele (the author) and his week spent in a psychiatry ward, undergoing compulsory medical treatment. It is easy to become attached to him and the story he tells.

Daniele Mencarelli opens our eyes to the issue of mental health, to those who suffer from it. It is a powerful and beautiful story, full of humanity.