Two Lumps of Sugar for Mr Anxiety

I was initially intrigued by the cover of this book and I am so glad that it drew me in.
As a long time sufferer of anxiety there were moments in this book that really hit home.
It was definitely different and not like anything I have read before but I enjoyed every second of it. I laughed, cried and my heart ached with relatable emotions. I have quoted some of my favourite moments of the book in this review.

"Don't get stuck in a job you hate, Mohan. You spend too much time at work to be doing some thing you loath. That's a waste of a life. And it's scary how quickly your life passes you by. Trust me, I'm speaking from experience."

He told me you cannot help everyone who is troubled in the world. You can help one person, though, and maybe another after that. If enough people helped just one person, maybe the world wouldn't be so miserable."

'Two Lumps of Sugar for Mr Anxiety' is a hidden gem, not only of literary fiction, but of mental health representation also. An incredibly affecting first few chapters is only the start of the emotional depths the author goes with this novel - soon sending its lead protagonist to India for work, leading to more exploration of mental illness, relationships, and the culture of India. It's immediately clear how fully Eli Wilde understands everything he is writing about.

By casting anxiety (both the emotion and the mental illness) as a character - Aftab - Eli Wilde does for this abstract ball of terror what Terry Pratchett did previously for Death. Taking a purely conceptual idea that people both hate and fear, and turning it into a lovable character only there to help, in his own way.

This decision makes it easy to empathise with the unrelatable, to understand 'The Thing' and allow anxiety sufferers like me to approach their own struggles with a greater understanding, and perhaps a greater toolset. Simultaneously, I can see this book allowing people who don't suffer from anxiety to gain a greater understanding also.

Not merely a book about anxiety however, this story also provides an equally entertaining and powerful narrative, with excellent characters, a fantastic level of depth, and a touch of powerful, thought provoking worldbuilding through the setting and characters that India provides.

In short, 'Two Lumps of Sugar for Mr Anxiety' is the next must read.

[Advanced Reader Copy provided by the author.]

I really enjoyed this story. I have read it twice because I wanted to get a good feel for the characters especially Aftab. I liked the visual representation of anxiety in Aftab. I think this is a good book in representing and raising awareness of mental health and how difficult it can be for people to face their anxiety and know how to get help.

I look forward to reading more from Eli Wilde.

This book is such a great representation of mental health. It tackles the subject of how difficult it is to talk about mental health and how hard it can be to ask for that help, or even know what help you need. There is a scene near the start of the book at a doctors surgery, that's only a couple of lines long but has really stuck with me about how tricky it is to get offered meaningful help, and how to know to ask for that help in the first place. The book is written in a way that slightly jumps through the significant moments in a mans mental health journey, and some of those scenes seem small and disjointed at first, but over the course of the book really build to show how these little events and triggers can really shape and cause issues in life. As someone who has been through anxiety and depression in my life I found this book very relatable. And the way the anxiety was it's own character and voice in the story really brought it to life and made you pay attention to it. By no means is this a gloomy book though, for all it deals with difficult topics, it's written in a really unique quirky way and although it's brutally honest about mental health, it easy to fly through it's pages. I would recommend this book to anyone; even if you've never suffered with these issues yourself it's a great way to see some of the things others go through. I'm so glad I picked this one up, and I'm going to see what other books this author has available because if they're even half as unique and interesting as this, I know I'll love them.

I’m not sure why this gets such mixed reviews. I enjoyed the writing style and everything flowed naturally. The ending was something I wasn’t expecting at all. A total literary sleight of hand. The mental health topics were interesting and I enjoyed learning about some of the anxiety methods. Do they work? Who knows. They seemed to help Jed a bit. I do hope he gets to go back to India.

By the time you finish the book, it feels almost haunting and ethereal. I took some time to ponder and realised this is really a good novel. The mental health condition is the main setting and liked the writing.

It was funny and it had nice ideas about anxiety and mental health. The protagonist and his mysterious new friend brought me a story like no other and I was fascinated by what happened.