My thoughts, summarised:
- It is as authentic as you'd expect from someone who has lived what he wrote about
- It's overall pretty well written on a purely technical standpoint
- There's certainly a lot to relate to and a few lines that really spoke to me
- There, however, is also the part where the main character is really horny for every girl his age, and a few scenes related to that made me a bit uncomfortable
- A few scenes warmed my heart with little but very genuine things
- I'm not sure if this made my anxiety better with its hopeful outlook, or worse, because it made me think about it more. That's not something affecting my opinion of the book, I just figured I'd throw it in here too.
- Putting this book on a 1-5 star scale doesn't really feel right, so I won't rate it.

And finally: I hope that the creator of this work, Ned Vizzini, found peace. May his works help others understand, save others and save themselves from the tragedy that took him - I think that's the strongest way to honour him.