All I can tell you

Cecilia Madonna Young makes her literary debut with a sharp and entertaining book about the anxieties and dreams of Gen Z.

Stickers of shiny stars coloring a box of antidepressants, suicidal thoughts interspersed with an overwhelming desire to live wildly, collages with poems by Leonard Cohen or Shakespeare. Fostering the density of life by listening to Fiona Apple's songs, but also getting drunk to 5 Seconds of Summer. Marathoning the joyful verses of Glee or the acidic dialogue of Succession ? It's undeniable: Gen Z is growing. But so what?

Well, to understand yourself, it's important, first, to listen to yourself. And to understand others, you have to let them speak. In her debut book, Cecilia Madonna Young offers a fun, sarcastic, and colorful journey into the imagination of an entire generation. What she does here is offer us a glimpse into a secret feed, a shameless oversharing of her thoughts on disorders like depression, anxiety, and anorexia nervosa, but also moments of ecstasy, like accidentally meeting her idol, and small epiphanies—while driving while blasting Lorde. Oh, and we can't forget the stories about coping with the grief of her mother's passing, or how to survive—after almost two years of social isolation—a college party full of semi-acquaintances.

Okay, growing up hurts. So, sharing the experience with others can be a good idea. Sharing the weight of existence can make us feel less lonely, more connected. Cecilia Madonna Young embraces the legacy of facing life's tragicomedy with irreverence and humor. Furthermore, she returns to those who read her a warm embrace and, even if things are strange, the certainty that we are not alone in this.