Reviews

This section contains comments from readers together with links to reviews by experienced book bloggers. None of the readers or reviewers is known personally to the author or to anyone at the publishing company.

Reader Comments

Many of the comments in this section come from beta and sensitivity readers who read the book prior to publication. Sensitivity readers looked at issues around gender, sexuality, religious belief, suicidal ideation, mental health and neurodivergence. Comments from readers who’ve bought the book since publication are added on an on-going basis.

Maciek

This book is fantastic but I’m not going to lie, it’s a difficult story. Mental health issues, sexual and gender identity, suicidal thoughts, the whole “story within a story” and “overlapping realities” concepts–these things are difficult. But it’s one of those rare manuscripts that matches (and, dare I say, surpasses) the quality of literary work […]

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Alice

What the author has managed to do is write a deep story about current issues that are always intensely debated and usually divide people. I loved the fact that there is absolutely no judgement from the author on either regard of the issues discussed, albeit it might just be that the main character’s standpoint is […]

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Sophie M

My overall impression of The Making of Brio McPride was that it was a sad, powerful, and soul-searching journey. It has a really interesting discussion within the book about religion, gender and sexual identity, therapy practices, and social media. I did not expect to feel so deeply about Brio when I first started reading, but […]

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Nicky L

I loved the concept of this story. I think AI has a lot of potential in the mental health world, particularly since waiting lists to access help are so long at the moment, so this presents an interesting idea and also highlights that it would be fraught with difficulty and would be a moral maze. […]

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Book Bloggers and Reviewers

Boots, Shoes & Fashion

This week I’m reviewing “The Making Of Brio McPride” by R.A.Ruegg . This book is the inspiration for a film due to be released this year – Spiked!

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Pallavi Sareen

“The Making of Brio McPride” by R.A. Ruegg is a contemporary fiction novel that delves into complex and sensitive themes such as identity, and mental illness.

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AnnaBookBel

Pitched as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time meets Life of Pi and coming with a pledge that 30% of the royalties from the book would go to UK mental health charities, this debut novel by a ghost and copy writer, was worth a punt.

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Life in a Break Down

Are you looking for a new contemporary fiction read, that delves into difficult and sensitive themes such as gender, identity and mental illness? Then this book might be for you.

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Indie Reader

R.A.Ruegg’s THE MAKING OF BRIO McPRIDE is two novels in one: fifteen year-old Bree (also known as Brio) faces too many challenges in their short life – no mother, school bullies, missing father, and severe mental health issues.

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