Find your next great read for Mental Illness Awareness Week by exploring my reviews of these amazing YA books about mental illness.

Many YA book lists about mental illness focus on depression or anxiety. While generalized anxiety, depression, and social phobias are the most common types of mental illness in teens, they are not the only ones. Early onset Schizophrenia also affects teens for example, as well as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).

If you are interested in exploring a more diverse collection of YA books about mental illness that span the spectrum of conditions affecting mood, thinking, and behavior, then this list is for you.

Reading young adult books about mental illness is a great way for teens to see through the viewpoint of someone with a mental illness. And through this lens, we might gain some insight about the richness and complexity of what it means to live in that world.

Here are my personal recommendations for young adult books about mental illness that you’ll want to check out.

Unquiet Riot by Khristina Chess

“Best friends don’t label each other as crazy or rat each other out to adults.” ― Khristina Chess, quote from Unquiet Riot

Riley is not a psychopath.

It’s just that he was born unable to feel emotions. Is that person embarrassed or insecure? Suspicious or curious? It’s confusing when someone says, “Please don’t hate me,” but their face says, “You should definitely hate me for occupying the same planet right now because I wrecked your car.”

Riley’s life is filled with mind-numbing boredom until Henry arrives at his school. Henry’s amazing! Henry believes the world is populated by robots posing as humans. He believes the shadows in his room are monsters escaping from the electrical wires, and he sleeps with knives under his mattresses. For Riley, visiting Henry’s world is like being a tourist in a foreign land.

When police question Riley about Henry’s disappearance, Riley lies about their dangerous game and scrambles to save himself from being named accessory to mass murder. If Henry talks, Riley loses.

When someone feels nothing, do things like loyalty, friendship, and trust really matter?

Exhilarating and mind-bending! What I love most about Unquiet Riot is the slow unfolding of the friendship between the boys and the way Henry’s mental illness becomes revealed a little at a time. I worried for him. Riley is a great unreliable narrator who is witty and scary. This is the kind of authentic novel that really shows how factors like bullying, mental illness, and lack of teacher and parental involvement can allow an environment for a mass school violence event to occur.

You won’t want to miss this powerful YA book about mental illness that explores the consequences of remaining silent. Fans of My Sister Rosa will love this psychological thriller.

The Cutting Edge of Friendship by Khristina Chess

“Sometimes my inside hurts so bad that I need to make the outside hurt worse so the inside will stop.” ― Khristina Chess, quote from The Cutting Edge of Friendship

Sadie and Elana are keeping dangerous secrets.

Best friends since elementary school, they know everything about each other, but on the night of the fireworks, something terrible happened to Sadie that she hasn’t told anyone. She can’t even say the word to herself. Instead, she’s started cutting to deal with the pain.

Elana has a secret of her own; she’s texting Hunter and making plans for a clandestine meeting with him. She doesn’t know what he did or why he really wants to keep their relationship secret.

To end this dangerous cat-and-mouse game, Sadie must reclaim her courage and rescue Elana before a rapist can attack again.

So powerful! The Cutting Edge of Friendship instantly drew me into the tangled conflict, and I couldn’t look away until the girls were safe.

What I love most about The Cutting Edge of Friendship is Sadie’s fierce and resilient character and the raw and authentic emotion as this painful story escalates toward its thrilling climax. This is the kind of novel that really shows how someone self harms to cope with pain in the aftermath of sexual assault. You won’t want to miss this powerful YA book about cutting that explores the complicated nature of friendship. Fans of Girl in Pieces and Speak will enjoy this one.

In fact, Khristina Chess has several YA novels that deal with various mental illnesses. She’s such a great author that she’s on my list of Best YA Authors to Binge on Kindle Unlimited because she’s all-around amazing!

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

"I think we're all quite mad. Some of us are just more discreet about it." ― Mindy McGinnis, quote from A Madness So Discreet

Imagine that you could be imprisoned in an insane asylum just because you're a woman and a male in your life wants to get rid of you. This sort of thing happened to women in the last century. For real. This is what happened to Grace, the protagonist in A Madness So Discreet. The man who sent her to the facility was her own father, and the inconvenient truth was that she was pregnant with his child.

This is the beginning of A Madness So Discreet. But the novel does not linger in the horrors of lobotomies and torture of mental patients. Instead, Grace escapes into the hands of a doctor who uses her talents to help solve murders.

As a serial killer mystery unfolds, though, you know that a showdown between Grace and her father, a powerful senator, is coming. He thinks she is dead. He is about to move on to her younger sister. She is motivated to stop him, even at risk to herself.

What happens in the end of this dark novel is astonishing. No spoilers here. Just treat yourself and read it. Mindy McGinnis is near the top of my favorite YA authors. A Madness So Discreet is one of her early works, so I didn't think it was as fabulous as Female of the Species or Heroine. Still, it was classic McGinnis and worth every single page. If you want a twisty YA book about mental illness, be sure to check this one out.

Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton

“Real is subjective. There are a lot of things that aren't actually real to everyone. Pain, for example. It's only real to the one experiencing it. Everyone else has to take your word for it.”― Julia Walton, quote from Words on Bathroom Walls

This story about a character with schizophrenia is told through journal entries or letters to a therapist, and so it took me a long time to connect to Adam. I'm glad I stuck with it, though, because I really enjoyed how the book ended. I appreciated that there weren't easy answers for his illness and that the people in his life came through for him in unexpected ways.

Don’t miss this small YA book that tackles the big issue of mental illness in a loving, beautiful, and hopeful way.

The Wicker King by K. Ancrum

"Perception is relative. So is sanity, if you think about it. It's totally a Minority vs. Majority thing. If you fall on one side of the line, take a ticket and proceed. If you fall on the other, shit gets real." ― K. Ancrum, quote from The Wicker King

This novel is a fast-paced read with super-compelling characters in a relationship that evolves into a more dangerous thing with each passing page. I had a paperback copy and enjoyed the layout and visual design of the experience of the book. You can physically see the descent into darkness on the side of the pages. The creativity in this technique makes this book special.

There are moments between these two boys that are truly chilling, when Jack's dominance over August goes too far:

"We have to drown you," Jack continued bluntly. "Or just nearly enough that you pass through the gates, but not so much that you can't come back from there."

I won't give any more away. The psychological dynamic between these two characters will draw you in and keep the pages turning!

I recommend splurging on the paperback for this one so you can enjoy the visuals.

My Sister Rosa by Justine Larbalestier

“Killing things shouldn't make you happy, Rosa. That's why they're worried.” ― Justine Larbalester, quote from My Sister Rosa

I went into this book with high expectations that Rosa would be some creepy 10-year-old future (or current) serial killer, and that story question drove the plot for me. What terrible thing will she do?

Although there are some slow points, the pacing in the second half of the book is excellent, and events took some thrilling and quite unexpected turns.

Most of the conversations between Che and his sister Rosa, who is a psychopath, are fascinating, dark, and disturbing.

Rosa shrugs. “How should I know? I asked Seimone lots of questions. She answered them all. I showed an interest. I know all sorts of things about her now.”

She’s a seriously messed-up kid.

Rosa smirks though she can’t see the phone. “I’m going to get a dog, Che. When I get it I won’t hurt it. You’ll see. I keep my promises.”

Indeed she does.

You don’t want to miss this chilling YA book about mental illness. And if reading about characters with “empathy erosion” interests you, you’ll find a list of similar titles in my post on Chilling Teen Psychopath Books That Evoke Strong Emotions.

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland

“Everyone's got something. Some people are just better actors than others.” ― Tamara Ireland Stone, quote from Every Last Word

I loved everything about this book. Sam is a flawed character with a story to share. Although on the surface she looks like a typical teenager with the normal set of diverse friends and interests, she is something else. She has a secret, OCD, which she hides from everyone.

Watching her new friendships and romantic relationship with AJ develop was compelling, and I was pleasantly surprised by some of the plot twists along the way. The poetry is awesome! Everything about Sam's world felt very vivid and rich--Poet's Corner, the swimming pool, Sue's office... The Odometer! There is so much depth to this novel. What a satisfying read all around.

Don’t miss this moving and beautiful YA book about mental illness.

Willow by Julia Hoban

“It's hard to keep a secret when it's written all over your body.” ― Julia Hoban, quote from Willow

In this complex novel about self-harming and grief, I met the wonderful character of Willow. She is an orphan with terrible secrets. Guilt. Pain. Numbness. And love.

I can’t speak about whether or not Willow suffers from a deep self-harming mental illness, or if she’s simply a teenager who doesn’t know how to deal with the terrible things that happened in her life. Cutting seems like an answer. She feels alone and sad. At any rate, the book felt emotional and honest to me. I loved reading her story and connecting with her pain as she journeyed to wholeness.

Be sure to check out this thought-provoking and heartbreaking YA book that wrestles with cutting, grief, and the healing power of love.

Other YA Books about Mental Illness

If depression and anxiety are the mental health issues that you want to understand more deeply, you can find also several great Mental Illness Book Lists on Goodreads. Be sure to look at my post, Other Good Reads, which has a comprehensive list of reviews of YA books by type of tough topic.

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