I enjoyed this book, I think it's strength is in it's strangeness and I almost wish it had leaned into that more. The main character's journey to deal with his anxiety, the repression of memories, and learning to change with the world are well-told and I think would be quite inspirational to a person of around the same age (50s) who is going through something similar. Certain aspects of the plot reminded me of a middle-aged version of the book We Were Liars - the twist, the repressed memory, the exaggerated emotions, though this is more absurdist.

Disappointing.

With that gorgeous cover and title, I had high hopes for this, however, within the first fifty or so pages I realized this was not what I expected- actually it felt as if I was being catfished.

As much as I loved the concept of anxiety taking a physical form, the execution was awful. The writing was mediocre at best with a lot of pointless, crude dialogue that didn't add to the plot. How many times can I read about the same conversations about poop?

Some of the ways India was discussed and described came off insulting. I'm unsure if that was the author's intention- to make every character gross, or if it's just bad writing. Nevertheless, I was uncomfortable reading it.

I'm sad to say this was disappointing because the cover and the title are simply gorgeous. Too bad.

What would your "self-talk" look like if you could put a face to it? I think we all have an Aftab hiding inside of us. Sometimes Aftab is wise, telling you not to waste your life on a job you hate, and sometimes Aftab cruelly tells you how horrible you were to your own mother. Generalized anxiety is portrayed pretty well. I found the beginning of the book rather depressing, but that is not the author's fault. The relationship Jed had with his mother and his apparent self-absorbed ignorance of her feelings made me sad. I empathized with her attempts to talk to her son about death while he continually put her off.
Not a happy go lucky book, but a well written tale to be sure. #netgalley #TwoLumpsOfSugarForMrAnxiety

2.75
The cover art and title really drew me in. However, this is a really uncomfortable read. Which can be good and bad. In this case for me personally it was bad. I was incredibly turned off by all the talk of “pooping”
Overall this book actually made me anxious, and kind of just yucky feeling.

I got to the 20% mark in this book and had to put it down. Something about the way the narrator portrays women made me uncomfy. And I get that third world countries may not be the cleanest, but how many descriptions of people pooping on the sidewalks do you need in a book?

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.

2.5/5 stars

This book. . . stumps me a little bit. Going into it I believed that it was a book about anxiety and confronting the ‘monster’ that it can make it self out to be. And while that was mostly true, I found myself very close to DNF’ing half way through. There is a good 20% of this book that is focused entirely on feces and seeing people use the bathroom in the street and it’s a little overwhelming and disgusting. There is only so much you can read about it before you begin to get sick to your stomach.

I finished the book out of spite and because I wanted to know how Jed confronts his anxiety. The twist at the end is what pushed my rating up to 2.5! But after unending talk of feces and conversations that seemed jumbled (which is not a flaw as Jed is an unreliable narrator), I cannot rank it higher. This book was very difficult for me and I personally would not recommend it to anyone. It has a strong start and finish, but the middle is hard to stomach and the only thing that made it bearable was Aftab.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for granting me access to this book!

What a perfectly moody read: Two Lumps of Sugar for Mr Anxiety follows a fifty-year-old British man, Jed, in the aftermath of his lonely old mother’s death — as he realises that he could have treated his Mum better; that he could have treated his wife and children better over the years, too — and as he grows to despise his job, Jed decides to take a three month contract in India; for the extravagant salary and the break from his incessant daily grind. But while Jed might think he can run away from his problems, some of those problems insist on being acknowledged; even if they need to take physical form and watch Jed while he sleeps, and follow along with him to the office, and join him in endless cups of tea. As a narrative of one man’s slow slide into anxiety and despair, author Eli Wilde has written an affecting account of a mind turning back on itself, but this is also an entertaining book filled with dark humour and witty characters. Perfectly moody and touching and sharp; three and a half stars rounded down, but definitely recommended.

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."