Synopsis:

Your thoughts are contagious.

Rose thought she’d broken free. She escaped her mother’s cruel manipulation, left behind the gilded prison of her childhood, and ran straight into the arms of someone who promised safety. But safety, like love, can be a lie.

Five years and seven months later, Rose is an addict, her mind is unraveling, and the man who once promised salvation has become another ghost to outrun. Haunted by the realization that she’s trapped in a different kind of cage—one built from fear, dependence, and the echoes of control.

Dysphoria is a dark exploration of the cycles of abuse and the way toxic relationships can haunt a person’s mind. As Rose spirals deeper, she must confront the most terrifying question of all: what if the person she needs to escape from most… is herself?

About Dysphoria:

Rose tells her story in alternating chapters of past and present. An unreliable narrator, she starts the novel with a red herring; a prologue with the promise that she’ll follow her dreams to a better life. Chapter one subverts this promise by revealing that her life has become an unmitigated disaster.

Dysphoria is a semi-autobiographical novel. I took the worst parts of myself and the trauma I’ve faced to construct the core of the story. I’ve found myself stuck in loops of abusive relationships, stuck in pits of depression, and desperate enough to do anything to get out. I was 18 years old when I wrote the very first draft of Dysphoria; an outlet for my abuse to rewrite the narrative quickly spiraled out of control. Many of the conversations in the novel are fictitious reconstructions of some of the worst things I’ve ever said or heard… I hope you don’t judge Rose too harshly for she is an amalgamation of the darkest parts of my heart.