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nikrodee's review
4.0
You ever read something that makes your heart truly hurt for another person? This book will give you this feeling for everyone who goes through these constant struggles.
This book surprised me on so many levels. It's definitely about a very touchy subject, but I'm very glad Jasmine Warga brought it to light. Depression and suicide are very real issues in today's society and personally I think she does a really good job at describing the hollowness and just hopelessness in these two teenagers.
Aysel (and the rest of her small town) is rocked by a crime her father committed and still feels the impact in her everyday life. She struggles to go through the motions everyday and has given up altogether but she can never quite figure out the physics of leaving the world. Then she meets Roman and they form a suicide pact. Roman is reeling from guilt of loosing a family member at his hands, and he wants nothing more to leave the world behind to those who "deserve it."
When they start to accept and learn about each other throughout the book you can tell the tides are turning and you're rooting for it to happen the whole time. This book is so tragically and hauntingly beautiful to me and I really believe everyone should take time to read it.
This book surprised me on so many levels. It's definitely about a very touchy subject, but I'm very glad Jasmine Warga brought it to light. Depression and suicide are very real issues in today's society and personally I think she does a really good job at describing the hollowness and just hopelessness in these two teenagers.
Aysel (and the rest of her small town) is rocked by a crime her father committed and still feels the impact in her everyday life. She struggles to go through the motions everyday and has given up altogether but she can never quite figure out the physics of leaving the world. Then she meets Roman and they form a suicide pact. Roman is reeling from guilt of loosing a family member at his hands, and he wants nothing more to leave the world behind to those who "deserve it."
When they start to accept and learn about each other throughout the book you can tell the tides are turning and you're rooting for it to happen the whole time. This book is so tragically and hauntingly beautiful to me and I really believe everyone should take time to read it.
stcjnh_'s review
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book has my heart. I feel deeply connected and touched by this book as someone who experienced the same.
dilchh's review
4.0
Boy, was this a quick read for me or what? Now, don't get me wrong; when I say that this was a quick read it's not because it was not a fun read, as a matter of fact, I enjoyed this book quite a bit much that I had to finish it without further delay. I like the fact that there was a timeline in this book that you can follow through, so it does not really put you on an edge as to how the book would end; sure, you're still wondering whether or not the main character eventually kill themselves, but it's not as bad as not knowing when it's going to end.
Honestly, one thing was very annoying to me. What is up with the author's way of being vague about what/how/why Aysel's dad what he did? You can tell that from the first few pages that Aysel is as miserable as she is because of what Aysel's dad did prior to where the book start. At some point you knew what he did, but the author was like being vague about it, which I can understand because it should take a huge revealing session, but she kept on mentioning throughout the book over and over and over again but being annoyingly vague about it. Eventually, instead of making me curious about what Aysel's dad did, I was just straight up annoyed and can't gives two rats about it. Characters wise, after reading The Art of Being Normal, reading the characters in this book was definitely a walk in the park, the nice kind of park; everyone was obviously not overtly evil, if anything I would categorise them as fairly tame. Seriously, the so called 'bullying' in this book is nothing that I can't handle, but the depressing thoughts and the guilt and the what have you, yeah, maybe that's a bit out of my league.
Let's be honest here, when you have a guy and a girl in a YA book, most probably (emphasise on the word most) they'll end up liking each other or at least one of them would. So, that pretty small part is obviously predictable and it didn't surprise me at all. What surprised me is how the author works the story from there; she didn't make the whole love situation a complicated thing, it was just some condiment. The main issue was still about Aysel and Roman's suicide pact. It was nice to have the story sticks to the main theme even with a little bit of a stopover on 'hey-i-seem-to-have-a-bit-of-a-crush-on-you-who-would-have-thought-about-that-right-?' land.
I have nothing to complain about this book (well, except at how the author annoys me to no end with her vague way of keeping the information on what Aysel's did until almost the end of the book), everything about this book is not overtly written, everything was just simple which makes everything seems relatable. Go and give this book a try if you ever have any or some depressing thoughts, especially regarding suicide. I like the fact that this book although it obviously did not condone suicide, it didn't go and make this comment about how life is such a lollipop and rainbows and it would be such a shame if one was to kill themselves; it made the point that life was going to be hard, the road to recovery would not be easy but it's worth the try especially if you reach out and find someone that can help you go through it all.
Honestly, one thing was very annoying to me. What is up with the author's way of being vague about what/how/why Aysel's dad what he did? You can tell that from the first few pages that Aysel is as miserable as she is because of what Aysel's dad did prior to where the book start. At some point you knew what he did, but the author was like being vague about it, which I can understand because it should take a huge revealing session, but she kept on mentioning throughout the book over and over and over again but being annoyingly vague about it. Eventually, instead of making me curious about what Aysel's dad did, I was just straight up annoyed and can't gives two rats about it. Characters wise, after reading The Art of Being Normal, reading the characters in this book was definitely a walk in the park, the nice kind of park; everyone was obviously not overtly evil, if anything I would categorise them as fairly tame. Seriously, the so called 'bullying' in this book is nothing that I can't handle, but the depressing thoughts and the guilt and the what have you, yeah, maybe that's a bit out of my league.
Let's be honest here, when you have a guy and a girl in a YA book, most probably (emphasise on the word most) they'll end up liking each other or at least one of them would. So, that pretty small part is obviously predictable and it didn't surprise me at all. What surprised me is how the author works the story from there; she didn't make the whole love situation a complicated thing, it was just some condiment. The main issue was still about Aysel and Roman's suicide pact. It was nice to have the story sticks to the main theme even with a little bit of a stopover on 'hey-i-seem-to-have-a-bit-of-a-crush-on-you-who-would-have-thought-about-that-right-?' land.
I have nothing to complain about this book (well, except at how the author annoys me to no end with her vague way of keeping the information on what Aysel's did until almost the end of the book), everything about this book is not overtly written, everything was just simple which makes everything seems relatable. Go and give this book a try if you ever have any or some depressing thoughts, especially regarding suicide. I like the fact that this book although it obviously did not condone suicide, it didn't go and make this comment about how life is such a lollipop and rainbows and it would be such a shame if one was to kill themselves; it made the point that life was going to be hard, the road to recovery would not be easy but it's worth the try especially if you reach out and find someone that can help you go through it all.
rileyary's review
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
thrscldrn's review against another edition
5.0
I find this book easily relatable, and realistic. I, for one, felt so much while reading it. But most importantly, I felt understood somehow. Somewhere along the way, I felt like it could be my story or the story of someone else I know. At the same time, it also helped me understand a few things a haven't wrapped my brains around just yet.
felixhenry's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Alcohol
dumplingsz's review against another edition
4.0
Reread this after a couple of years of this book just chilling on my shelf, and I still remember how I felt so sad reading this as a teenager. It still made me sad this time around.
booksmaud's review against another edition
5.0
If I could, I'd give this book 6 stars. That's how much I LOVED this book.