Reviews with content warning for Bullying - If Tomorrow Doesn't Come

The book deals with important topics that affected me personally, the author writes in a very pleasant way. But there are some small downsides.

The main character's best friend, Cass, treats Avery quite... toxic. For example, she doesn't spend time with her after school, devoting herself to her girlfriend because she is from another school. I myself had friends at both my former school and my current school and found time for both; Cass resents Avery for not telling her anything, but she doesn't even try herself, because she thinks only of herself; the main character finds herself in a situation where she might die, and instead of being happy that her friend didn't die, she resents her for going to save her family. Even though she undergoes a transformation, I still can't understand why the main character is in love with her. After all, she hasn't done anything but be pretty XD their friend Omar isn't exactly good for Avery either, as he tells her to leave Cass alone, and the reason is that he's straight (at the beginning of the novel, the main character hasn't done a coming out yet) and he's afraid it will destroy Cass. I don't quite understand this hatred of heterosexuals and the claim that they are the bad ones, nothing but spoil the relationship, and so on. For Omar and Cass, this is a reason to treat Avery worse, because she won't understand what they are going through. Falling in love is falling in love, I don't know what's so complicated about it. It reminds me of the situation in Ophelia After All, where the main character's friends laughed at her passion for flowers. I don't like how Avery was treated by her friends (her parents didn't approve of her sexual orientation either, but at least they didn't kick her out of the house and stop loving her). Friends should be there for each other for better or worse, not discriminate based on their sexual orientations. Cass is often selfish, everything is supposed to be her way and in every conversation she is the one who comes first. I don't buy the romance thread as a whole, although Cass also undergoes a transformation. Although she disappointed me with one thing.

Theoretically there is little apocalypse here, but it didn't bother me. The thread of depression and Christian faith was conducted fairly and respectfully. It's a good position to see how some people who are lost somewhere in finding themselves feel.

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trussell12's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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lycangrrl's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

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cecinamo's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.75

This book was insanely good! Cass and Avery have my heart T^T💕 . I loved reading this book, but it was also quite difficult at times. It really broke my heart how hard Avery was trying, but just couldn’t get any help. I love Cass so much! 💗💗🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈 I thought both of them were kinda relatable xD o^o.

I was so proud of Avery for standing up to the stupid priest in the end! Also her parents still being supportive of her, even though they were christians made me cry. It was so sweet! Their family in general was so beautiful, because even though they were imperfect the loved each other so much ;-;.

Teddy was obviously the best character ;D.

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velokei's review against another edition

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4.0

Very sweet, I didn’t fully fall in love with the story but it’s a very good read for people who are searching for meaning in their life and Lgbt people who deal with religious trauma

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the_true_monroe's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

Wow. I had this book on my wish list for a couple of months before it came out and read it as soon as I could. The amount of emotions that overcame me reading this are more than almost every book has exceeded, probably since I related so much to at least one piece of Avery, Cass, Aisha, Peter and Georgia but especially Avery. The way she describes her experiences with depression and suicidal ideation, and it’s progression, was so similar to my own experiences- it really got into the nitty gritty rather than just the overarching theme of depression and suicide. The representation from an LGBTQIA+, race/ ethnicity and religious perspective was also wonderful.

The only reason for the 4 stars instead of 5 is that it took me a while to get into the book and I was confused at first with all of the characters being mentioned, prior to the character development which ended up being phenomenal.

Something else I liked about this book were the realistic portrayals of families who love each other so much, and would do anything for each other but also can cause irreversible harm to their loved ones and be a major source of trauma.

Also, while the “doomsday” plot is used a lot, the way the impending world destruction was incorporated into the plot was unique as in the book did not center around the asteroid and a journey of survival but rather it centers around family, friendship, reasons for living, and doing what is best for yourself.

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