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ccleeds7's review
3.0
*I received an e-arc of this book from BookSirens in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.*
CW: references to suicide.
It Helps With the Blues was... different.
Not necessarily bad different. And I thought the idea was good, just maybe not for me.
It Helps With the Blues is a short book, around the length of a novella, that is loosely inspired by The Great Gatsby (which becomes meta, as the main character becomes obsessed with TGG as well as Fitzgerald's other works, and compares himself to Nick, who is the model for this character).
It hit me about 2/3 of the way through the story that that was what was happening. The story was disjointed, but also meant to feel that way, but it also wasn't until that point when I realized when I didn't know the main character's name. The story is told in the first person, a bisexual 18yo boy getting ready to graduate from high school when a younger boy from his school kills himself. The rest of the story is how that impacts the MC and his friends/acquaintances, all of whom we seem to know better than the MC. The MC almost vanishes within the stories and feelings of everyone else, as the story becomes about them, rather than the MC.
I liked that the story showed how someone's suicide can affect those who survive them, even if they didn't necessarily know each other well, or even more than in passing. It illustrated mental health, but didn't really name anything, which I didn't like, and it seemed to blame the issues on stupid things - but it's the other characters making those assumptions, and I disagree with them often. While the writing is really good stylistically, and the execution of this idea was really good, I realized as I neared the book's end that I didn't really like any of the main characters, which got worse as the story progressed, building over time. Too many characters were making too many assumptions of other people, especially of the boy who died, even the characters who had known him well. Ironically, I like The Great Gatsby more than this. Did I really like the characters in that either - not really, but I thought they were more interesting and less annoying. The characters here, especially Jules, Joshua, and Gabriel, make so many assumptions, and they seem increasingly more condescending and presumptuous.
All in all, I would recommend this for those who are looking for a ya story that is written more as a piece of literary fiction, stylistically and characteristically.
CW: references to suicide.
It Helps With the Blues was... different.
Not necessarily bad different. And I thought the idea was good, just maybe not for me.
It Helps With the Blues is a short book, around the length of a novella, that is loosely inspired by The Great Gatsby (which becomes meta, as the main character becomes obsessed with TGG as well as Fitzgerald's other works, and compares himself to Nick, who is the model for this character).
It hit me about 2/3 of the way through the story that that was what was happening. The story was disjointed, but also meant to feel that way, but it also wasn't until that point when I realized when I didn't know the main character's name. The story is told in the first person, a bisexual 18yo boy getting ready to graduate from high school when a younger boy from his school kills himself. The rest of the story is how that impacts the MC and his friends/acquaintances, all of whom we seem to know better than the MC. The MC almost vanishes within the stories and feelings of everyone else, as the story becomes about them, rather than the MC.
Spoiler
The culmination of the story is the MC realizing that he needs to find help for himself as dealing with everyone else's problems, but not having anyone to support him, becomes too much.I liked that the story showed how someone's suicide can affect those who survive them, even if they didn't necessarily know each other well, or even more than in passing. It illustrated mental health, but didn't really name anything, which I didn't like, and it seemed to blame the issues on stupid things - but it's the other characters making those assumptions, and I disagree with them often. While the writing is really good stylistically, and the execution of this idea was really good, I realized as I neared the book's end that I didn't really like any of the main characters, which got worse as the story progressed, building over time. Too many characters were making too many assumptions of other people, especially of the boy who died, even the characters who had known him well. Ironically, I like The Great Gatsby more than this. Did I really like the characters in that either - not really, but I thought they were more interesting and less annoying. The characters here, especially Jules, Joshua, and Gabriel, make so many assumptions, and they seem increasingly more condescending and presumptuous.
All in all, I would recommend this for those who are looking for a ya story that is written more as a piece of literary fiction, stylistically and characteristically.
clari's review
5.0
In the Afterward the author explains the genesis of this novel originating from his teenage emotions which become later filtered through his adult understanding with overt influence from 'The Great Gatsby'. These elements create a work that combines the sensations of very personal moments within a detached narrative. Even when he is at the party, the narrator is watching without any sense of belonging.
Other people's stories of love, loss, and suicide happen around him, while he reaches for the next bottle of expensive whisky. Even within their flawed existences, these are very self aware teenagers who analyse themselves and their motives searching for understanding and meaning. The conscious stylistic decision to have a passive narrator forces questions of identity and how we respond to other people's tragedies to the forefront of the reading experience. Characters make judgements on each other and the narrator in a manner which examines how we create our own identities and how we sometimes simplify and complicate the people around us to reinforce our own sense of self.
Other people's stories of love, loss, and suicide happen around him, while he reaches for the next bottle of expensive whisky. Even within their flawed existences, these are very self aware teenagers who analyse themselves and their motives searching for understanding and meaning. The conscious stylistic decision to have a passive narrator forces questions of identity and how we respond to other people's tragedies to the forefront of the reading experience. Characters make judgements on each other and the narrator in a manner which examines how we create our own identities and how we sometimes simplify and complicate the people around us to reinforce our own sense of self.
quirkybibliophile's review
3.0
I was a bit skeptical in picking up this book due to the topics that it covers but I am glad that I picked it up. I think the book does a good job of handling a teenager's reaction to growing up and the confusion that comes along with that. I liked the way that other people's letters were included throughout this book to add to the story and how the letters were written for our main character but seemed to be speaking to the reader. I also liked the way that the main character was directly speaking to you as a reader as they explained life events to try to explain his actions. There were moments in which I was frustrated with our main character because of the way the character speaks to others and of others. I was also frustrated with the biphobia in this book and what seemed to be mocking of sexuality and gender by some of the characters.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
owls_rainbow's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Ebook provided by BookSirens for review. Thank you.
This was a strange and engaging little book. We follow a nameless narrator and his connections? I'm not sure how to word it. We open with our narrator and his friend Jules just hanging out, she then invites Dennis who is struggling with something. We later learn that Dennis has taken his own life.
What follows is our narrator pondering over his various friendships, peppered with letters some have written themselves. In fact the only person who doesn't write a letter is Estelle. Once upon a time he bullied them - sidenote but I loved how self-aware he was about his past mistakes - but a chance meeting leads to an almost something, the overarching theme to this section is his pride in Estelle discovering their identity, and getting rid of an apparently racist boyfriend.
Our other characters are Gabriel, openly gay and angry at the world, and Joshua, Jules's younger brother who had a connection to Dennis and feels partially responsible. A small cast yet effective in its simplicity.
At 178 pages by GoodReads description this is a short book and I think that would be my main criticism. It is great as it is but I wanted more. More backstory, more connections. I wasn't a fan of the way things were abandoned with Gabriel and I hated how abrupt the ending was. Did our narrator sort his crap out? Who was he?
This was a strange and engaging little book. We follow a nameless narrator and his connections? I'm not sure how to word it. We open with our narrator and his friend Jules just hanging out, she then invites Dennis who is struggling with something. We later learn that Dennis has taken his own life.
What follows is our narrator pondering over his various friendships, peppered with letters some have written themselves. In fact the only person who doesn't write a letter is Estelle. Once upon a time he bullied them - sidenote but I loved how self-aware he was about his past mistakes - but a chance meeting leads to an almost something, the overarching theme to this section is his pride in Estelle discovering their identity, and getting rid of an apparently racist boyfriend.
Our other characters are Gabriel, openly gay and angry at the world, and Joshua, Jules's younger brother who had a connection to Dennis and feels partially responsible. A small cast yet effective in its simplicity.
At 178 pages by GoodReads description this is a short book and I think that would be my main criticism. It is great as it is but I wanted more. More backstory, more connections. I wasn't a fan of the way things were abandoned with Gabriel and I hated how abrupt the ending was. Did our narrator sort his crap out? Who was he?
pagesofbellerose's review
Unfortunately, the writing and I just don't mesh well. It seems as though the author tries to make a play into humor, but it doesn't come across very well, and instead, feels forced and a bit boring.
circereads's review
3.0
I found the main character in this book fully insufferable, and didn't like the other characters much better. The main character was repeatedly self-absorbed and so convinced that he was less egotistical than he had been in the past, when I viewed him as someone who had barely stopped being a bully, much less achieved significant character growth. I wanted much better for Estelle and Jules, and found Gabriel the most complex and interesting character. I really wanted to love this book as I love nearly all queer books, but I didn't. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
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