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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
It wasn't perfect but deserves 5 stars because it was important and honestly, regardless of your age; religious viewpoints (its relevant); or whether or not you have experienced mental illness this book should be required reading for everyone. It's a little predictable but this doesn't matter, its a book I wish I could have read when I was the main character, Declan's age.
A really interesting look at suicide/ depression and the impact it has on those around them.
Trigger warnings: depression, suicide, child abuse, graphic description of jumping in front of a train.
Holy hell. This book was...brutal. I mean, pretty incredible. But really freaking brutal.
This is essentially a Sliding Doors style situation. Declan's life is falling apart, and he decides that the only way forward is to jump in front of a train. But after he does, he sees how his life would have unfolded if he'd paused at the last minute.
I was a liiiiittle concerned about how this was going to deal with mental illness, but I think it did a pretty damned good job of dealing with toxic masculinity and the idea that men need to bottle everything up or they're not manly. I think it did a solid job of demonstrating that while from the outside, it can look like someone is overreacting to something relatively small, but there's actually far more going on that you're not seeing.
Like when you first start reading this, it's like "Declan. Honey. Lisa's plane could have been delayed. She might not have phone reception. Maybe her phone's out of battery. Maybe her mother - who you know is batshit crazy - took her phone or her SIM card. JUST. WAIT. A. LITTLE. LONGER." But the more you read, the more you realise that the whole situation with Lisa was the tip of the iceberg and that he actually had about ten years worth of mental health issues that have built up and built up and built up with him never feeling like he can say anything to anyone.
So yeah. I was a little bit scared going into this. But it definitely delivered.
Holy hell. This book was...brutal. I mean, pretty incredible. But really freaking brutal.
This is essentially a Sliding Doors style situation. Declan's life is falling apart, and he decides that the only way forward is to jump in front of a train. But after he does, he sees how his life would have unfolded if he'd paused at the last minute.
I was a liiiiittle concerned about how this was going to deal with mental illness, but I think it did a pretty damned good job of dealing with toxic masculinity and the idea that men need to bottle everything up or they're not manly. I think it did a solid job of demonstrating that while from the outside, it can look like someone is overreacting to something relatively small, but there's actually far more going on that you're not seeing.
Like when you first start reading this, it's like "Declan. Honey. Lisa's plane could have been delayed. She might not have phone reception. Maybe her phone's out of battery. Maybe her mother - who you know is batshit crazy - took her phone or her SIM card. JUST. WAIT. A. LITTLE. LONGER." But the more you read, the more you realise that the whole situation with Lisa was the tip of the iceberg and that he actually had about ten years worth of mental health issues that have built up and built up and built up with him never feeling like he can say anything to anyone.
So yeah. I was a little bit scared going into this. But it definitely delivered.
”When your mind cracks and your nerve endings are rupturing, it’s weird how grey everything looks, even on the most perfect days.”
***4.5 STARS***
Trigger Warning - Abuse and Suicide.
The Pause is a story that follows a boy named Declan who has recently been through a difficult time, this results in Declan attempting suicide. However, this story follows two paths one is if Declan had gone along with it. The other is his life if he had paused. This story makes you laugh (Declan’s mum is my favourite character ever), makes you cry and definitely makes you appreciate the little things in life.
The Pause definitely took me for a ride with my emotions. One second I would be laughing at a comment made by Declan’s mum and the next it’d be a different story. I feel like I enjoyed this book so much because it has similar aspects to a movie (also a book i believe) known as It’s Kind of a Funny Story which to this day is one of my favourite movies to watch. In this book you meet two of Declan’s friends known as Chris and Maaaate (Yes it has to be Maaaate, read and you’ll understand), they’re funny characters and I enjoyed them a lot. Lisa is also a key character in this book but i don’t want to say much about her because i don’t want to spoil aspects, basically she is Declan’s girlfriend and both of them have their own struggles.
Declan: The whole book is written from his perspective while the ‘if he paused’ chapters definitely outweighed the ‘if he jumped’ chapters it was needed in order to understand why Declan wanted to in the first place. I enjoyed his character and how a sudden moment of stopping made him realise that life is more than just that one bad thing that happened, a lot more. I think his story and character just gives off a positive message to a lot of people and I just really appreciate it.
Overall, i enjoyed this book and it was definitely a slightly heavy read mood wise but the comedic aspects intertwined into the writing helped. Definitely open to reading more of John Larkin’s books in the future!
***4.5 STARS***
Trigger Warning - Abuse and Suicide.
The Pause is a story that follows a boy named Declan who has recently been through a difficult time, this results in Declan attempting suicide. However, this story follows two paths one is if Declan had gone along with it. The other is his life if he had paused. This story makes you laugh (Declan’s mum is my favourite character ever), makes you cry and definitely makes you appreciate the little things in life.
The Pause definitely took me for a ride with my emotions. One second I would be laughing at a comment made by Declan’s mum and the next it’d be a different story. I feel like I enjoyed this book so much because it has similar aspects to a movie (also a book i believe) known as It’s Kind of a Funny Story which to this day is one of my favourite movies to watch. In this book you meet two of Declan’s friends known as Chris and Maaaate (Yes it has to be Maaaate, read and you’ll understand), they’re funny characters and I enjoyed them a lot. Lisa is also a key character in this book but i don’t want to say much about her because i don’t want to spoil aspects, basically she is Declan’s girlfriend and both of them have their own struggles.
Declan: The whole book is written from his perspective while the ‘if he paused’ chapters definitely outweighed the ‘if he jumped’ chapters it was needed in order to understand why Declan wanted to in the first place. I enjoyed his character and how a sudden moment of stopping made him realise that life is more than just that one bad thing that happened, a lot more. I think his story and character just gives off a positive message to a lot of people and I just really appreciate it.
Overall, i enjoyed this book and it was definitely a slightly heavy read mood wise but the comedic aspects intertwined into the writing helped. Definitely open to reading more of John Larkin’s books in the future!
Every so often a book comes along ...
this is that book.
Review to come :)
this is that book.
Review to come :)
Actual rating - 4.5 stars
This book gripped me from the very beginning. It was beautiful and not only full of sadness, but joy and laughter too. Declan suffers depression and anxiety, and The Pause explores how mental illness doesn't discriminate. No matter how perfect your life is or what has happened to you, anyone can fall victim.
For a good majority of the novel, we explore what happens if Declan pauses, and doesn't make the jump in front of the oncoming train. It's absolutely heart wrenching and there are so many parts in regards to depression that resonated with me. While some of the writing may seem a tad frantic or weirdly jumbled, it made perfect sense as it came straight from Declan's confused thoughts about his depression after coming to terms that he has it. The Pause doesn't try and gloss over the importance of medication as well, in fact it's encouraged and portrayed in a positive light, which is something you don't really see in YA and is something that really needs to change!
"That's the thing when your mind cracks. You don't know that it's cracked because the very thing that lets you know you have a cracked mind is the very thing that's cracked"
I really loved Declan's character, his struggle was so raw, yet he had his many good days to accompany his bad ones. Which is exactly how depression can be. You may not feel like shit all the time, and because of this, some people may not be taken seriously. The dialogue made me laugh several times throughout and John Larkin has a talent for blending something as serious and horrible as suicide with laughter and light heartedness.
The relationships with Declan and his family was really well done. His family is dysfunctional in all sorts of ways, and I'm pretty sure it was heavily implied his sister had ADD or something similar, but the banter between Declan and his father and tender relationship between him and his mother brought so much love and happiness into this novel, it made it a joy to read despite the subject matter.
This novel gave me so many mixed emotions. More than twice, I managed to tuck away the fact that this was a novel about suicide but would then remember at the end of a particularly happy chapter that Declan was more or less dead, and would end up crying for ten minutes because I didn't want it to be true. At one point towards the end, I ended up putting the book down and cried on my boyfriend's shoulder while I tried to explain to him what was happening. I was SO attached to these characters and I got incredibly attached to Declan's story. His girlfriend/love, Lisa was written gorgeously and their relationship was tender and beautiful. My heart ached for her and she, like Declan, made me laugh and made me cry.
Oh, and for all you Aussies out there, John Larkin is an Australian author and Declan's story is set in Sydney, so there are lots of bits and pieces that will make you smile. My personal favourites were the jabs at Tony Abbott and bigoted bogans in general (particularly in reference to the bigot's opinions on "boat people", seeing a character have such a strong opinion on this issue was fantastic). Oh, and also Declan's career list! Hilarious.
My only qualm with The Pause was how much their Dad was picked on in the family (the poor guy couldn't catch a break), but this was pretty minor and really didn't annoy me for the most part!
I feel like I've really struggled to put my feelings about this book into words. I loved pretty much everything about it, and yet this review has probably done nothing to convince you to read it a hope you go out and buy this immediately because it was such an experience all the way through. Regardless of whether or not you've had experience with mental illness, I highly recommend this book. The Pause is a heart wrenching novel which will make you cry, but also heartwarming enough to make you laugh in all the right moments.
This book gripped me from the very beginning. It was beautiful and not only full of sadness, but joy and laughter too. Declan suffers depression and anxiety, and The Pause explores how mental illness doesn't discriminate. No matter how perfect your life is or what has happened to you, anyone can fall victim.
For a good majority of the novel, we explore what happens if Declan pauses, and doesn't make the jump in front of the oncoming train. It's absolutely heart wrenching and there are so many parts in regards to depression that resonated with me. While some of the writing may seem a tad frantic or weirdly jumbled, it made perfect sense as it came straight from Declan's confused thoughts about his depression after coming to terms that he has it. The Pause doesn't try and gloss over the importance of medication as well, in fact it's encouraged and portrayed in a positive light, which is something you don't really see in YA and is something that really needs to change!
"That's the thing when your mind cracks. You don't know that it's cracked because the very thing that lets you know you have a cracked mind is the very thing that's cracked"
I really loved Declan's character, his struggle was so raw, yet he had his many good days to accompany his bad ones. Which is exactly how depression can be. You may not feel like shit all the time, and because of this, some people may not be taken seriously. The dialogue made me laugh several times throughout and John Larkin has a talent for blending something as serious and horrible as suicide with laughter and light heartedness.
The relationships with Declan and his family was really well done. His family is dysfunctional in all sorts of ways, and I'm pretty sure it was heavily implied his sister had ADD or something similar, but the banter between Declan and his father and tender relationship between him and his mother brought so much love and happiness into this novel, it made it a joy to read despite the subject matter.
This novel gave me so many mixed emotions. More than twice, I managed to tuck away the fact that this was a novel about suicide but would then remember at the end of a particularly happy chapter that Declan was more or less dead, and would end up crying for ten minutes because I didn't want it to be true. At one point towards the end, I ended up putting the book down and cried on my boyfriend's shoulder while I tried to explain to him what was happening. I was SO attached to these characters and I got incredibly attached to Declan's story. His girlfriend/love, Lisa was written gorgeously and their relationship was tender and beautiful. My heart ached for her and she, like Declan, made me laugh and made me cry.
Oh, and for all you Aussies out there, John Larkin is an Australian author and Declan's story is set in Sydney, so there are lots of bits and pieces that will make you smile. My personal favourites were the jabs at Tony Abbott and bigoted bogans in general (particularly in reference to the bigot's opinions on "boat people", seeing a character have such a strong opinion on this issue was fantastic). Oh, and also Declan's career list! Hilarious.
My only qualm with The Pause was how much their Dad was picked on in the family (the poor guy couldn't catch a break), but this was pretty minor and really didn't annoy me for the most part!
I feel like I've really struggled to put my feelings about this book into words. I loved pretty much everything about it, and yet this review has probably done nothing to convince you to read it a hope you go out and buy this immediately because it was such an experience all the way through. Regardless of whether or not you've had experience with mental illness, I highly recommend this book. The Pause is a heart wrenching novel which will make you cry, but also heartwarming enough to make you laugh in all the right moments.
I did find the novel to be extremely enjoyable and had a great and real feel towards it. At times however, I found there was too much trauma and sexual themes that made the novel feel too pressured to be modern. The story itself was so much better without the forced swears and sexual nature, since the emotional relationships made the story and characters better than the physical ones. I still enjoy the book, but something was too forced and it made it irritating at times.
This book was definitely an interesting one. I was a little bit confused throughout the story as to what was actually going on but the ending cleared it all up and I was actually quite surprised with how much I enjoyed it.