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aliciakindlereads's review against another edition
5.0
This book was hard to put down. As you can see, I finished it in a day. This story takes you on a whirlwind of a twin sister trying to find hope on saving her dying twin sister and encouraging her family to follow her quest. Topics in this book discusses suicidal ideation. Indigo talks to “God,” a voice that is in her head and try’s to take this voice’s direction on how to save her sister. This is a really good book because it shows the family dynamics, finding your own self, and allows you to explore your relationship/interpretation of a spiritual being.
z_brarian's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, just wow. Amazing book about family and learning to want to live. Learning to move on when someone has to leave for good. Powerful story. Hits close to home...
zoeyzebra's review against another edition
3.0
3.5* Honestly, the voice made me want to quit listening early on in the book. I appreciated the portrayal of complicated family dynamics. Perhaps this book is better for its marketed audience (I'm assuming preteens/teens).
kasscanread's review against another edition
3.0
As someone who has lost a family member to terminal illness, I was intrigued by this book and how it would explore the topic in a sensitive manner.
The author clearly has no ill intent but the beginning of the book had confusing and borderline offensive statements about mental health. Indigo's brother goes to a special needs school, though, according to her "there's nothing wrong with him" and she constantly equates struggling with depression/suicidal ideation with being crazy. It was irritating for a book about as touchy a topic as losing a sister. But by the end of the book the discussions about dying and mental health improved and Indigo came to accept her sister's condition.
Some of the road trip adventures were fun and/or sparked some interesting dialogue but the two children characters were extremely annoying and their constant disgusting dialogue made me feel embarrassed to listen to the audiobook in public in case my earbuds were somehow not working.
The author clearly has no ill intent but the beginning of the book had confusing and borderline offensive statements about mental health. Indigo's brother goes to a special needs school, though, according to her "there's nothing wrong with him" and she constantly equates struggling with depression/suicidal ideation with being crazy. It was irritating for a book about as touchy a topic as losing a sister. But by the end of the book the discussions about dying and mental health improved and Indigo came to accept her sister's condition.
Some of the road trip adventures were fun and/or sparked some interesting dialogue but the two children characters were extremely annoying and their constant disgusting dialogue made me feel embarrassed to listen to the audiobook in public in case my earbuds were somehow not working.
rebar351's review against another edition
5.0
This book made me laugh and cry through the whole thing! We meet two twin sisters both going through a journey together as one sister is dying from a terminal lung illness! Indigo the healthy twin starts hearing a voice in her head claiming he's God. The whole family embarks on an incredible journey! I really enjoyed this book! There is sensitive subjects such as suicide and assisted suicide/euthanasia.
shanameydala's review against another edition
5.0
I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
This is the story of Indigo trying to make her way through an incredibly difficult time that has impacted her entire family. She starts to hear a voice in her head, which leads her family on a wild road trip in a desperate situation.
I fell in love with this family very quickly and I wanted all good things for them. I was incredibly impressed with how Dana L. Davis dealt with such a difficult topic, death with dignity, that includes humor, hijinks and love.
This is a powerful story that made an impact on my heart and I will never forget it.
This is the story of Indigo trying to make her way through an incredibly difficult time that has impacted her entire family. She starts to hear a voice in her head, which leads her family on a wild road trip in a desperate situation.
I fell in love with this family very quickly and I wanted all good things for them. I was incredibly impressed with how Dana L. Davis dealt with such a difficult topic, death with dignity, that includes humor, hijinks and love.
This is a powerful story that made an impact on my heart and I will never forget it.
emp15's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
sad
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
4.25
gennywren6237's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this one a lot, despite the difficult subject matter. I liked that the family was so imperfect, that they fought and struggled and misunderstood and still all loved each other, even if they weren't perfect in showing it. It felt real.
The topic of death with dignity is a difficult one for society, and i have no doubt it will be argued about for decades to come, but I think that the book did a good job of showing both sides of it - the choice of how to go, versus the pain and grief that making that choice can cause those who love you. Of course, the saddest part is that however you choose, in most cases, the ones who love you will lose you. It's only a question of when and how.
The one thing that really tripped me up, laughably enough, was a paragraph or so long paean to J.K. Rowling by the Voice of God in Indigo's head. Holy fucking hell, I mean - look. I know she wrote a great series of books, but the woman is a transphobic asshole who is so far up herself its amazing she can see daylight. I just have the sad feeling the author is one day going to be embarassed by this.
The topic of death with dignity is a difficult one for society, and i have no doubt it will be argued about for decades to come, but I think that the book did a good job of showing both sides of it - the choice of how to go, versus the pain and grief that making that choice can cause those who love you. Of course, the saddest part is that however you choose, in most cases, the ones who love you will lose you. It's only a question of when and how.
The one thing that really tripped me up, laughably enough, was a paragraph or so long paean to J.K. Rowling by the Voice of God in Indigo's head. Holy fucking hell, I mean - look. I know she wrote a great series of books, but the woman is a transphobic asshole who is so far up herself its amazing she can see daylight. I just have the sad feeling the author is one day going to be embarassed by this.
savannawaddle's review against another edition
4.0
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a complimentary arc of The Voice in My Head by Dana L. Davis in exchange for my honest review.*
tw for suicidal ideation and attempt, terminal illness, death, brief racists couple, being held at gunpoint, and physician-assisted suicide
OKAY FIRST OFF THE COVER IS SO BEAUTIFUL. I really love it, and it captures the two sisters.
There were a lot of things I loved about this book, and a few things that I thought could have been handled better. I'll start with what I liked.
The Voice (or God) is probably my favorite character, so funny and enjoyable. I loved the moments between the Voice and Indigo, the humor was nice.
I super enjoyed that this was a story about a big family going through losing a member, and the way that family secrets were slipping out and it felt authentic. The good and the bad of a family road trip (and a megachurch pastor who I thought I would hate but enjoyed. also the megachurch vibe was accurate).
ALFRED’S LETTER HAD ME CRYING, A SWEET BROTHER.
The ending to me made a lot of sense, and the way it went down and the sprinkles of the future was a nice touch.
Now moving on to some of the things I didn't really like.
The number one thing was that Indigo's suicide attempt (ideation) was not treated in the manner it should have been. Starting off you know that she doesn't seem like she has plans to go through with it, but that doesn't matter. She had a plan, she was in action, and she lied about it to her parents and family to cover it up. However, her nurse sister didn't believe her and knew what happened. As a nurse AND a sister, Michelle did not treat it right. She would make quips about it and didn't tell their parents, and as someone who loves the person in that position and being in the medical field, it should have been handled wayyyy more sensitively. (along with the aftermath of a robbery situation.) And for most of it Indigo doesn't seem to have any big reaction to almost taking her own life. It made it confusing that Indigo contemplates suicide but then doesn’t seem to understand why her sister who is physically dying would choose physician assisted suicide?
This leads to that sometimes you don’t really know why Indigo does things, she tells more than shows the whys or her feelings, however I did majorly approve of the forking of the tires.
Indigo's brother-in-law and nephews are Native (which I loved), it was nice to see that representation added, but there was a racist couple who make a racist quip towards Natives, and while I understand a lot of people use it, I'm not sure that it was the author's place to use it, if she herself is not Native.
CHAPTER FUCKING 18, this chapter was so good. It pulled the story together and it was a really good moment.
I do believe the final chapter could have showed a little more of the aftermath with the entire family.
Overall, I liked this story, I had fun and I enjoyed the family and the plot and the idea. There was just some things that could have used handled a little differently.
tw for suicidal ideation and attempt, terminal illness, death, brief racists couple, being held at gunpoint, and physician-assisted suicide
OKAY FIRST OFF THE COVER IS SO BEAUTIFUL. I really love it, and it captures the two sisters.
There were a lot of things I loved about this book, and a few things that I thought could have been handled better. I'll start with what I liked.
The Voice (or God) is probably my favorite character, so funny and enjoyable. I loved the moments between the Voice and Indigo, the humor was nice.
I super enjoyed that this was a story about a big family going through losing a member, and the way that family secrets were slipping out and it felt authentic. The good and the bad of a family road trip (and a megachurch pastor who I thought I would hate but enjoyed. also the megachurch vibe was accurate).
ALFRED’S LETTER HAD ME CRYING, A SWEET BROTHER.
The ending to me made a lot of sense, and the way it went down and the sprinkles of the future was a nice touch.
Now moving on to some of the things I didn't really like.
The number one thing was that Indigo's suicide attempt (ideation) was not treated in the manner it should have been. Starting off you know that she doesn't seem like she has plans to go through with it, but that doesn't matter. She had a plan, she was in action, and she lied about it to her parents and family to cover it up. However, her nurse sister didn't believe her and knew what happened. As a nurse AND a sister, Michelle did not treat it right. She would make quips about it and didn't tell their parents, and as someone who loves the person in that position and being in the medical field, it should have been handled wayyyy more sensitively. (along with the aftermath of a robbery situation.) And for most of it Indigo doesn't seem to have any big reaction to almost taking her own life. It made it confusing that Indigo contemplates suicide but then doesn’t seem to understand why her sister who is physically dying would choose physician assisted suicide?
This leads to that sometimes you don’t really know why Indigo does things, she tells more than shows the whys or her feelings, however I did majorly approve of the forking of the tires.
Indigo's brother-in-law and nephews are Native (which I loved), it was nice to see that representation added, but there was a racist couple who make a racist quip towards Natives, and while I understand a lot of people use it, I'm not sure that it was the author's place to use it, if she herself is not Native.
CHAPTER FUCKING 18, this chapter was so good. It pulled the story together and it was a really good moment.
I do believe the final chapter could have showed a little more of the aftermath with the entire family.
Overall, I liked this story, I had fun and I enjoyed the family and the plot and the idea. There was just some things that could have used handled a little differently.