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sarahbythebook's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
slow-paced
3.5
After the death of her perfect sister, Nico is spiraling. Afraid of her own death and afraid of dealing with grief, Nico throws herself into music and boozing with her friends. Convinced of her imminent demise, she creates a bucket list and runs away from home, encouraged by her aunt and less than stable friends. Runaway Train is the story of that bucket list and Nico's reflections and realizations along the way.
I'm a bit torn on how to feel about this book. On the one hand, I relate a lot to what the main character is going through. On the other hand, I want to shake her for how she responds to the situations she finds herself in. Runaway Train is a story about grief and grappling with the way it changes who we are, to ourselves and to the ones who love us. Grief is isolating in ways that Nico doesn't understand. Grief consumes us whole, but she can't see past her own grief to understand that her parents are suffering too.
I think the premise of tying her story to music and to the untimely end of Kurt Cobain is really interesting, but between the various typographical errors and way the teens are portrayed (the constant use of filler words during the character's inner monologues, "lurrrv" [also in internal monologue], etc.), I didn't enjoy this book as much as I could have. I probably will not be continuing this story, but I am grateful to the author and publisher for an e-copy for review.
I'm a bit torn on how to feel about this book. On the one hand, I relate a lot to what the main character is going through. On the other hand, I want to shake her for how she responds to the situations she finds herself in. Runaway Train is a story about grief and grappling with the way it changes who we are, to ourselves and to the ones who love us. Grief is isolating in ways that Nico doesn't understand. Grief consumes us whole, but she can't see past her own grief to understand that her parents are suffering too.
I think the premise of tying her story to music and to the untimely end of Kurt Cobain is really interesting, but between the various typographical errors and way the teens are portrayed (the constant use of filler words during the character's inner monologues, "lurrrv" [also in internal monologue], etc.), I didn't enjoy this book as much as I could have. I probably will not be continuing this story, but I am grateful to the author and publisher for an e-copy for review.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Vomit, Cursing, Child death, Addiction, Car accident, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug use, and Grief
Minor: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Abortion, Infidelity, and Suicidal thoughts
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