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whatbidoureads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
(TW: heavy topics are brought up in this review, if you are triggered by mental illnesses, please skip this review and have a great day!)
I bought this book when it first came out and left it on the shelf because the main topic is one that hits close to home.
Then a movie came out (because every best seller needs a movie am I right…) and I watched it. I know you’ll say you should read the book first blablabla and most times I agree with you. But this time I don’t.
The movie I watched, even “enjoyed” to some extent.
BUT THE BOOK.
I usually put a book down when I don’t like it but I finished this one just to write a review. Bare with me as I try to word it out in a clear nice way.
As someone who has an understanding, and first hand experience of the main topics in this book I would never recommend it to someone. I’d go as far as to say it can cause so much harm if I’m the wrong hands (aka someone dealing with S.A and mental illnesses).
I understand this book was written by a survivor of suicide through the loss of a friend and it almost feels like an autobiography dedicated to the love Jennifer had for her friend, and I can get behind that. (note: everyone’s grieving process is different, and I am in no way undermining her grief, or the process she has gone through)
But the take she has on mental illness, and teenagers is appalling.
The book starts nice and gentle with 2 teens connecting under the circumstances of Violet - popular girl- dealing with the loss of her sister in a car accident, and Finch - outcast- dealing with bullying and depression (to make it short). The beginning is sweet as he kind of forces his way into her life and picks her up off the ground to “live again” after her sisters death. But on the other side you have his story. A glorified anti-hero who is at first portrayed as this cool, misunderstood, handsome so called “freak” with personal struggles, who towards the end is portrayed as someone who was trying to get better, and wanted to live. As a survivor myself, I can tell you I didn’t see it. (And I’m one to annotate and highlight my books).
At no point was there any indication of character growth towards that, or any indication of help he could have gotten from others. So on one hand you have Violet, main character, good growth, she eventually grieves all her losses (without any counseling, help group, friend or family’s help but finch - like what), and Finch who was left for dead from the beginning of the book.
There’s a few topics that annoyed me in this book as well, and that in my eyes are cannot be overlooked as they are everywhere in the book.
- Talk of mental illnesses in the sense that some characters are simply restricted to their illness (such asself-harm, eating disorders, depression), and Finch is basically a glorified suicide victim,
-slut shaming,
- body shaming,
- Speech about the girls in the book (they are looked down upon),
- the lack of adult/parental figure. In fact there was literally NO ONE helping Finch to get better. His mother too worried about her own personal struggles, the COUNCELOR too busy explaining that if a student dies on school grounds he will get a lawsuit, his dad with a new family, his so called friends who randomly pop into the story, and the help group with literally one session and no follow ups on that lead in the story.
Overall, this book is very disappointing and if you skip it, you won’t miss anything unfortunately..
I bought this book when it first came out and left it on the shelf because the main topic is one that hits close to home.
Then a movie came out (because every best seller needs a movie am I right…) and I watched it. I know you’ll say you should read the book first blablabla and most times I agree with you. But this time I don’t.
The movie I watched, even “enjoyed” to some extent.
BUT THE BOOK.
I usually put a book down when I don’t like it but I finished this one just to write a review. Bare with me as I try to word it out in a clear nice way.
As someone who has an understanding, and first hand experience of the main topics in this book I would never recommend it to someone. I’d go as far as to say it can cause so much harm if I’m the wrong hands (aka someone dealing with S.A and mental illnesses).
I understand this book was written by a survivor of suicide through the loss of a friend and it almost feels like an autobiography dedicated to the love Jennifer had for her friend, and I can get behind that. (note: everyone’s grieving process is different, and I am in no way undermining her grief, or the process she has gone through)
But the take she has on mental illness, and teenagers is appalling.
At no point was there any indication of character growth towards that, or any indication of help he could have gotten from others. So on one hand you have Violet, main character, good growth, she eventually grieves all her losses (without any counseling, help group, friend or family’s help but finch - like what), and Finch who was left for dead from the beginning of the book.
There’s a few topics that annoyed me in this book as well, and that in my eyes are cannot be overlooked as they are everywhere in the book.
- Talk of mental illnesses in the sense that some characters are simply restricted to their illness (such as
-
- body shaming,
- Speech about the girls in the book (they are looked down upon),
- the lack of adult/parental figure. In fact there was literally NO ONE helping Finch to get better.
Overall, this book is very disappointing and if you skip it, you won’t miss anything unfortunately..
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Bullying, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Child abuse
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Abandonment, Body shaming, Car accident, Eating disorder, Self harm, and Mental illness
dyagan's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Bullying, and Self harm
Minor: Eating disorder
alexia_fs's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Sexual content, Car accident, and Child abuse
writtenwithoutanending's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Death, Bullying, and Child abuse
Minor: Self harm and Eating disorder
z0z's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Mental illness
Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Death, and Abandonment
Minor: Child abuse
mnatale100's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Child abuse, Grief, Suicide, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Vomit, Self harm, and Infidelity
Minor: Cursing, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Animal death, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse
startjpw23's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book is about two high school seniors who are both struggling with serious issues. They meet up in a very tense situation. They develop a friendship and then more. They help each other learn important things about themselves. The latter part of this book figuratively punched me in the gut. It tore out my heart and stomped on it. I can't remember a book affecting me as much emotionally as this book did. This book talks about some very important issues. I would give this book more than 5 stars if I could.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Suicide attempt, Bullying, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual content
katie_k1's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Death, Grief, and Child abuse
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Bullying, and Mental illness
Minor: Car accident and Vomit
thestoriesjar's review against another edition
challenging
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Child abuse
weatheringaddy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
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? Yes
4.75
I want to start my review off with that there will be spoilers (of course hidden) and are some big triggers for suicide, suicidal ideation and loss.
Violet is a senior whose sister passed away and Theodore Finch is a senior who has an undiagnosed mental illness. They found each other in the most unlikely of places and come together for a senior class project.
This book delves into both of their pasts. Violet has survivors guilt and is grieving her sister which has affected her future and contemplating suicide. Finch has an undiagnosed mental illness (revealed later to be bipolar disorder) and been abused as a child by his father who is now divorced and he sees on a weekly basis.
As these two become closer, a romance forms. The author does a great job in writing both characters. You can understand Violet and how her grief has affected her. You can also see how mental illness has affected Finch in the sometimes subtle and unsubtle words and actions.
The ending was not one that I expected when going into the story or even as I read the book. While the foreshadowing of Finch’s health are not spoken about overtly, the suicide itself was beautifully written. While I was not a huge fan of how the relationship ended, how his death was written, the characters response to it, and the aftermath were written well. I do think the ending was a bit rushed and could have given more details such as Finch’s family’s reactions and have given more of a sense of closure.
Overall, this book was good. It reminded me of Thirteen Reasons Why in some aspects and explained about the effects of mental illness, abuse, and bullying can have on a person. I liked the themes of hopefulness and how that even if someone does love you, that it sometimes cannot overshadow the effects of mental illness or make it better/go away.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Death
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Child abuse and Car accident