Reviews

The Selfless Act of Breathing by J.J. Bola

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robynne's review

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reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

klarisserouge's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book… I read a comment somewhere about someone wanting to tattoo every line of this book across their face, and YES. It was devastating, heartfelt, and beautiful. I cried more times than I can count over the course of the two days in which I spent mostly just reading this novel.
The premise alone is incredible: Michael Kabongo is a London school teacher who is becoming increasingly tired of the world around him and the war within himself. From the lives of his students which are unlikely to improve, to the death of his father when he was a child, to the violent marginalization of black men around the world. After a heartbreaking incident, Michael decides he’s had enough. He plans to take his life savings (around $10k) and venture to America with the plan that when his savings run out, he will take his own life. We follow Michael from finding love in the streets of Harlem to being pulled over by cops in Dallas, to a strip club in the suburbs of Chicago. But more importantly, we follow him into the darkest places in his mind.
He describes his pain in lyrical yet direct prose that brings you in, and when Michael feels like he is drowning, you feel that you are drowning too, but not in despair but hope in the feeling that you are not alone. This book caught my breath, broke my heart open, and will undoubtedly stay with me. This is the rare book I get from the library but will still buy just to have on my bookshelf. Cannot recommend it enough!!

bolaawe's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.0

The opening sentence of this book is one of the intriguing sentences I have read.
After getting over the shock of the opening sentence, reading this book was an experience. The writing style is lyrical and immersive.

It took a little while to get into it, but when I did, it went uphill from there. It is a sad and reflective book about a teacher, Michael, based in London.
Told between the past set in London and the present in some parts of America.
Michael is popular amongst the students and is well liked by his colleagues but carries the burden of hopelessness and despair.

JJ Bola brilliantly explores what it means to live in one's head and the silent pain in the heart in such a sensitive manner. Even though the themes explored are hard-hitting, I can't get over how beautiful the writing style is and the sensitive manner the author handled the themes.

One of my favourite quotes in this book 👇

And above all, it is love, that spark of bright light, that dazzling flame, ephemeral or eternal, may it find us, may it be us, the will that carries us forward, the bond that brings us back, from beyond this lonely feeling, to healing; The Selfless Act of Breathing.

What a beautiful reading experience I had reading this, and I'd recommend it!!

kateea7536's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Wow. I’ve never read a book like this. It is so emotionally raw and vulnerable and filled with so much pondering of life and how it should be lived and what matters. This also encompassed identity, belonging, race, class, wealth, sex, love and friendship. SO MUCH was done within one book and it so sensitively handled every topic that it raised in a way that did not feel false or deliberate, but natural and heartfelt. I was blown away by how moving the prose was and how well written, including an extensive use of metaphor and description that was spellbinding and lyrical (although sometimes perhaps there were too many metaphors!). The only thing I would have loved was dates as well as locations of each chapter, since it was difficult to follow what Michael was doing in what order, but perhaps this was part of the experience, the idea that he was swimming through all these places and feeling searching for something.

Ending was fantastic but I would’ve loved to have heard more from the characters perspective.

I also felt frustrated at times that Michael didn’t tell people what he was feeling or reach out, but I understand that this is probably a very realistic for someone who feels this way.

Content Warnings