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jpreads6's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This book had a great plot but I felt like we weren't given enough time with the character in the present in order to see his point of view. The book fell flat for me at the end with the random death , and it just left me feeling like "it was all a dream" in the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts
katiemack's review
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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? It's complicated
3.75
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Do not read this book if you're not in a good place mentally; this book touches on loneliness, suicide, depression, and more. While it has an undercurrent of hope, Michael's long monologues about his despair bury it.
Of course, the sadness is written in a beautiful, lyrical way; JJ Bola's prolific abilities as a poet really shine through here. The dual voices for the two timelines (both of which chronicle Michael's experiences) were distracting at first, but they actually helped me differentiate between the different plot points more easily. There are some discrepancies (e.g., Michael's third-person perspective popping up in his first-person-perspective timeline) that will hopefully be fixed in the final, published version.
Overall, this is a beautiful but heart-wrenching little book. Read it for a good cry and some thought-provoking questions about identity and belonging.
Do not read this book if you're not in a good place mentally; this book touches on loneliness, suicide, depression, and more. While it has an undercurrent of hope, Michael's long monologues about his despair bury it.
Of course, the sadness is written in a beautiful, lyrical way; JJ Bola's prolific abilities as a poet really shine through here. The dual voices for the two timelines (both of which chronicle Michael's experiences) were distracting at first, but they actually helped me differentiate between the different plot points more easily. There are some discrepancies (e.g., Michael's third-person perspective popping up in his first-person-perspective timeline) that will hopefully be fixed in the final, published version.
Overall, this is a beautiful but heart-wrenching little book. Read it for a good cry and some thought-provoking questions about identity and belonging.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness
Minor: Murder
foxandbooks's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
*****You should first BE VERY AWARE of your own mental health before reading this book. It is hard to read when you are in a good head space, so please keep that in mind. *****
Wow! JJ Bola is an amazing writer! The words just flow and he has a beautiful way of expressing his feelings. The Selfless Act Of Breathing, is simply put, beautifully written.
All that being said, it is one hard book to read. You need to be in the right frame of mind to read this book, and even if you are strong mentally, this story will bring you down. It will show you just how a lonely and depressed person feels and how their mind works.
Michaels life is all over the place, or at least that is how it seems. He knows what it feels like to be happy or sad. But mostly he moves thru life in an ambivalent state of mind. He has friends and colleagues that he is somewhat close to, but most of the time he can't bring himself to be there for them. This is Michael... This is his life...
Michael is a teacher in London. His family immigrated to London when he was little. He has become despondent. He is only halfway present when he is teaching, he shows up late, he doesn't answer emails and he has become increasingly absent in his relationships with his friend Sandra, Jalil and his mom. JJ Bola touches on those relationships, but he does so in such a way that shows how a person with mental illness thinks. So the person in the book you get to know is Michael, not necessarily all the other people he knows or comes in contact with.
Michael decides to quit his job, take all the money he has and go to America. And once all his money is gone he is going to kill himself. He is tired of life, tired of being sad, so he makes plans for this trip. He is going to start in California and just go where he wants. While on this trip he meets many different people, does things he has never done before. But he is still sad, but now his plans of spending all his money and killing himself are becoming real. Will he do it??
This book goes back and forth between timelines. The author tells you the place at the beginning of each chapter but doesn't tell you the date, so at first it was confusing for me. I think the author does this on purpose to show how the mind of a person, who suffers from crippling depression, thinks. The chapters that are in America end with the amount of money Michael has left, so the closer you get to the end the more anxious you feel and you can feel it in the writing as well. Definitely a 4.5⭐ book.
Now for the big ending. Does Michael kill himself? I am not sure how to interpret the end of the book. The end of the book ( at least for me) could be interpreted in two ways.
1) Michael came home to his mom and everything is fine. The reason I struggle with this is because Michael has no money left and as far as I could tell did not book a round trip ticket since he was going to kill himself. So how did he get home???
2) The end of the book is back in London with Michaels mom. She is despondent knowing that he son went on a trip and plans to kill himself. She distances herself from the man (a preacher) who she was going to marry. She gets more and more sad, doesn't get out of bed, but then there is a knock at the door and it is Michael. Now I think Michaels mom also kills herself and only sees Michael after that she does that.
I could be reading the ending all wrong. Like I said there are a bunch of unanswered questions, and I think it was meant to be that way. There is always unanswered questions when someone commits suicide.
Thank you to Netgalley, Atria Books and JJ Bola for the eARC of this in exchange for my honest opinion.
Wow! JJ Bola is an amazing writer! The words just flow and he has a beautiful way of expressing his feelings. The Selfless Act Of Breathing, is simply put, beautifully written.
All that being said, it is one hard book to read. You need to be in the right frame of mind to read this book, and even if you are strong mentally, this story will bring you down. It will show you just how a lonely and depressed person feels and how their mind works.
Michaels life is all over the place, or at least that is how it seems. He knows what it feels like to be happy or sad. But mostly he moves thru life in an ambivalent state of mind. He has friends and colleagues that he is somewhat close to, but most of the time he can't bring himself to be there for them. This is Michael... This is his life...
Michael is a teacher in London. His family immigrated to London when he was little. He has become despondent. He is only halfway present when he is teaching, he shows up late, he doesn't answer emails and he has become increasingly absent in his relationships with his friend Sandra, Jalil and his mom. JJ Bola touches on those relationships, but he does so in such a way that shows how a person with mental illness thinks. So the person in the book you get to know is Michael, not necessarily all the other people he knows or comes in contact with.
Michael decides to quit his job, take all the money he has and go to America. And once all his money is gone he is going to kill himself. He is tired of life, tired of being sad, so he makes plans for this trip. He is going to start in California and just go where he wants. While on this trip he meets many different people, does things he has never done before. But he is still sad, but now his plans of spending all his money and killing himself are becoming real. Will he do it??
This book goes back and forth between timelines. The author tells you the place at the beginning of each chapter but doesn't tell you the date, so at first it was confusing for me. I think the author does this on purpose to show how the mind of a person, who suffers from crippling depression, thinks. The chapters that are in America end with the amount of money Michael has left, so the closer you get to the end the more anxious you feel and you can feel it in the writing as well. Definitely a 4.5⭐ book.
Now for the big ending. Does Michael kill himself? I am not sure how to interpret the end of the book. The end of the book ( at least for me) could be interpreted in two ways.
1) Michael came home to his mom and everything is fine. The reason I struggle with this is because Michael has no money left and as far as I could tell did not book a round trip ticket since he was going to kill himself. So how did he get home???
2) The end of the book is back in London with Michaels mom. She is despondent knowing that he son went on a trip and plans to kill himself. She distances herself from the man (a preacher) who she was going to marry. She gets more and more sad, doesn't get out of bed, but then there is a knock at the door and it is Michael. Now I think Michaels mom also kills herself and only sees Michael after that she does that.
I could be reading the ending all wrong. Like I said there are a bunch of unanswered questions, and I think it was meant to be that way. There is always unanswered questions when someone commits suicide.
Thank you to Netgalley, Atria Books and JJ Bola for the eARC of this in exchange for my honest opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence
loveroflibros's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder
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