Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Boo

Very good read, the twist at the end is given to us by clues throughout the whole book. The whole book make you long for it because you know something is wrong with info given earlier, and it keeps getting weirder.

The thing that can make this read a bad time is that the protagonist is insufferable because of how much he values his intelligence, but he grows to appreciate other things.

It also makes sense that he was like this at the start given the end twist, he was very much still in the same mental state, hating people, thinking they're all stupid and below him... But heaven makes him like people and realise what he was missing on earth is friends, and being intelligent doesn't do everything.

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seiyuudreams's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

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ellaandcoffee's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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starklinqs's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

5.0

This book may honestly be my favorite book that I’ve read in a long time - it’s not perfect, but the emotions that this book brought up for me make it so that even the things that I wish were different don’t detract my rating for this book.

Things that I wish were different - the main character doesn’t sound 13 years old whatsoever. I definitely got used to it, and the book acknowledges that he’s different from other 13 year olds, but I do wonder why he wasn’t aged up even slightly. The book also feels very very long. I think it’s all worth it, but there definitely were moments where I’d check to see how much longer I had left.

World building was also done but left me with many questions - and I feel like these things were all mentioned in other reviews and I can see why it would push a rating down.

That being said - I absolutely loved it. I feel like this book had a theme of forgiveness as Gunboy evolves. (This is spoilered and if you haven’t read don’t click it!) The concept of forgiving

a stranger, then a best friend, and finally yourself

was just wonderfully done and I adored it. The relationship with Boo and Johnny was also a beautifully done relationship - a wonderful platonic relationship with depths of love. I would honestly read a sequel from

Johnny’s POV post-Town

. Overall I just loved it dearly - I feel like with Boo it’s difficult for me to cry with books, but the last half had me tearing up and I was fully invested in the story.

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obviousthings's review

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emotional funny mysterious sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.25

I loved the characters, but ultimately I don’t think this book handled themes of mental illness and suicide very well. I found the ending really upsetting.

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