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adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Grief
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Violence
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Suicide
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt
dark
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, Suicide attempt
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, Suicide attempt
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An absolute gut-punch of a young adult romance novel. Just as you think things are starting to improve for Violet and Finch, Niven places a carefully woven twist that serves to simply obliterate hope. I'm not usually a fan of books which flit between the perspectives of both of the protagonists, as it can seem like lazy writing, but Niven works it so effortlessly that I found myself not minding in the slightest. Violet is lovely, but it is Finch who is Niven's masterpiece: she depicts his struggles with mental health issues excellently, but doesn't stray into tacky or appropriative. The scene with the rollercoaster sums him up perfectly: when he's with Violet, he's on top of the world, and the second she's gone, he's in freefall. It's just a series of sucker punches, and I'm not even sure the ending is happy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual content
emotional
informative
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship
dark
emotional
hopeful
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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide
Minor: Car accident
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Key Themes:
Depression; Loss; Suicide; Love; and Recovery.
Best (or Worst) Moments:
In my opinion the best part of this book is the end, and ‘after’. The raw emotion that violet demonstrates and the adventure she continues is so heart-breaking, yet beautiful, and is so well written. Niven’s end notes, however, illustrate that she has personally found a friend who committed suicide so probably drew on her own experience and emotions making the story even more heart-breaking.
Was this Book What I Expected?:
This book is a reread - the book isn’t as emotional as I remember it being, but at the time of my initial read through my life had a lot of similarities to the book so maybe that’s why it was so emotional. However, the book was still great and emotional and pulled on my heartstrings.
Review:
This book is beautiful and sad, but shows both sides of what death can do to an individual whether accidental or suicide, yet this also shows strong character development and growth following a significant loss, and shows that there is beauty in recovery. This is a hard book to read, especially when you have personal experience, that allows you to relate to either Violet or Finch, but at the same time beautiful, in that it demonstrates that your life can continue after the loss of a loved one and still be beautiful.
Things to Research Further:
Nothing that I want to research further - but I’m intrigued to read Niven’s other work. I’ve tried reading some of her other work in the past and always DNF’d it but I love this book so really want to give her work another try.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Grief, Car accident
Minor: Animal death