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strangesickness's review
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The best thing I can say about I Am Not Okay With This is that it definitely felt like the diary of a suicidal teenager. Unfortunately that is also the worst thing about this book. The story is extremely sporadic, going from one plot point to the other without exploring them in any depth. I felt as though the author had a checklist of every "dark" and "mature" topic they wanted to put in their story, but didn't actually have anything they wanted to say about any of them. Maybe this was intentional, it does really sell the "mentally ill teenagers diary" thing, but that doesn't make it an interesting read. This doesn't feel like a book, there's nothing here other than "and then I hooked up with an older woman and then my friend got teen pregnant and then I smoked weed and then I killed a guy and then I killed myself." none of the characters are interesting, and none of the plot points are explored in any meaningful way. I don't feel like the author actually had anything to say with this, they just wanted to see if they could emulate the writing style of an emo teen. If you're reading this and disagree and felt you got something out of this, I'm really happy for you! I wish I could say the same. I'm not going to say "don't read the book the shows better", because this is all subjective and you might prefer the book to the show, but what I can say is that I felt that the show did a lot more with it's characters and had a more interesting story. If you're coming to read the book because you want more of the show, don't bother, they couldn't be more different.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Abandonment
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