Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - Nineteen Minutes

I did not like the constant time jumping, the story did not feel connected enough for me and it took too long to get into.

The shooting was also very heavy to read.

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phantomgecko's review

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

There's a lot in this novel. Because it tackles the issue from multiple perspectives, the nuance is appreciated. I could write an essay about bullying here, but suffice it to say that bullying is a problem without an easy solution, and the book really really explores that. An exchange between a lawyer and the principal really nailed it with these back-to-back (paraphrased) sentences.

Bullying is not tolerated at this school / Disciplining the bullies makes things worse

Moving on, the characters felt real. Peter was neither a monster nor a simple victim but a fleshed out teenager. His mother wasn't a perfect mother nor a failure but someone trying her best and making a lot of mistakes. Tbh, these are the only characters that I really empathized with. But that's not to say that the many other characters weren't also three dimensional.

idk, I won't read this book again, but I wouldn't deter anyone else from reading it. It's upsetting but the message is important, poignant and more realistic than other books I've read about school shootings.

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juleskr02's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

4.25

this novel. i was very excited to read, as this was the first book that was suggested to me when i started my jodi grind, and man it did not disappoint.

i was a little wary at first because it was third person narration, and i wasn’t sure if it was going to be clear to follow with that plus the time jumps each chapter. but i was pleasantly surprised. i actually loved the formatting of narration and storytelling.

that plot twist. woah. i predicted half of it but still was so shocked with the half i didn’t predict. this story was crazy and maybe an unpopular opinion, but i was really rooting for peter. i know i shouldn’t have but i felt really bad for him.

i wish i saw more in terms of certain side plots, and i didn’t love how the story ended, so my rating lost a star. but overall, i quite enjoyed reading it, and found myself on the edge of my seat for big chunks. i want to own this book so badly and annotate the heck out of it because that’s how much i enjoyed it. brava miss picoult!

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