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A review by stuckinafictionaluniverse
My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga
4.0
3.75 stars.
This was such a pleasant surprise. Why?
Since this is a story following suicide partners who fall in love, I expected to be raging over how these people somehow magically ’’save each other’’.
This did not happen.
There is a romance but it’s slow burning and I viewed it more as a pleasant friendship for most of the book.
I kept searching for flaws, because it's hard to make books about mental illness authentic and not just emotionally manipulate in a fake way.
Thank god, this book does not romanticize mental illness and portrays it in what I think is a realistic way.
There’s one character who does, but our MC won’t have any of that bullshit.
You see, there’s a scene where Roman says’’And you’re sad like me, and as screwed up as that is, it’s pretty beautiful.’’
This is the part where I was close to throwing the book into a wall, it’s what I had dreaded the whole time. Because a book can’t be both about romance and mental illness, right? There are so many feelings involved that one of the main topics (*cough* mental illness*) gets pushed away and trivialized.
But Aysel knows it’s nothing like that. FrozenRobot of all people should know that there is nothing beautiful or endearing or glamorous about sadness. Sadness is only ugly, and anyone who thinks otherwise doesn’t get it. I think what he means to say is that he and I are ugly in the same way and there’s something familiar, comfortable about that. Comfortable is different from beautiful.
^ Someone should copy and paste this quote onto large posters all over the world, because it’s what I’ve wanted to scream every time I read a romance book about mental illness.
I think you can get too caught up and think that someone is your salvation, but they’re just a person. This special someone in your life can’t sweep you off your feet and magically fix everything. You are the only one who can do that. You may think someone took the step for you, but ultimately you got better, you did it for yourself.
It’s easy to say this song, this person, this moment saved you and made your life a lot better. In reality, you did it. You let that something affect you for the better and encourage you to keep going. That's the message I got out of the book, and it's such a refreshing one.
My heart and other black holes may contain romance, but it has a strong focus on family and friendship and that’s where its strength lies. The characters felt real and Aysel grew so much throughout the book.
The only con is the ending, which felt rushed, but overall I really enjoyed.
One of the better contemporaries I've read recently.
This was such a pleasant surprise. Why?
Since this is a story following suicide partners who fall in love, I expected to be raging over how these people somehow magically ’’save each other’’.
This did not happen.
There is a romance but it’s slow burning and I viewed it more as a pleasant friendship for most of the book.
I kept searching for flaws, because it's hard to make books about mental illness authentic and not just emotionally manipulate in a fake way.
Thank god, this book does not romanticize mental illness and portrays it in what I think is a realistic way.
There’s one character who does, but our MC won’t have any of that bullshit.
You see, there’s a scene where Roman says’’And you’re sad like me, and as screwed up as that is, it’s pretty beautiful.’’
This is the part where I was close to throwing the book into a wall, it’s what I had dreaded the whole time. Because a book can’t be both about romance and mental illness, right? There are so many feelings involved that one of the main topics (*cough* mental illness*) gets pushed away and trivialized.
But Aysel knows it’s nothing like that. FrozenRobot of all people should know that there is nothing beautiful or endearing or glamorous about sadness. Sadness is only ugly, and anyone who thinks otherwise doesn’t get it. I think what he means to say is that he and I are ugly in the same way and there’s something familiar, comfortable about that. Comfortable is different from beautiful.
^ Someone should copy and paste this quote onto large posters all over the world, because it’s what I’ve wanted to scream every time I read a romance book about mental illness.
I think you can get too caught up and think that someone is your salvation, but they’re just a person. This special someone in your life can’t sweep you off your feet and magically fix everything. You are the only one who can do that. You may think someone took the step for you, but ultimately you got better, you did it for yourself.
It’s easy to say this song, this person, this moment saved you and made your life a lot better. In reality, you did it. You let that something affect you for the better and encourage you to keep going. That's the message I got out of the book, and it's such a refreshing one.
My heart and other black holes may contain romance, but it has a strong focus on family and friendship and that’s where its strength lies. The characters felt real and Aysel grew so much throughout the book.
The only con is the ending, which felt rushed, but overall I really enjoyed.
One of the better contemporaries I've read recently.