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A review by ajlawford
A World Without You by Beth Revis
4.0
I started reading this book about 10 months ago for book club. I got through a good sized chunk, about 40%, and was mildly intrigued but not overly hooked. After the book club discussion, I didn’t feel compelled to finish it, until now.
I remember the discussion at book club revolving around how we all thought it was a time travel book, but is actually a mental health book about a boy with delusions who thinks he can control time. At the time I thought knowing it was a mental health book was a spoiler, and knowing the end was another reason I didn’t want to keep reading.
However, I persevered, and I glad I did. This time around I was struck by how the writing style was really erratic. I didn’t really like how it jumped all over the place. When the main character starts to realise he’s delusional, is about the same time that I realised the author was writing in a way to deliberately reflect his state of mind onto the reader. His thinking and grasp of reality was erratic, so her writing style was too. When I came to this level of understanding, I felt like I steadily enjoyed the book more and more with each chapter. As Bo, the main character, began to get a better grasp of reality, I was simultaneously getting a better grasp of the intention behind how this book was written. It was a really surreal experience.
Once I finally accepted that there was no time travel, and instead I was on a journey about this boy discovering what reality is, I was hooked. I wish I had known from the start it wasn’t actually a fantasy book. I don’t tend to read blurbs for fear of spoilers, and as soon as I finished reading this book, I read the blurb, and it says verbatim “a boy suffering delusions”! What I thought was a spoiler at book club was actually just the premise. For once I wish I had read the blurb prior to reading!
I remember the discussion at book club revolving around how we all thought it was a time travel book, but is actually a mental health book about a boy with delusions who thinks he can control time. At the time I thought knowing it was a mental health book was a spoiler, and knowing the end was another reason I didn’t want to keep reading.
However, I persevered, and I glad I did. This time around I was struck by how the writing style was really erratic. I didn’t really like how it jumped all over the place. When the main character starts to realise he’s delusional, is about the same time that I realised the author was writing in a way to deliberately reflect his state of mind onto the reader. His thinking and grasp of reality was erratic, so her writing style was too. When I came to this level of understanding, I felt like I steadily enjoyed the book more and more with each chapter. As Bo, the main character, began to get a better grasp of reality, I was simultaneously getting a better grasp of the intention behind how this book was written. It was a really surreal experience.
Once I finally accepted that there was no time travel, and instead I was on a journey about this boy discovering what reality is, I was hooked. I wish I had known from the start it wasn’t actually a fantasy book. I don’t tend to read blurbs for fear of spoilers, and as soon as I finished reading this book, I read the blurb, and it says verbatim “a boy suffering delusions”! What I thought was a spoiler at book club was actually just the premise. For once I wish I had read the blurb prior to reading!