A review by aayjaysbookshelf
Dear Charlie by N.D. Gomes

dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

A young adult fiction on some pretty heavy themes (suicide, homicide, mass shootings, mental illness) , Dear Charlie is a book to be read with caution; it can get pretty overwhelming at some points, and the whole aura of the story is a sad one. 

Though I found the style of writing/narration a little amateur for my liking (I used to read these type of stuff back in teenage 😅), the topic itself was a bold one, and was carried with appropriate caution. It did a really nice job at humanising the whole ordeal the Macmillan family had to go through because of their son's mass shooting at school followed by suicide, while not disregarding the other side of the story - that of the victims and their innocence. The novel ends on a positive note, while not losing realism or painting everything in bright colours ; it maintained the grimness a story like this was bound to have. 
All in all, an okayish read for a one time. Nothing that I'd like to pick up again, though 😅
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