Thank you Penguin Books for this book in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis:
Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might die. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself–a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink
Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might die. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him.
Violet Markey lives for the future, counting the days until graduation, when she can escape her Indiana town and her aching grief in the wake of her sister’s recent death.
When Finch and Violet meet on the ledge of the bell tower at school, it’s unclear who saves whom. And when they pair up on a project to discover the “natural wonders” of their state, both Finch and Violet make more important discoveries: It’s only with Violet that Finch can be himself–a weird, funny, live-out-loud guy who’s not such a freak after all. And it’s only with Finch that Violet can forget to count away the days and start living them. But as Violet’s world grows, Finch’s begins to shrink.
Review:
Just going to say – I haven’t seen the movie yet so this review (as it should) is all about the book and has nothing to do with the movie.
Jumping straight off the deep end, this book had me a few chapters in when it started to hit the topics of mental illness, depression and suicide, and these topics were discussed in a civil and educational way as well. Which makes me believe that the author did her research on these hard hitting topics, instead of just winging it like most people to. And while this is still the taboo topic and some people are in the belief that this is a human’s choice and it makes them weak and all that blah blah blah bullshit, this book highlights the importance of knowing how to speak to those that suffer from mental illness and raises the topics from the dark. Whilst this book is a heart string puller, it was also educational in that regard as well, which I really enjoyed.
We meet Theo and Violet who are both in an extremely dark headspace and for two completely separate reasons. Violet just lost her sister and Theo has this overwhelming feeling that he doesn’t belong. And while they convinced each other to survive and not jump to their deaths, Theo is thrown deeper into the darkness from his family, friends and the town around him not acknowledging his mental health and trying to force him to snap out of it. Violet on the other hand is seen as a hero for saving Theo’s life. But neither of them are given the help they are needed.
These two characters were fantastically written and just supportive, sweet and reliant on one another and together they prove that it only takes one person to help you out from the dark. It was really sweet and beautiful to watch their love grow.
The only thing that I found was this book was slow in parts and had an inconsistent pace, other than that it was beautiful. Overall this book was so beautifully and delicately written and raises such important issues that needs to be discussed more and more.
Ratin: 4/5
Publisher: Ember
ISBN: 9780593118924