Discussion My Heart and Other Black Holes (book)

[l1ablemistakes]

I looked for threads about this book and couldn't find any. I've only just started but I thought people on here might find this interesting - it's about a girl who's on a website quite similar to this one, who finds a suicide partner online. I guess I just wanted to start a discussion thread for people who have read it / recommend it to anyone who is interested!
I'm only one chapter in but I'll update if it's any good I guess.

 

[l1ablemistakes]

I finished reading it (I read very fast) and I'm gonna give it a solid 2 stars. (Spoilers ahead)

The start of the book was great, I don't love reading books about teenagers anymore but I could still relate to it and I think younger me would've related even more. Roman especially was very relatable- especially since we didn't get his POV so his mood seemed to switch very quickly, you could see how the depression weighed on him constantly without even being in his mind. A lot of other reviewers didn't like him but I think his character was incredibly realistic, even down to the way he'd romanticised suicide in his head.

I think my main issue was how quickly the plot happened. If these two met and got to know each other more slowly, I could've seen what happened as realistic. But that whole 'love heals everything' trope was just so used to me. I know authors want to avoid sending a bad message, but in this case it just felt kinda dishonest. Like, you've known each other for two weeks and now you're in love and no longer suicidal? Also, I felt like depression and suicidality was really romanticised. It would've been a good opportunity for commentary on how sites like this can promote romanticisation, but there just… wasn't anything. It just kinda went away.

Overall I liked the concept and I'm mad it wasn't done better. If there are any writers on here who wanna explore this concept in a more mature, realistic way, I welcome you. Otherwise, idk. Maybe you'll enjoy this book. I'm looking for any other MH related reads if anyone's made it to the end and knows of any good ones!