My Heart and Other Black Holes Review

Right now, novels about teen suicide are everywhere.  Just in the last few weeks, we've seen four high-profile ones — All the Bright Places, I Was Here, The Last Time We Say Goodbye, and My Heart and Other Black Holes.  I wasn't sure if I was up to reading another suicide book so soon after All the Bright Places, the ending of which really frustrated me, but Jasmine Warga's debut came in at my library, I sat down to browse the opening pages, and then I couldn't stop reading.  I read the whole thing at my library, while sitting in a horribly uncomfortable wooden chair.

This really speaks to the excellent flow of My Heart and Other Black Holes.  I haven't read through a book so smoothly in some time.

The general subject matter is nothing new under the sun, but Warga does focus on a concept I haven't come across before — suicide partners.  The idea of suicide partners is that by teaming up to plan and execute your suicide with another person, your chances of successfully killing yourself go up.

This is dire stuff, right?  It's so starkly bleak that I almost couldn't believe I was reading such dismal content in a book marketed towards young, impressionable readers.  It's not that I believe in censorship.  Just that I'm alarmed by the thought of depressed kids being sucked down even farther into despair by reading a high-profile, critically affirmed YA.

Thankfully, if troubled individuals read through the end of My Heart and Other Black Holes, they might actually be positively bolstered by the book's message — that severe depression, although it can seem utterly insurmountable, is something that can be fought against.

Overall, this positive message, along with the brisk pacing, compelling characters, and realistic depiction of major depression make My Heart and Other Black Holes an above-average read that I really enjoyed.

I give it four stars and recommend.