My Heart And Other Black Holes By Jasmine Warga

I received this galley in consideration for an honest review.

My Heart And Other Black Holes By Jasmine WargaMy Heart And Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga
Published by Harper Collins on February 10, 2015
Genres: Young Adult
Goodreads
three-half-stars

Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness. There’s only one problem: she’s not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel’s convinced she’s found her solution: a teen boy with the username FrozenRobot (aka Roman) who’s haunted by a family tragedy is looking for a partner. Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other’s broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes more concrete, Aysel begins to question whether she really wants to go through with it. Ultimately, she must choose between wanting to die or trying to convince Roman to live so they can discover the potential of their energy together. Except that Roman may not be so easy to convince.

The subject matter in My Heart and Other Black Holes is very dark.  The two teens find themselves on a site that pairs people who wish to end their lives, but don’t want to do it alone.  So, Aysel finds Roman on a ‘suicide partner’ message board.  Aysel’s life has been turned upside town by a huge mistake her father made and has retreated emotionally to a place where no one can really touch her, for better or for worse.  Her depression was very real, but I also saw that this was someone who, deep down, felt that life was worth living, even if it really, really sucked at the moment.  In contrast, Roman’s circumstances really broke my heart.  He was in a huge amount of pain, and as you get to know him, you can really feel his hopelessness and his belief that his family would be better off without him.  Their pact brought them together and while I felt that there were some scenes that seemed a little awkward from a storytelling perspective, they complemented each other as characters.

As the days to their planned suicide approach, they both start to see things differently.  As the jacket copy tells you, Aysel’s doubts start to impact Roman.  Their friendship ends up being very healing for both of them, but it can’t fix either person’s pain.  I really loved that part of the story.  I don’t think that you can truly fix another person and I have certainly read books, many YA books, that make it sound like all you need is a romantic partner or BFF to fix you right up.  While their relationship helps them both, it does not fix them.  Roman’s choices are ultimately his own and while I cant expand too much on that without spoilers, I’ll just say that I thought it was pretty well done.  While this was not a perfect book, I felt that there was a certain realness to the voices and the situation that made this book both emotional and entertaining.  Despite the dark subject, it remained a hopeful story, and one that I think will speak to a lot of people.

 

three-half-stars

About Jasmine Warga

Hi. I’m Jasmine. My first novel, My Heart and Other Black Holes, will be published in 2015 by Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins. I’m currently writing my second book which is tentatively scheduled to be published in 2016. I like emotive music, animals of all sorts, lemonade, and Swedish Fish. And books.

Kate


10 responses to “My Heart And Other Black Holes By Jasmine Warga

  1. Did they change the cover on this one? I thought I remembered it looking different. But either way, I would have to be in the right mood for this one. I’m glad you think it felt real, but I think I would need to prepare myself to handle it.

    Great review!

  2. Sounds like this book did a great job at feeling real and making the characters feel real.
    I’ll be keeping an eye on this book for real!

  3. Really don’t know if this is the book for me, but I AM still curious about it. Definitely makes me take notice that you thought the subject matter was handled well though!

  4. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I wound up enjoying My Heart and Other Black Holes! It might have some serious issues tackled, but it also has a hope that runs like a thread through the entire story. Glad you liked it!

  5. Wow, this really does sound very deep in many levels. I like that they both become a support for each other, and that it heals them both, but doesn’t really fix their problems because these problems just don’t go away overnight. There are so many factors why we feel the way we do, and just having one romantic partner doesn’t always make them go away. At least, that’s what I noticed in real life anyway. I’m going to add this to my TBR! Thanks for featuring it ^_^

  6. I’ve been seeing this around but I never knew what it was about right now. It certainly has a dark subject matter, but from the sounds of things it could end quite nicely. Though I’m not sure how likely that is because most books that sound like this have a bittersweet ending at best and usually tear your heart from your chest.

  7. I love your review. I like the fact that they don’t fix each other. I think so many young people believe that but its so not true. i really want to read this one and hope to this month.

  8. I can really resonate with the theme of relationships helping but not fixing people and I agree that this is not always how it is portrayed in YA. I am looking forward to reading this one, although I know it will be a tough read. Great review!!!

  9. Hey, girl! I stalked out your review of this one! I have to say I’m curious — what were your problems with the book? This isn’t coming from a place where I though the book was totally perfect — I don’t. But, I am having some trouble articulating why I didn’t give it five stars, and I’m hoping you could shed some light for me. 🙂

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