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beckyp22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Classism
eebluee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Homophobia
makenna_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Forced institutionalization
laylalovestoread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Bullying and Fatphobia
Minor: Body shaming and Abandonment
prachidayal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
- Medium read (6 - 8 hours)
- The overlap between perspectives, while necessary, was repetitive. Also, Aaron came off as way too self-pitying and was kind of annoying.
- Impactful read: I love how the book was organized and how in the third section, the author outlined the long-term impact of Aaron and Tillie's deaths with snippets from future new and diverse characters.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
anneloca's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
panickat123's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
lexiereads22's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Bullying
evamadera1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book has four parts all stemming from an initial incident. Each of the four parts travels down the path of what would happen in four different scenarios all having to do with two teenagers who had never met before one day when they encounter each other on the titular bridge. When you get to the end of the book, Konisberg does not tell you which was the "real" story because in the end, they all are.
I really appreciated how he handled that as well as the way he explored the effects of the main characters choices on the people around them.
One of the few things that kept me from rating this five stars is the third perspective, the one in which Konisberg considers what would happen to those left behind if both teenagers chose to jump. In this perspective, the timeline spans multiple decades with only brief glimpses into the lives of those left behind. He also has some references to futuristic elements which do not seem real at all, rather they feel contrived and a bit ridiculous. I understand what he was trying for but wish that he had not gone as far in the future as he did in that particular portion of the book.
Ultimately, I really appreciated the seriousness with which he handled this sensitive issue as well as the normalization of the struggles that these teenagers endure.
I do recommend this book, with content warnings of course.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
noahelijah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
My 2.5 Stars are my personal enjoyment and opinion. This really wasn’t for me.
At the beginning I was really into it. But the further I read, the more frustrated and bored I got. Don’t get me wrong there certainly were emotional and impactful scenes but I found myself not being emotionally invested in the characters overall at all.
I often had the feeling, that I only saw the author wanting to make it emotionally impactful.
It took me ages to finish it. After the halfway point we didn’t really get anything new. All the realizations we’ve already been through, and the thing I was interested in ist seeing the surroundings (which we got in Part 3 and I liked the most) but the truths the characters learned were repetitive? The writing wasn’t my taste at all but has nothing to do with the book generally. I would have loved to see the impact on family and friends with such a topic. Or more like: what does their life look like in coming years (in all parts! Not just part 3). A few parts felt very ‚look-how-sad-your-family-will-be‘ what a lot of people in those situations get to hear often and it rarely helps that person.
I really tried to connect to the characters. But I couldn’t.
All in all a solid YA Novel that I see being helpful to a certain audience.
Please reach out in ways you are able to if you are in this or similar situations! Talk to loved ones and find things as small or big as you want to help you get through this. You will!
Graphic: Body shaming, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, and Grief