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cloreadsbooks1364's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I went into this book expecting to be brought to tears by the topic of su!cide, but instead was just disappointed the whole way through.
Pros:
1. Good concept
2. Aaron's dad and Tillie's mother were so sweet.
Cons:
1. Aaron's lyrics were in such a light grey I couldn't read them. Oh well, hope they didn't affect the plot.
2. Aaron makes a joke about autistic people, gets called out, then thinks "if I weren't alive you wouldn't be mad at me, you'd think I'm great". But of course they're mad, you made an abelist joke! (As an autistic person this made me sad, as it was so similar to the jokes I often hear in school.)
3. Aaron mentions thinking how all men have pen!ses, which is just not true and as a trans person I was massively disappointed.
4. Molly fantasises hugging the problematic author Sarah J Maas (a racist z!onist) and her whole personality was just "I'm a popular girl who's secretly a SJM-loving geek".
5. In a time jump, a trans kid in 2051 is sad because his mother doesn't fully accept him. It'd be so easy to make this a happier chapter. It also kinda felt like the author went "oh no I've no trans rep, let's stick in this one teen 31 years in the future with no personality who exists for A SINGLE PAGE".
Everything not mentioned above was just unremarkable in neither a good or bad way.
Pros:
1. Good concept
2. Aaron's dad and Tillie's mother were so sweet.
Cons:
1. Aaron's lyrics were in such a light grey I couldn't read them. Oh well, hope they didn't affect the plot.
2. Aaron makes a joke about autistic people, gets called out, then thinks "if I weren't alive you wouldn't be mad at me, you'd think I'm great". But of course they're mad, you made an abelist joke! (As an autistic person this made me sad, as it was so similar to the jokes I often hear in school.)
3. Aaron mentions thinking how all men have pen!ses, which is just not true and as a trans person I was massively disappointed.
4. Molly fantasises hugging the problematic author Sarah J Maas (a racist z!onist) and her whole personality was just "I'm a popular girl who's secretly a SJM-loving geek".
5. In a time jump, a trans kid in 2051 is sad because his mother doesn't fully accept him. It'd be so easy to make this a happier chapter. It also kinda felt like the author went "oh no I've no trans rep, let's stick in this one teen 31 years in the future with no personality who exists for A SINGLE PAGE".
Everything not mentioned above was just unremarkable in neither a good or bad way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt
beckyp22's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, and Homophobia
makenna_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Outing, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Forced institutionalization
prachidayal's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
anneloca's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
panickat123's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
lexiereads22's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Bullying
evamadera1's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- 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
Konisberg created a compelling read with a structure that I've never really read in a book before.
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
noahelijah's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- 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
I was really intrigued by the concept and also think this is a great message and can give a lot to different people struggling with this topic.
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!
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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, and Grief