A review by sarahrahrah
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

Wow, this was a powerful but tough read. Schusterman did a fantastic job of writing in such a way that you as the reader feel the sense of confusion about what is reality or not just as much as the character. I loved the insight from his son as well as the inclusion of his many drawings and scribblings. The shift in Caden's struggle and eventual hospital admittance/diagnosis was built at the perfect pace, and it felt like I was figuring out the connections of the doctors and nurses and other patients to the crewmates on the ship as Caden was also figuring it out. There were many poignant descriptions throughout the book, and one that has really stuck out to me is how Caden describes having to clean the cannon barrel, and how loud and disorienting it was and later finding out that was his experience of getting an MRI done. 

All in all amazing book, I think the only reason I am not giving it a full 5 stars is because if how tough it was for me to keep reading at parts due to my own mental health journey 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings