My Heart and Other Black Holes is the story of Aysel, a
teenage girl who is haunted by the actions of her father’s violent crime. She
feels very much alone in the world and wants to commit suicide, but she doesn’t
want to do it alone. After discovering a website that helps people find a
suicide partner in their area, Aysel meets FrozenRobot, or rather, Roman. But,
as the date looms for their intended suicide day, Aysel begins to question
whether or not she wants to go through with it anymore.
The description of this novel may not sound very happy, but
in fact it’s a book full of hope. As Aysel and Roman start to help each other
find happiness in life again, you become filled with a huge hope that they will
fill each other with enough hope that the future can be better, and
subsequently won’t go through with their plan. It becomes almost impossible to
put down the book as you need to find out whether or not their plan comes to
fruition.
Warga’s portrayal of both Aysel’s and Roman’s depression and
need for suicide is truly impressive writing. She shows it isn’t glamorous and
it’s not beautiful. For any teenagers suffering from depression, this book is
so helpful, its realistic and truthful and I think could be the start of
something great and fresh in terms of dealing with mental illness, especially
in teenagers. It’s not cheesy or overly dramatic, which sometimes contemporary
books can be, I love The Fault in Our Stars, but we don’t all use cigarettes
for a metaphor or talk about hamartia’s. It’s full of teenage wit and snark and
also a little humour, so it’s extremely easy to relate and fall straight into.
For adults it’d really help to understand their child’s
depression or whether or not they have depression.
My Heart and Other Black Holes really shows that we all need
someone to talk to. We can isolate ourselves with all the worst parts of
ourselves, our guilt and shame. All we really need is someone who understands
us, can see the better parts in ourselves and remind you of them and help you
carry the burdens you have. Roman and Aysel remind each other that they’re good
people and have much potential in life.
Aysel and Roman are two unforgettable characters. They’re so
well written, both teenagers and yet so in need of help. They’re messy and
REAL. You fall in love with them and the idea of them together, immediately you
can see they’re a wonderful match for each other and can help each other like
no one else can. As even Roman himself says: They have chemistry.
You will laugh at this book. You will cry. It will give you
a much better understanding of depression and so much hope. It lets you know if
you ever have depression, there will always be someone out there to help you,
you just need to seek out help.
Warga is fearless in her debut and I am so glad she is.
Everything down to its pacing is perfect. She has immediately become one of my
favourite authors, she seems destines for great things.
5 Stars.
