My Heart and Other Black Holes
Author: Jasmine Warga
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: February 10, 2015
Publisher: Balzer & Bray
Summary:
There’s only one problem: she’s not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers the website Smooth Passages and its section called Suicide Partners, Aysel’s convinced she’s found her solution. Better yet, a boy with the username FrozenRobot (aka Roman), who’s haunted by a family tragedy, is looking for a partner.
But as their suicide pact starts to become 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.
This is a gorgeously written and compulsively readable debut novel about the transformative power of love and acceptance.
First Sentence: Music, especially classical music, especially Mozart’s Requiem Mass in D Minor, has kinetic energy.
My Review:
When I first saw My Heart and Other Black Holes‘s original cover, I was automatically interested in it, but was too lazy to check what it was about. It wasn’t until I started hearing people talking about My Heart and Other Black Holes that I finally looked at what the book was about and just like that, I needed My Heart and Other Black Holes in my life. I don’t know if you guys watched the episode of Criminal Minds where there was a website of people being convinced to play a suicide game with a suicide partner (and killer) who convinced people to tape their own suicide, but My Heart and Other Black Holes totally reminded me of Criminal Minds and being a huge fan of Criminal Minds, I needed My Heart and Other Black Holes asap.
…I wonder what my classmates are going to do with all their hate and anger and fear once they don’t have me here anymore.
I can’t wait until they don’t have me here anymore. (ARC 18)
My Heart and Other Black Holes is FULLLL of beautiful thought-provoking quotes. Like, there are so many beautiful and relatable quotes every two or so pages that I just had to stop reading and write them down. The quotes are deep, full of feeling, and just so good. You guys will get what I mean when you read the book for yourselves.
I never expected My Heart and Other Black Holes to make me cry (don’t ask me why, the synopsis does scream THIS BOOK WILL MAKE YOU CRY, doesn’t it?) – I was tearing up majorly while I was reading My Heart and Other Black Holes on the train. Thank goodness my bangs were blocking other people from seeing my eyes and I could casually wipe my tears away without anyone noticing. But seriously, get some tissues ready when you start this one.
Maybe that’s a side effect of knowing you’re about to die: none of your secrets matter anymore. After you’re gone, they’ll all be discovered anyway. Pored over by other people. (ARC 125)
Right from the beginning of My Heart and Other Black Hole, I automatically connected with Aysel. I loved her personality, her attitude, and pretty much everything about her. However, as I read on, I felt myself growing more and more disconnected from her and the entire book. It was completely unexpected and I don’t know why I felt that way. Maybe it’s because of the next problem that I’m going to mention.
My main problem with My Heart and Other Black Holes is the romance, which is a huge part of the book as you can tell from the book’s summary since it may change Aysel and Roman’s feelings about committing suicide. I’m sorry, but I just didn’t feel it. I didn’t see the transition from sort of friends to suddenly, I have deep feelings for him, so deep that I don’t want to die so I can be and live with him in my life. To me, it seems like Aysel constantly annoys Roman and suddenly, without any warning, she likes him and he likes her back and she doesn’t want to die anymore? Whaat? Where did that suddenly come from? Am I missing something? The romance just developed too fast for me to really support or be invested in it.
I’m beginning to learn that this is the exhilarating and puzzling and frankly, the frustrating thing about love. Things that matter to the other person start to seem intriguing, even if they are actually quite trite when you really think about them. (ARC 242)
Another problem I have with My Heart and Other Black Holes is that when I finished reading the book, I felt like it was lacking something, but at the same time, I don’t know what it was lacking. Maybe it’s because My Heart and Other Black Holes doesn’t portray its message well. Maybe it’s because I was bored with some parts of the book. Maybe it’s because I lost my connection with Aysel halfway through the book. The thing is, I don’t know what My Heart and Other Black Holes is lacking and it’s very hard to tell what it is.
Overall, I did enjoy reading My Heart and Other Black Holes, but sadly not enough to give it a higher rating than three stars. Believe me, I’ve spent a lot of time debating what rating I should give it, torn between giving it a higher rating or leaving it as it is. Either way, I will definitely recommend My Heart and Other Black Holes just for the fact that it has tons of beautiful thought-provoking quotes.
well i’m a sucker for thought provoking quotes and i normally look for this when reading books that have this kind of themes you know? i haven’t read any book with this kind of premise…suicide partners…how depressed can u get to get to this stage of mind…and yet not have the strength to do it alone…i just hope this one will be more compelling compared to I Was Here by Gayle Forman.
I love this book’s title! I’m not really sure if I’ll read this though as I don’t like reading suicide books as I find them too sad. Perhaps if my library gets it in I’ll read it though as I’m a sucker for thought-provoking quotes! I’m sorry you lost interest half-way through – I hate it when that happens. Great review! :)
Kyra recently posted…Review – You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes – Chris Hadfield
Great review! I can’t wait for this book to come out, and your review just made me more excited! Beautiful quotes; count me in!
I have a phobia about books like this one, as I do with most issues books. I am highly emotional for one, but the main reason is that I have been through some things in my 32 years, so when I stumble upon similar situations in books, I tend to detach a bit, and I read with a very critical eye. I can’t just love the stories, I feel the need to analyze. I love your reviews, and I trust them, so if you had LOVED this one, I might have given it a chance. But I think I may be even more wary of it now!
Jaime Lester recently posted…My True Love Gave to Me
I’ve always loved books dealing with suicide and depression because I can always relate to them, and i hope I won’t find the romance annoying! It sounds like there’s so much I could love about it but I don’t want a romance out of nowhere.
Shannelle C. recently posted…No Book Hauls? Me Too.
I haven’t encountered many stories with characters that fall in love so easily and weirdly, but when it does happen I have the same feelings as you. I just think “whaaaat?!” and scratch my head because I don’t understand what just happened. But My Heart and Other Black Holes definitely feels like the type of book I would want to read. Even if it has some stuff that might influence the way I feel about the story overall, I still want to read this one. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Kelly! Even if you didn’t want to admit you cried while on the subway. :)
Great review Kelly. <3 Aw, books that make you cry is pretty depressing yet awesome too, lol. But aw. I'm sorry this book was lacking a bit :( but glad you still enjoyed it a little. <3 I'm curious about it, but not too curious :p Thank you for sharing your thoughts sweetie. <3
Carina Olsen recently posted…Cover Reveal: The Copper Gauntlet by Cassandra Clare & Holly Black
It does sound like it would work if the romance was well developed enough to provide a spark of hope for both people. However if the romance wasn’t plausible, it would be hard to connect to it enough to understand why they use it to get over their grief.
too bad you didn’t stay connected with the main character.
Lovely review :)
How disappointing! The premise was so promising.
Davida Chazan recently posted…A Home for Ties that Bind
I’ve seen this book around and it keeps getting mixed reviews. I’m interested but at the same time hesitant. And what is it with suicide now. There are quite a couples of books with that same theme coming out now.
But great review, nonetheless :D
Melissa @ Ever So Mela :)
Melissa (Ever So Mela) recently posted…♥ Splintered ♥
thank you for this great review!
I really want to read this book! I thought the premise was great and I absolutely loved the title – it was what caught my eye at first. I love it when a book has a great title. I am not sure I am going to like the romance from the sound of it, but this does seem more emotional than many my predict.
Olivia recently posted…The Canary Room (Review)
SO PUMPED TO READ THIS ONE, I HOPE IT’S GOOD!!
not sure about this premise
This seems very similar to All The Bright Places, which seems to be getting a hell of a lot more love. I’m quite surprised at how quickly the YA community have lapped up these books- I thought the controversial subject matter would put a lot of people off. I do think that these books are important to read, so we can begin to understand those in such situations a lot more, and stop labelling people as ‘attention seekers’. After all, books open up our minds, so what a great medium to tackle this subject.
Zara Stubbs recently posted…Review: The Girl On The Train
Oh my, I’ve watched that Criminal Minds episode, too. That’s the one where the kid’s father was abusive and was actually the one hosting the suicide site.
Suicide stories make my heart hurt a lot. Especially for teens because they are so young and they are probably hurting so much at the time they cannot look past the pain and decided to end it all.
It’s a shame that the romance between Aysel and Roman felt a little insta-love to you. Thanks for the honest review.