Review: My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga

Title: My Heart and Other Black Holes

Author: Jasmine Warga

Publisher: Harper Collins/Balzar + Bray

Publishing Date:  February 10th, 2015

Pages: 302
Audio Length: 8 Hours and 14 Minutes

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

 

Sixteen-year-old physics nerd Aysel is obsessed with plotting her own death. With a mother who can barely look at her without wincing, classmates who whisper behind her back, and a father whose violent crime rocked her small town, Aysel is ready to turn her potential energy into nothingness.
There’s only one problem: she’s not sure she has the courage to do it alone. But once she discovers a website with a section called Suicide Partners, Aysel’s convinced she’s found her solution: a teen boy with the username FrozenRobot (aka Roman) who’s haunted by a family tragedy is looking for a partner.

Even though Aysel and Roman have nothing in common, they slowly start to fill in each other’s broken lives. But as their suicide pact becomes 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.

What made me pick this book up: 

I'm going through and reading all the books we have to read and review on Netgalley/edelweiss. And this one definitely caught my eye, between the cover and the title.

What did I like about the cover: 

I am absolutely in love with this cover. I love the texture and how it looks stitched, and it looks like whoever was stitching it just lost control. 

Like she just gave up and decided to make a mess of things, like her life is a mess.. 

It also matches well with the idea of her heart being a black hole.

What made me read this book: 

Like I said, I was going through and picking books to read that we still need to review. But this one really caught my eye, and once I read the synopsis it sounded great. 

A book about a girl who's life is a mess, and about how she can't kill herself on her own and needed a partner. And then about how Aysel might actually be changing her mind about killing herself.

What did I like the most: 

The story of this is actually pretty typical to be honest. A girl has something crappy happen, decides she wants to kill herself, finds a boy who is equally depressed and wants to kill himself, but then they fall in love. Sorry if that's slightly spoiler, I figured by the description you can kinda feel for what's going to happen.

That being said, the author does a really good job with actually making it her own. Even with it being a typical story, it's really well written. She adds a voice to it, and emotions to it, that a lot of these books don't have.

The characters are okay. Aysel does a lot of growing, and at first she's whiny, but she gets better.

Roman is fun and sweet and funny, but then he has a flip side of depression and dark. And I think one of the best things about this book, is that it is so realistic with depression. Because Aysel talks about how she doesn't think he actually wants to kill himself, because he always seems so smiley. 

I think that's great, because depression isn't always something you can see. On the outside you can be completely happy and bubbly and sunshine, but inside there's sadness and emptiness. It's great how the author puts that all into the writing.

The pace is okay, it goes a bit slow, but the writing really helps with that, it's all worth it.

What didn't I like: 

I can't say there wasn't anything I didn't like per say. It's a good book, it's just a little slow at parts, and there isn't much world building. 

I guess with books like this, we don't need much.

So really, there's not anything I don't really like. 

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
I just looked up the author and I found another book that she wrote, and she has another one coming out this year. So yes, I would.

Story: 

Pace: 

Writing: 

Characters: 

World Building: 

Ending:  

“Anyone who has actually been that sad can tell you that there's nothing beautiful or literary or mysterious about depression.” 
― Jasmine Warga, My Heart and Other Black Holes

**I am only on Goodreads when one of my publishers sets up a Q&A for me, so the best way to contact me is through my website: www.jasminewarga.com or on twitter: @jasminewarga. Thanks so much!**
Hi. I'm Jasmine. My first novel, My Heart and Other Black Holes, will be published in 2015 by Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins. I'm currently writing my second book which is tentatively scheduled to be published in 2016.

I like emotive music, animals of all sorts, lemonade, and Swedish Fish. And books.