Published by: Dundurn on February 24th, 2018
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 192
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
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Synopsis: Annika Dietty thinks her future is with Dylan Sopick — until they run away together.
One day, after weeks of secret planning, seventeen-year-old Annika Dietty leaves home at dawn to run away with her boyfriend, the charming and popular Dylan Sopick. She tried telling her friends and family how amazing Dylan is, but seeing as they all seem set against the relationship, she’s decided their only chance is to run away together.
But not everything goes according to plan, and Dylan seems to be having more and more trouble dealing with every obstacle they encounter. At first Annika is sympathetic, knowing that he’s had a harder life than she has, but very soon Dylan’s behaviour becomes unsettling, and Annika realizes that her safety is at stake. She finally admits to herself that Dylan needs help she can’t provide. She wants to get him to help — if she’ll get the chance.
Review:
I think this book is one of the worst books I've ever read. I cannot believe I just said that because I was really excited for this book. I really thought it would be a really good, possibly even thriller-y, kind of book. I should have checked how long this book was because it's nearly impossible to write a good book with this synopsis under 200 pages. In fact, I think it IS impossible.
I really should have DNFed it early on because I knew very early on that this book wasn't just bad, but it was terrible. The book itself was boring, the characters were boring and nothing really happened plotwise.
Annika drove me absolutely insane. How she constantly defended Dylan honestly made me want to scream. How she couldn't understand why her parents AND her friends couldn't stand Dylan. I get it "love is blind" and all that crap, but come on, when EVERYONE is against your boyfriend, maybe you should reconsider dating him? Just a thought Annika.
Sorry, not gonna give a pass to Dylan just because he has a mental illness. I'm sorry he struggles with a mental illness, but that's no reason to be an absolute dick to everyone he meets. Even Annika's longtime platonic guy friend. So what, Annika has a guy friend, that doesn't automatically mean he wants to get into her pants. In fact, I think this book does a huge disservice to those who have a mental illness. I actually think this book could be quite dangerous to those who are vulnerable.
This book does not sing the praises of medication or therapy, which is dangerous. Medication and/or therapy is vital to those with mental illnesses and this book demonizes those things. I cannot like a book that does that.
We will never know if Dylan's mental illness caused his extremely controlling nature, but aside from his mood swings, Dylan's controlling personality was what stuck out to me. I kept yelling at Annika to get a freaking backbone, which she didn't until much later. Later when things got more messed up and there was blood on human hands.
Final thoughts: Given the way this book handles mental illness, I will absolutely not be recommending it. Give this book a VERY wide berth.
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