My rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Genre: General Fiction
Source: Waterstone’s website
I have seen the trailer for the movie adaptation for this film and it came up in an Amazon bestseller list so thought I’d give it a go. I’ve also gotten over my fear of reading bigger books after I read The Shining and loved it so I gave this a go. This was also promised to be an epic love story which I was in the mood for.
This was a frustrating read. I always want characters to do different things than what I read. I liked one message in the book, that you should pursue your dreams and live a life you can be proud of. But there are huge issues in this book that need to be addressed related to disability.
Lou is employed by Will’s family with 2 months to convince him not to commit assisted suicide.
The relationship and love elements to this book ruined it completely, it’s not what anyone signed up for. There was a massive build up to an epic love story where love conquers all which never happened. Will (who had suffered a bike accident and left him with disability) was intent on ending his life. Which leads to the underlying dangerous message of this book, where even when Will has everything he wants, living a disabled life is enough for him to want to die.
Disability and assisted suicide has been a huge topic of conversation on this book, one reviewer in Goodreads writes;
‘This [book] sic. reinforces dangerous assumptions society already has about people with disabilities. Many (able bodied) [characters] sic. have commented that they completely understand Will and if they were in his position they’d want to die too. They are wrong… there is data on this- that the vast majority of people with similar disabilities as Will do not want to die.’ – Ela, Goodreads.
I doubt this was the intention of the author but it is an issue with the book that cannot be ignored. I cannot find anything online that states her opinion on this matter.
Happy reading,
Charlon ♦︎
Featured image by Pedro Monteiro @ unsplash.com
Charlon's Book Corner 