My Heart and Other Black Holes: A Contemporary YA Story of Suicide, Love, and Choosing Life Paperback – May 31, 2016

phew! this was such a beautiful read.i was engrossed from the beginning and my interest never once swayed. i was desperate to find out what tragedy took over the MC’s heart and how/if it was going to be overcame.my heart and other black holes centers around aysel, who’s struggling and doubts that she has any reason to live. she’s convinced that she has a “black hole” consuming her insides and is unable to foresee any sort of happiness for herself. she meets roman, the sweetest-grumpiest boy and they both want the same thing which is to not be alive. overtime aysel’s views and heart changes, the black hole gradually closes, allowing her to find reasons to live, love and be happy.sadly, roman is still suffering himself, trying to claw his way out of the “black hole” and aysel tries to be there for him, encouraging him to stay alive. but sometimes, people have to learn how to support and appreciate themselves on their own. it’s more personal and it brings forth self reflection and a sense of self realization.in the end though, we all want somebody to hold onto us, cradle us and reassure us that they’re here for us and present with us.i had all the feels reading this, love, sadness, happiness, hope and i ugly cried reading the last few chapters. this book is for the people who has lost hope and need that kinetic energy to give them a boost .i annotated so many things from this, i couldn’t stop tbh, some things were relatable, some were sad, some were funny, sweet & hopeful. this is in my top 5 of books of last year!i read the ebook but needed the physical copy, it came in good condition!

The book has a great plot and storyline. It is one of the best reads I've had and it really shows a beautiful connection found in the two characters despite the situation. It is definitely a must read.

I'd rate this 4.5 stars.Aysel is a 16-year-old high school student growing up in Kentucky. She's obsessed with science, particularly physics, but she avoids participating in school because she doesn't want to give her fellow classmates even more fodder to whisper about her. She's also tremendously depressed, and fears that the mental illness which plagues her father will affect her in the same way, so she has made up her mind that she's ready to die."Something inside me is wrong. Sure, there are things in my life that make me feel alone, but nothing makes me feel more isolated and terrified than my own voice in my head."Aysel spends a lot of time on Smooth Passages, a website for people who want to die. In a section of the site called "Suicide Partners," which is dedicated to people looking for others to make their final plans with. It is in this section that Aysel meets Roman, a 17-year-old who lives in the next town over. He, too, wants desperately to die, wants to do it with someone who lives within an hour of him, and he wants to die on April 7. That's non-negotiable.As Aysel gets to know Roman, and gets drawn into his life, she realizes the depth of his sadness, but she is uncomfortable sharing her reasons for wanting to die, for fear she may alienate him. As the days draw closer to April 7, she starts to wonder if death is really the answer for the two of them, or if she's better off finding them reasons to live. But Roman isn't interested in changing his plans, no matter how Aysel makes him feel."I once read in my physics book that the universe begs to be observed, that energy travels and transfers when people pay attention. Maybe that's what love really boils down to—having someone who cares enough to pay attention so that you're encouraged to travel and transfer, to make your potential energy spark into kinetic energy."My Heart and Other Black Holes made me sad, and it gave me hope. It painted a tremendously accurate, effective, and emotional picture of teens dealing with depression and despair, and how the need to escape those feelings becomes greater than anything else, even connections with others. Jasmine Warga created memorable characters you truly feel for, and I've been thinking about them even after finishing the book.This book will generate comparisons with Jennifer Niven's amazing All the Bright Places , and while the two share a general theme, they're very different books. This book is a little more straightforward; I felt as if Roman and Aysel talked more like teenagers and dealt with more teenage-like problems that Violet and Finch did in Niven's book, but I felt as if the plot in this book was a little more predictable. This book is no pale imitation of Niven's, however; it is tremendously well-written and affecting, and it deserves to be read on its own merits.In the end, it's important to realize that even if your problems seem insurmountable, there is always a solution other than suicide. Anyone dealing with those feelings needs to get help, needs to let someone else in, even if the thought is overwhelming. Give someone else the chance to listen to you, to hear you, to help you.

Do not read this book in a public place.Because it will make you cry. It hit me in the details, in places where I least expected it.Many books have been written about depression. And where some books failed, My Heart and Other Black Holes didn’t. It didn’t come off as dramatic. It wrote depression for what it really is and the harsh reality that comes with it.“Anyone who has actually been that sad can tell you that there's nothing beautiful or literary or mysterious about depression.”I have friends who suffer from depression and I worry about them. I know I can never imagine half of what they’re going through but this book gave me a peek at what’s inside.This is a story about two people who want to die. And is it wrong to say that I understand why they do? Life can sometimes be cruel and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. It hurts to know someone is suffering and no matter how much you want to make things better for them, you can’t.What I loved most about this book are Aysel and Roman. Sure, they are not the most like-able characters but they were written in such a way that you will accept them for who they are. No pretensions, just their real selves and it isn’t always pretty. And that’s okay.This is not a love story. There is no romance here, only love and hope. This is about finding people who understand you and accepts you as you are. This is about fighting even when you no longer want to. This is about finding reasons to live. And I hope you do. I hope every single day, you do.