Title: Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen
Genre: Contemporary, Romance & Mental illness
Expected Publication: February 21st 2017
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books
Format: Kindle
Pages: 224
Rating: 3 stars
“Beware: Life ahead.
Sixteen-year-old Petula de Wilde is anything but wild. A former crafting fiend with a happy life, Petula shut herself off from the world after a family tragedy. She sees danger in all the ordinary things, like crossing the street, a bug bite, or a germy handshake. She knows: life is out to get you.
The worst part of her week is her comically lame mandatory art therapy class with a small group of fellow misfits. Then a new boy, Jacob, appears at school and in her therapy group. He seems so normal and confident, though he has a prosthetic arm; and soon he teams up with Petula on a hilarious project, gradually inspiring her to let go of some of her fears. But as the two grow closer, a hidden truth behind why he’s in the group could derail them, unless Petula takes a huge risk.”
Minor spoiler review of Optimists Dies First by Susin Nielsen
*I received a free arc of of this book from NetGalley and it’s publisher,Wendy Lamb Books, in an exchange for an honest review.*
Optimists Die First was quirky, cute and humorous, but it failed to “click” with me. I have only a few complaints.
First off mental illness, specifically anxiety, was portrayed almost comically and unsurprisingly gets fixed by falling in love. Petula is one of the most quirkiest characters I’ve ever read. But that fact that all of her so called “quirkiness” came from her anxiety irked me. Some times it seemed as though her anxiety was only there to be funny. Like “haha Petula is being weird again”. As someone with anxiety I can tell you, it’s not fun or quirky. It’s definitely not something you can suddenly ignore because you like a boy. Her anxiety almost complete disappears by the end of the book. Why? Because the power of love, of course. She doesn’t get better because she wants too, she gets better because a boy is pushing her to do so. (she does try to be better for her friends too which I found super relate-able)
Also I felt this book was just far too young for me? I almost thought this book was middle grade in the beginning. The characters came off very childish, which is understandable since they are in high-school. But I just had a hard time connecting to them. Had I read this book when I was 14 or 15 I know I would have loved it. (also despite coming of very juvenile this book had pretty strong sexual themes which was just super odd to read considering how young the characters seemed.)
I did like that friendship plays a big part in bringing Petula put of her shell. Her relationships with the other YART kids was very endearing and that fact that she pushes herself to keep those relationships was so heartwarming and relate-able. And while the romance had it’s issues it still developed really nicely and had a lot of cute moments. I actually squealed out loud during some parts. The characters were all really unique and different from any books I’ve read. It was nice to read from such a different point of view than I usually do.
Despite all of that, I enjoyed this book a lot which is why I’m rating it a three instead of two. I think this book has a lot to offer people.
Ideal reads 