Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and review this novel by JJ Bola - 3.5 stars rounded up.
Michael is living in London, working as a teacher, but becoming increasingly depressed and hopeless about his future. He makes a decision to quit his life, withdraw all his savings, fly to America and end his life when his money runs out. Along his travels in the US, he meets a variety of people - but does it give him a reason to keep living?
I had mixed feelings about this book. It was gorgeously written - you can tell the author is a poet yet none of the prose is too lyrical. I liked the premise of the book as well - that Michael needed a new view on life to carry him forward. However, it was a confusingly-written book for me - the chapters alternated with Michael in the UK before and Michael in the US now. That would be fine except that the chapter titles only included place and time, not date, so you had to pay strict attention to timelines. As someone who has lost a loved one to suicide, depression and suicide weren't portrayed correctly, in my mind. Even the title, though beautiful, seems to say that suicide is selfish and living selfless. I still felt the writing beautiful and was intrigued to see how it would all end.
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