The Voice in My Head by Dana L. Davis

DNF

I actually really hated this book, and ended up putting it off for days because reading it was so unpleasant. It's a shame, because even though I knew it wasn't going to be a happy book, the topics it dealt with sounded so important and relevant that I really wanted to give it a chance, despite my gut saying, "No, no, no, no, no, you're going to regret this! No, no, no, no, no."

I should have listened to my gut.

This is a story about two sisters named Violet and Indigo, who are twins. One of them, Violet, is terminally ill and wants to have medically assisted death because the act of breathing itself has become so painful. Indigo is 100% NOT okay with this, and the book literally opens with her deciding to take her own life because she is so upset about this decision.

Somehow, she survives jumping off the building, and when she awakens, she can hear the voice of God. God tells her that if she drags her terminally ill sister up a mountain in Arizona, she'll live, and for some reason the family agrees to go along with this, and it's road trip time, which ends up forcing the family to unpack a lot of the issues they've only tiptoed around.

If you've read books like THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, MY SISTER'S KEEPER, and ME BEFORE YOU, you'll understand what this book is trying to do, and what it's supposed to achieve. Indigo needs to learn how to come to terms with her sister's decision, and that death is what is supposed to push us all to live-- because, you know, mortality is what makes life precious and worth living, etc. I get the message and it's something I actually agree with. For me, I took issue with the bizarre handling of Indigo's mental health problems, and the way the Voice of God angle was presented, and how the tone of this oscillated between oddball quirkiness and incredibly depressing.

Maybe some people will really enjoy this but I found it frustrating and upsetting.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review! 

1 out of 5 stars