ARC Review: When Reason Breaks by Cindy L. Rodriguez

Title:  When Reason Breaks

Author: Cindy L. Rodriguez

Published: February 10th, 2015

Pages: 304

Genres/Themes: Young Adult, Contemporary, Social Issues, Depression, Poetry, Romance, Friendship, Family Problems

Format: E-ARC

Source: Netgalley and Bloomsbury

Disclaimer: I received this E-ARC from Netgalley and Bloomsbury in return for an honest review. This in no way influences my opinion of this book.

Rating: Three Stars

Goodreads Summary:

13 Reasons Why meets the poetry of Emily Dickinson in this gripping debut novel perfect for fans of Sara Zarr or Jennifer Brown.

A Goth girl with an attitude problem, Elizabeth Davis must learn to control her anger before it destroys her. Emily Delgado appears to be a smart, sweet girl, with a normal life, but as depression clutches at her, she struggles to feel normal. Both girls are in Ms. Diaz’s English class, where they connect to the words of Emily Dickinson. Both are hovering on the edge of an emotional precipice. One of them will attempt suicide. And with Dickinson’s poetry as their guide, both girls must conquer their personal demons to ever be happy.

In an emotionally taut novel with a richly diverse cast of characters, readers will relish in the poetry of Emily Dickinson and be completely swept up in the turmoil of two girls grappling with demons beyond their control.

Purchase: Barnes and Noble / Amazon / Book Depository

Cover Thoughts: I love the text color, though I think some of the glowing bits are a bit distracting when reading the title. I love how the character on the cover is a silhouette looking out into the city. The city lights look really cool.

First Line: She lies on the hard ground, breathes deeply, and waits for death to come.

~First Thoughts~

I love the stream of conscious writing style of this. This is fascinating. But bad. It’s bad. It’s also really interesting though. Who is she? Where is she? And what did she mess up?

~Review~

What initially drew me to When Reason Breaks was the “13 Reasons Why meets the poetry of Emily Dickinson” blurb. I haven’t read 13 Reasons Why, but I have read books compared to it and I love Emily Dickinson.

When Reason Breaks begins with an interesting start. On March 7th, a girl lays in the woods, on the ground, alone, She’s taken a lethal dose of sleeping pills to ensure her death. A teacher called Ms. Diaz reads her note and rushes out of the school as fast as she can. After reading the first chapter, I was a bit let down by the first few chapters. The writing style changed so it wasn’t so vague or in such a stream of conscious style.

The story then flashes back to eight months before, in July. The narrative begins with a girl named Elizabeth, who’s a bit hardened by the world, a little angry and definitely cynical. The narrative then switches to Emily, who’s lived a somewhat sheltered life, has a politician for a father, two best friends and a somewhat secret boyfriend.

~What I Loved~

• I really like how the first chapter is eight months ahead of when the second times place. I love how the story goes back in time to tell how everything happens.

• I loved that the majority, if not all, of the characters were Hispanic. This was a really interesting addition that I loved. There aren’t enough books with minorities in them, especially not a full cast, so this was fantastic.

• I like how different Emily and Elizabeth were from each other. Emily was definitely the nice, smart, somewhat introverted of the two and Elizabeth was the sarcastic, lively, energetic, but a bit misunderstood. They complemented each other nicely.

• I loved that it took place in English class and that the class had a supportive teacher, Ms. Diaz. Throughout When Reason Breaks, Ms. Diaz was constantly there for Elizabeth and also Emily somewhat, but she was definitely more “supportive” to Elizabeth.

• I love the poetry featured in When Reason Breaks. At the beginning of every chapter, there’s a title which is taken from one of Dickinson’s poems. That was a really interesting touch because you could then connect the quote to what was going on in the chapter.

• The mental health of Emily and Elizabeth was wonderful. I loved the downward spiral that they both went through. It happened gradually with the girls questioning themselves and their lives. Emily became more depressed and it was shown really well. She retreated from her friends and she didn’t really go out. In turn, Elizabeth got angry, angry because she was misunderstood, angry at her father, and angry at herself. She pushed away her boyfriend as well.

• I loved the cast of characters, I thought Emily and Elizabeth’s personal lives were fleshed out very well. They both had friends, family issues, and relationships of their own. It was great to see how each of their groups of friends and families affected their life as they all strongly did.

• In the acknowledgements, Rodriguez shares all the aspects of Emily Dickinson’s life that she used in When Reason Breaks. it was really fascinating to read how she intertwined pieces of Dickinson’s lives into every character from Emily and Elizabeth to Kevin to Emily’s father to Abby.

• Ms. Diaz was a character that I really enjoyed. It always seems like English teachers are the ones to just “get it” when it comes to students. I love how she was always there for them and didn’t judge them.

• When Reason Breaks definitely made me think a lot. There were quite a few quotes I highlighted while reading this that made me look at my own life and situations. I can definitely appreciate a book that makes me think.

~What I Didn’t~

• I didn’t love how some of the dialogue, primarily when the parents spoke, switched to Spanish. It somewhat slowed down the reading experience, if that makes sense.

• I wished the poetry had a more central focus to the story. While I liked how it was used in the english class, I wish it had been used a bit more.

• I didn’t like how Emily, Elizabeth and the teacher all had the name Emily and the last initial D in their names. I understand and loved what Rodriguez was trying to do, but it was just a bit too unbelievable for me to really appreciate.

• I wish there had been a clearer picture of the girls’ family lives. We hear about Emily’s a lot, but it still never really took any spotlight. 

~Final Thoughts~

I loved how the reader doesn’t know whether Emily or Elizabeth was committing suicide. When I thought I knew who it was, it turned out I was wrong. I like that I was surprised by who it was though. I did enjoy When Reason Breaks, in the beginning it did drag a little, but it eventually picked up. I didn’t like how little Emily and Elizabeth talked, I wish there would have been more of it. I loved all of the side characters, they really “livened” up the story. I think When Reason Breaks could really benefit from a second read through of the book to really pick out everything.

~Do I Recommend?~

Yes.

~Recommended For~

• Middle schoolers

• People wanting to understand depression

• Fans of Coming-of-age stories

• Fans of Emily Dickinson

~Memorable Quotes From ARC (May be subject to change~

• She wondered if it really had to be all or nothing. If it did, then which would be worse: being exposed again or being ignored? She couldn’t decide.

• Elizabeth could peg a teacher within twenty minutes, and she gave them one class period to amuse or impress her.

• “Because in poetry–more so than other genres–every word matters.”

• She often did that, made small things better instead of leaving them alone.

• What? It’s true. If you cut off your friends when you’re dating someone, you’ll be all alone if the relationship ends.

• So, taking the pills could magically cure me or make matters worse? Brilliant

• Relax, Davis, You’re not in The Hunger Games.

• “Because no one can make another person happy,” said George. “He was happy when he was with me, but otherwise he wasn’t. That’s not enough. I mean, in a relationship you have your ups and downs, sure, and you help each other through, but if a person is genuinely unhappy, it won’t work. No amount of love or laughter from the other person can fix that. Each person has to love and laugh on their own. They need to feel it for real, deep down, in here.”

• Did Emily Dickinson pull away from the world because it was easier and safer to hide than face it all? Or did something inside of her crack? Was something really wrong with her, the way something was really wrong with me? No one seems to know for sure about her. No one really knew about me.