3.5 stars

CW: suicide, suicidal thoughts/ideation, sexual abuse, physical abuse/assault, bullying, depression, violence, self-harm, attempted rape, stillbirth

This is a hard book to rate and to review. Sometimes it was good, others it was only average; however, it was consistently very strange.

I’ve never read any of SDH’s books before, and I liked the blend of contemporary and sci-fi. I liked the concept of the sluggers too; while they were present, they were a unique take on aliens. I think it was interesting and kind of weird that whether or not they caused the end of the world hinged on just a button. They completely disappeared in the second half of the book, though, so I have no idea if Henry pressed the button or not. Way to leave me hanging, Shaun.

I definitely didn’t expect this book to be quite so deep and philosophical. Henry wasn’t sure whether to press the button or not, and he really picked apart the good and bad parts of the world. He seemed to focus more on the bad, but with recent events in his life I can kind of understand why. He had almost a superior, “I don’t care” attitude, and repeatedly said that nothing we did mattered in the grand scheme of things, we are the ants in the universe, the universe will continue as usual even after humans die and Earth is no more, etc, etc. I already knew these things, but I was surprised that they were such a recurring theme.

All of the main characters in this book felt like stereotypes on steroids. Henry was the loner, Marcus the “misunderstood” popular guy and bully, Audrey the supportive and encouraging friend, and Diego the mysterious new guy. They were likable (Marcus excluded) but very plain.

One thing I did really like was Henry’s family dynamic. They start off completely dysfunctional; his mother smokes and drinks and is usually absent, his grandmother has Alzheimer’s (I think), and his older brother is just the worst. But as the story progressed, they came together, and I liked seeing it happen.

I’m not sure if Henry’s voice throughout the story should be described as raw, vulgar, both, or something else entirely. On one hand, it was refreshing, in a way, to see an author write a character that really represented how many (though not all) modern teens are. On the other, it made me a bit uncomfortable for reasons I can’t quite explain. I’m not sure where I stand on this.

I touched on this before, but the ending was very open. I’m not sure why it was written this way, but I wasn’t a fan. I want to know what happened with Henry and Diego’s relationship, if Charlie and Zooey had a baby, if Henry ever got abducted again and if so, whether or not he pressed the button. Give me details! That alone probably would’ve made this a four star read. Just saying.

Because of school, I’ve had to stretch this review out over five hours, so anything else I wanted to say has left my head. I think I covered everything.

This was a unique book, but for the most part just average. I’m interested in reading SDH’s books, and I recommend this one if you think you can handle the heavier content. 😊