Editorial Content for A World Without You
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Reviewer (text)
Since Bo lost his girlfriend, Sofía, his world has been upside down. They both attended Berkshire Academy, a boarding school for troubled youth, but Bo likes to believe he knows the truth: that the school is for kids with special abilities. After all, Bo can time travel. That’s how he lost Sofía in the first place; he left her behind in the past. While everyone else seems to believe Sofía committed suicide, Bo know he can get her back using his powers. Fighting the government officials always watching and even those he once considered friends, Bo is left not knowing who to trust.
“A WORLD WITHOUT YOU is an powerful and heartbreaking story that is unlike anything I have ever read previously.”
Reading this book was an experience like no other for me. A WORLD WITHOUT YOU made my head spin page after page, making me just as unsure as Bo. The book was fast paced and was impossible to put down. The powers each character had were intriguing and the parallels between Bo’s fantasy and reality were extremely well written.
One of my favorite things about the novel was how it was written in alternate point of views between Bo and his sister. Hearing his sister’s view on all of the events was incredibly interesting. In novels about mental illness, we barely hear direct thoughts from the people around the protagonist so it made the novel very refreshing. Besides that, the role Bo’s family played was very well done. In books dealing with mental illness, we don’t see the full impact the illness has on outsiders, but A WORLD WITHOUT YOU includes that with lots of detail.
Though there were many aspects I enjoyed, the book was not what I expected. I thought we would hear more about Sofía and Bo together and their love story. When that wasn't included, it was harder for me to cheer on Bo to save Sofía. Also, I would have enjoyed the novel more if I didn’t know it was centered around mental illness. It would have made the plot more suspenseful and the overall story more impactful.
A WORLD WITHOUT YOU is an powerful and heartbreaking story that is unlike anything I have ever read previously. The different narratives make it stand out from the other books on the same topic. I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a book dealing with mental illness that breaks away from the traditional narrative.
Teaser
Seventeen-year-old Bo has always had delusions that he can travel through time. When he was ten, Bo claimed to have witnessed the Titanic hit an iceberg, and at 15, he found himself on a Civil War battlefield, horrified by the bodies surrounding him. So when his concerned parents send him to a school for troubled youth, Bo assumes he knows the truth: that he’s actually attending Berkshire Academy, a school for kids who, like Bo, have "superpowers."
Promo
Seventeen-year-old Bo has always had delusions that he can travel through time. When he was ten, Bo claimed to have witnessed the Titanic hit an iceberg, and at 15, he found himself on a Civil War battlefield, horrified by the bodies surrounding him. So when his concerned parents send him to a school for troubled youth, Bo assumes he knows the truth: that he’s actually attending Berkshire Academy, a school for kids who, like Bo, have "superpowers."
About the Book
Seventeen-year-old Bo has always had delusions that he can travel through time. When he was ten, Bo claimed to have witnessed the Titanic hit an iceberg, and at 15, he found himself on a Civil War battlefield, horrified by the bodies surrounding him. So when his concerned parents send him to a school for troubled youth, Bo assumes he knows the truth: that he’s actually attending Berkshire Academy, a school for kids who, like Bo, have "superpowers."
At Berkshire, Bo falls in love with Sofia, a quiet girl with a tragic past and the superpower of invisibility. Sofia helps Bo open up in a way he never has before. In turn, Bo provides comfort to Sofia, who lost her mother and two sisters at a very young age.
But even the strength of their love isn’t enough to help Sofia escape her deep depression. After she commits suicide, Bo is convinced that she's not actually dead. He believes that she's stuck somewhere in time --- that he somehow left her in the past, and now it's his job to save her.
Not since Ned Vizzini’s IT'S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY has there been such a heartrending depiction of mental illness. In her first contemporary novel, Beth Revis guides readers through the mind of a young man struggling to process his grief as he fights his way through his delusions. As Bo becomes more and more determined to save Sofia, he has to decide whether to face his demons head-on, or succumb to a psychosis that will let him be with the girl he loves.
