3.5
Beyond Zero
ByPublisher Description
She wondered what had become of her.
A mute kind of darkness had settled in—numbing her until she felt nothing at all.
No warmth. No glow.
Not even the comfort of tears.
She was buried beneath her own wreckage.
A sorrow too still, too deep, slowly hollowed her out, long after life had taken her color.
Her voice.
Her name.
There might've been a better way to live—but she never learned how.
This isn't where her story began, but it is where it ends—
in a journal she never meant for anyone to read.
Quietly.
Slowly.
Until she was no longer easy to find.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesBeyond Zero Reviews
3.5
“Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
TW: emotional distress, trauma, mental health struggles, and sui/ci/dal thoughts.
Oof... It's a short book, but it's definitely not easy to read. Please read the trigger warning before starting to read this book.
The writing feels poetic, and the single sentence makes it seem more like Lily's journal than a standard piece of fiction. Her words express pain, sorrow, and hopelessness. Reading this book felt like going through a journal written by a burned-out, desolate, gifted student trying to get through life, slowly losing her last spark of wanting to live. The feeling of being depressed, anxious, and isolated is very relatable and understandable.
While the author successfully gives a very intimate and introspective look at the characters' journeys, I think the book can be beneficial if there is a little bit more context rather than just a stream of consciousness (but, I guess that's the whole point of this book?). I believe that structuring the storyline with chapters and incorporating streams of thought will enhance the book's enjoyment. But, again, maybe this wasn't the author's intention.
Still, I enjoy reading this book. The book is worth a look if you enjoy stories with a melancholy and gloomy atmosphere. It may also appeal to those who appreciate narratives focusing primarily on a character's introspection rather than following a traditional plot-driven approach. It reads more like an intimate and unfiltered chronicle of the protagonist's inner world.”
“Thank you so much to the publisher for the e-arc
4 stars!
Reading this hit hard and made me think more about myself and my own struggle with mental health.
It was different to read such something that felt so close to my own thoughts and feelings. The last note at the end is what broke me. And thank you for it.”
“<b><I>nothing's heavier than the silence of trying</b></I><br/><br/>There's so much I want to say about this book. I expected to see the weight of emotions, the heaviness of a girl's story just trying to get by. I didn't expect to experience it. To feel it on such a visceral level that I'd need to just--sit. Sit with it and breathe. Because not only was it strong, not only was it real--it was something I'm still living. My thoughts echoing back to me on this quick 152-page read. Maybe that's why I felt it so strongly. <br/><br/>It's a story told through flashes and streams. A nonlinear way of storytelling where we experience Lily's story rather than just being told it. Where we pick apart the secrets and the stories between the lines, all the hidden information subtly revealed through a girl just trying to learn how to exist in a world that's greyed out. Nothing mentioned outright as even she wants to put it aside, to hide it from everything and everyone. And even when she gets a sort of reprieve, it still feels like a lie. <br/><br/>And that's just a sentiment I know a little too well. Feeling it deep in the marrows of my bones.<br/><br/>Also, please don't expect a plot where there's a beginning, a climax, and an end. There's just a story, Lily's story. You start in the middle, and you follow as she tries. It's a story of a girl hoping to be heard. Just take notice.<br/><br/>10/10 will read again.”
“As someone who has struggled, this book was both triggering and healing. Written in a poetic stream of consciousness, Beyond Zero touched a part of me that was deeply hidden and very visible at the same time.
Lily is a student, who is struggling with depression. She isolates herself from her friends and family and sometimes spends days in bed or on the couch, just staring at the wall. I think she gives a perfect insight in how someone with depression and suicidal thoughts thinks and tries to survive through the worst of it.
Definitely check your trigger warnings before reading Beyond Zero. But if you are brave enough to read about someone struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts, as someone who has been through it, it might heal a part of you you didn’t know needed healing or know how to heal it.
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC.”
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