A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland

Oh boy, this was a really tough book to get into. This is the perfect example of the kind of book which irritates me. At the start, every single character is so impossibly quirky that I genuinely almost stopped reading. If you manage to plough through then this is toned down a little bit but these characters are still very much more quirk than personality. Esther is particularly unbearable. She dresses up as a different character each day and I just couldn't find what little personality she had relatable at all. Jonah is better but unfortunately, he is the best it gets.

Once that awful beginning section is over, the book does improve a little. I still struggle to understand what it is trying to say though. So the blurb implies a little magical realism and the story makes it very unclear if this is the case or not for quite some time. This is definitely not a strength. I dislike the way it portrays mental illness and I especially don't like that everyone is Esther's life has their own unique quirky brand of mental illness either. Her mum is a compulsive gambler, her dad is agoraphobic, her brother is afraid of the dark-even her best friend is mute but only to Esther.

There is a distinct lack of people trying to deal with their problems in this book, even after Jonah comes into Esther's life to magically help her fix everything. The characters are extremely damaging to Esther because of their mental health (for example, her mother loses all of their money and her 'best friend' refuses to physically speak around only her but will talk to everyone else) and this is done particularly badly. There isn't really a sympathetic portrayal of those being so awful to Esther, and yet Esther doesn't try to convince them to seek help or anything and just kind of accepts the behaviour as it is. It's the worst of both worlds.

Overall, I did grow to enjoy reading this book but there are so many problems with it that I find it difficult to recommend. It is pretty unique in both story and style, and there is enough to keep you reading if you can get through the unbearable quirkiness being rammed down your throat. It's just a shame that it fails to deliver on so many levels.

Overall Rating:

.5