それでも人のつもりかな

CW: Suicide attempt

それでも人のつもりかな by 有島希音（ありしま きおん）is about an isolated middle schooler named Hoshi Arisa. The target audience are children in the upper years of elementary school and first year of middle school, so 11-13 year-olds.

I have a rule of keeping the reviews I write on my blog spoilerfree. But I will break this rule for this book because I absolutely cannot recommend it and want to give clear reasons why.

There are many descriptions of severe bullying and over the course of the book these experiences drive our 13-year-old protagonist to attempt suicide. The reader gets a front row seat to how she plans her own death, chooses the method and feels relief and joy writing her suicide note.

I found it both disturbing and upsetting to read. Mental health is not discussed. The causes of bullying are not discussed. The very thing that got me interested in the book - the protagonist's identity as a multiethnic Japanese - was not discussed. It was simply the reason she was bullied and then the bullying was the reason she attempted suicide.

What a harmful and disappointing book.