Cover image from Goodreads.com

This novel is about depression, death, suicide, and life. There is a trigger warning right at the beginning of the novel, which was a delightful thing to see. More of that, please.

Vicky is obsessed with death; she works as a copywriter for a death planning company, lives above a funeral home, and collects zhizha whenever she can.

In an effort to live, she scrolls through a dating app and finds a couple that she likes. They hit it off immediately and Vicky now has a co-conspirator in depression; Angela. Vicky can talk about death with someone who also has some firm beliefs about it. Vicky’s best friend, only friend, Jen, is more upbeat but has also suffered with depression.

The novel shows the different kinds of depression; from the depths of chronic depression to the sharpness of acute depression to the dullness of seasonal depression. There’s no shying away from death here, instead it’s a reflection of life in that it shows that all things must come to an end.

While the theme is dark, the characters are very human and compelling. Definitely not a read for everyone, though.