Opening lines are always important, and Jennifer Niven gets her first YA novel off to a gripping start - “Is today a good day to die?” The speaker is teenager Theodore Finch, who is asking himself that question while standing on the narrow ledge of his high school’s bell tower, six storeys above the ground. He is serious, too, so it’s a good job someone is there to distract him.
That person is Violet Markey. By coincidence, Violet’s own suicidal feelings have led her to the same ledge at exactly the same moment. The two teens don’t know each other, but Theodore decides to save Violet, which means he has to step back from the brink. There’s a definite spark between them, but it’s clear this is only a reprieve.
As “meet cutes” go, it is pretty good, and very much in keeping with the tone of current YA fiction. I can almost hear the pitch – “Two suicidal teenagers meet and fall in love; they can’t save themselves, but can they save each other?” – and I’m not surprised to hear it’s soon to be “a major motion picture”. It sounds like a guarantee of emotional intensity and narrative tension.
It has plenty of the first, but not enough of the second. One problem lies in the complex backstories of the characters – Theodore’s includes divorced parents, his abusive father marrying a younger woman, his mother feeling bitter and depressed as a consequence; Violet is devastated by guilt and grief after her sister’s death in a car crash for which she feels responsible. Explaining all this slows things down. The viewpoint also switches between Theodore and Violet, so just as you start to get a grip on one set of feelings you’re dropped into somebody else’s mind.
A bigger problem is that they’re both so articulate. Theodore writes songs and talks like some kind of high-school existentialist standup. In Violet’s eyes, he’s “lean and good-looking and trouble”, but then she’s pretty good-looking herself, and a talented writer to boot. They have long, deeply meaningful conversations, swapping Virginia Woolf quotes and lines such as: “No more winter at all. Finch, you brought me spring,” and: “You have to live your life like you’ll never be sorry.”
There’s not really much of a plot either, and most of the secondary characters have been lifted from the generic dysfunctional families and high-school registers at central casting. In fact, a lot of the story doesn’t seem believable, particularly the relationships between Theodore and his useless school counsellor, or Violet and her oh-so-nice parents. And, of course, the most pressing issue: does it glamorise the idea of living fast, dying young and leaving a good-looking corpse? I don’t think so, although I’d be happier with a 14‑plus recommendation rather than the “12‑plus” Penguin has given it.
But perhaps I’m being too cynical. When we see Theodore descending into a smothering depression, or Violet struggling to emerge from hers, the suffering feels authentic enough to make me forgive the story its flaws. I have a feeling its likely audience – fans of John Green and Jay Asher – will probably agree.
• Tony Bradman’s most recent book is Anzac Boys, published by Barrington Stoke.To order Title Title for £6.39 (RRP £7.99) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p on online orders over £10. A £1.99 charge applies to telephone orders.
