Undone by Cat Clarke: A Book Review

But…

I don’t want do die.

I try to twist my body backward and pain shoots up my neck.

It’s too late.

I chose life too late.

Two words for this book: damn it.

So, where to start? Ah, let’s talk about the plot then.

The story is about a girl planning to avenge her gay best friend from the people who humiliated him, which led to his suicide. She was in love with her gay best friend so her rage was full to the brim and the only way she knew how to avenge him was to infiltrate the group of friends whom she believed were the culprit.

But like the saying goes, “revenge only destroys the avenger”. And indeed, her “plan” destroyed her.

I especially love the writing of the author because it wasn’t boring, or bland. The transitions of every part of the book was fast but timely—it wasn’t dragging and it was always on point. No unnecessary wordings, not too much metaphor, no fillers. There wasn’t much drama. The story itself is also very timely with the rise of LGBTQ+ community, specially here in the Philippines because it depicted bullying and the psychological issues most people are now having (e.g. depression, suicidal ideation). The struggle of battling with destructive thoughts and reality was also shown; although not that starkly portrayed, but when you read between the lines, it’s there. You can almost see it from the main character.

At the end of the book, I began to (for the first time) wonder, if all those who took their own life, also had the same realization: that they don’t really want to die after all? What if they did? It was really too late.

This is definitely something I’d recomment for everyone to read.