6 Seconds of Life

by Tonya F Fitzharris

[inlibrisveritas]

3.5 Stars

6 Seconds of Life is a new adult book that focuses on the life of a college student named Maura, which each second that passing her descent towards the water below her we get to see a tiny piece of her life and the actions that made her take that final step towards ending everything.

This is definitely not a lighter novel, but it was one that I ended up being pleasantly surprised about. It was one of those books I had tucked into the dark corners of my kindle, and I just so happened to randomly draw it’s number on a slow day at the store. It tackles the tough subjects of suicide, mental illness, bullying, and divorce (and a few others but I don’t want to spoil any of the story for you), and I think it does so in a way that’s easy to understand and relate to, even if you’ve never found yourself in any of those situations. I did appreciate that the voice and tone of the novel stayed true to Maura’s voice, and didn’t deviate into purple prose or perfect philosophies that many of the books like this tend to do. It’s nice on occasion but most of the time it’s just necessary to have a book with a real voice.

The story itself takes a bit of build up as each little piece of the puzzle falls into place, but for a 300 page book it’s actually a fairly quick read and I managed it all in one sitting. There are some moments where Maura spins so out of control that I wanted to shake her, but everything she did…it just made sense. It’s rare that I find a character that I actually ‘get’ despite them handling things way differently than I would. I saw the reasons for her lack of trust and for her partying in college, I saw the reasons why she felt alone and couldn’t talk to anymore. And I think that alone is what made this one worth reading.

Overall I’m glad I blew the dust off of this one and gave it a try! It has some kinks here and there, but overall it was enjoyable and heartfelt. Definitely a great book for discussion.