Intro:
Okay, so before I get started, I would just like to establish a few things. One, no, I’m not just doing this for the sheer thrills. As a passionate book-lover, it literally *pains* me to trash on another book, no matter how much I’m not into it. But in this case (as you’ll see soon) I feel like it’s really necessary. Because Four Weeks, Five People, in addition to being a (regrettably) poorly written novel, is actually, quite frankly, kind of dangerous (and no, this is not an exaggeration!)
Two, for those of you wondering whether or not I will continue to write negative reviews like this, the answer is most likely going to be no unless I deem it necessary (sorry!) As someone who’s struggled with writing in the past, I know how much effort goes into writing a book, and I just can’t bring myself to do this unless the book crosses some serious lines, as this one clearly did.
Three, THERE WILL BE SPOILERS FOR THIS BOOK, so read at your own caution!
And finally, my apologies if at some point I start to dip into swearing, because I’m not sure I’m gonna be able to control my pure hatred of this book!
To begin, I just want to start by saying I had every intention of trying to enjoy this book when I started it. The cover, combined with the setting at a summer camp, just screamed like something I should dive into before the summertime ends. And that’s why I chose this book as one of the books for my Magical Readathon challenge. Honestly, if it wasn’t for that, I would’ve easily DNF’d it right from about the 15% mark. But I knew I had to push through it to get credit for the challenge, and I guess part of me just hoped that it would get better (spoiler: it didn’t). Anyways, here’s a list I’ve compiled of everything I’ve deemed wrong with the book.
Strike #1. The Mental Illness Portrayal Was Just HORRIBLE
Okay, so I’m not sure how many of you know this, but for some time, I’ve struggled a lot much with social anxiety and depression, in addition to ADD, autism spectrum, motor dyspraxia, and the slightest touch of OCD and mild body image issues (I know, a mouthful, am I right?). So well-written books about mental health tend to have a truly special place in my heart. And I won’t lie when I say that I got excited when I found out that this was going to center in large part around mental health. Maybe you can blame that on the fact that I just recently read Coral by Sara Ella which was just FANTASTIC with its mental health rep/handling.
However, it was fairly clear from the beginning that the author had literally no idea what she was doing. For one, the OCD character only expressed the stereotypical aspect of it that entails the excessive need to count numbers. And this alone wouldn’t have been too bad, except for the fact that the reader is given absolutely *no* context for why certain numbers are safe for this character, and others are not.
And actually, now that I’m on this train of thought, hardly any of the mental illnesses were given any context as to how they were developed. We really only get to hear the backstory of a male anorexic character (which actually, come to think about it, was probably the only moderately beneficial part of this whole book, showing a boy going through an eating disorder.)
I’m only going to say this once. When you write a mental health book, YOU NEED TO MENTION HOW THEY GOT TO THAT POINT IN THE FIRST PLACE. Honestly, it *bewilders* me how this book was able to get past countless people in the publishing process without making a point to address that.
And TBH, from the perspective of a member of the mental health community, I was very triggered by just how offensive and crass the author handled such an important topic in today’s society. Seriously. I beg you, if you happen to be reading this, please check out the introduction that Sara Ella wrote to Coral when it’s released this November. She wrote a beautiful note about how what she was writing could be triggering to some of her readers, in addition to addressing the delicate care in which she took while writing such a sensitive topic, which I feel like is especially necessary because people with mental health problems are (quite obviously, I might add) going to represent a significant percent of the sale/profit of a book centered around mental health.
Strike #2. The Characters Were Downright AWFUL
I’m sorry to say this was the first time in my life that I haven’t been able to find a single character that I enjoyed reading about. Stella was a total bitch, Mason was a total asshole, Ben was beyond-weird (a character á la John Green), Carissa was too much, and I only mildly tolerated Andrew because I could kind of see where he was coming from with his anorexia.
And to make it worse, by the end of the novel, none of the characters showed any true development. I kind of get where the author was trying to go with the whole “it’s okay not to be okay” ending, but that only works if the characters accept what they’re going through and try to strive to do better in the future.
Unfortunately, the only message I got was more along the lines of “if you have mental illness, GOOD LUCK GETTING OVER IT BECAUSE LIKE HELL IT AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN” which is especially downright dangerous if you happen to get a suicidal person reading it. I mean, really. What good does Jennifer Yu think she’s doing sending a message like that?
Strike #3. The Camp Itself Should Have Been Condemned For SEVERE Malpractice and Neglect
This, right here, is what I think I hated the most about this novel. The camp, where each of these kids were supposed to find solace and redemption, was a downright ABOMINATION. I kid you not when I say that one of the MCs quoted this camp as being priced at a whopping $20,000. Which wouldn’t be bad in and of itself until you realize the COUNTLESS crimes that were committed by the staff, most of which revolve around severe neglect and malpractice in handling teens with associated mental health problems.
A.) Stella (aka the bitch character) was literally allowed to get away with bringing EVERY SINGLE ONE of the banned items on the list. This included, and I quote, “cell phones, other electronics, spiral-bound notebooks, hair straighteners and curlers, earrings, mechanical pencils, keys, blades, and knives,” mostly ALL of which could have been used as means of self harming and suicide. Like, what the hell??? Who in their right mind doesn’t perform a fucking quality bag check for kids that not only have mental health issues, but some of which have actually attempted to take their own lives?
B.) On literally Day 1, EVERY SINGLE ONE of the 5 MCs gets away with getting drunk in their rooms. It’s one thing to miss a few items in someone’s suitcase, but it’s a completely different ballgame when these characters are allowed to get away with the repeated and EXCESSIVE use of said items for the entire month.
Furthermore, since the night checks are only performed every 2 hours (and at the same exact times each day, to boot) the characters are basically allowed to get away with anything and everything (including walking into the wilderness in the middle of the night.)
C.) In no imaginable universe should it be possible for a fucking diagnosed anorexic to be able to get away with not eating AT the damned mental health camp. Since all the teens eat together in a communal space, it is BEYOND easy to get away with not eating. Andrew simply gets up and throws his meals in the trash.
If this was a normal camp, then they wouldn’t be at fault, but when you fucking ADVERTISE and PRIDE yourself on your handling of teens with mental health, that is just purely INEXCUSIBLE.
But wait, it gets worse. Said anorexic teen was forced to partake in a five-mile walk in the heat of day (in which he ultimately ends up passing out due to dangerously low blood sugar levels/dehydration.) That alone would be more than enough for his mother to file a lawsuit.
However, it didn’t end there. Towards the end of the novel, this character almost successfully committed fucking SUICIDE. He lands up in the hospital, and we never get to see him after that again.
But the worst part, even more so than the atrocities themselves, was that nothing (and I mean NOTHING) was said or done to address the critical fact that not only was this camp a terrible waste of money, but that it could also cause the teens attending to leave with more issues than they began with.
Strike 3, this book is out!
Overall rating: 1/5 stars (with .5 going to the book’s cover, which even in my current state of anger I can’t deny is a true work of art )