I was intrigued by the premise of this book, however I thought it was, at times, confusing. Pieces of it were well written and enjoyable to read but often left me disjointed when a new chapter began. I would have liked more character development in the characters explaining emotions/circumstances that lead to decisions.

The Farewell Tree by Mert Urkmez is one of those books you're going to want to read multiple times because it makes you think -that- much.

Trigger warning - suicide is heavily discussed.

Imagine a world where suicide is encouraged. Where it's more of a public spectacle. Where it's looked upon as almost an honor to exit this world on your terms.

The Farewell Tree is an old, large tree in a public park. In order to commit suicide, members of the public must apply for a permit and be assigned a time. This isn't the only option for suicide, but one of the more popular. Let's not forget the train the government created designed separately from the commuter train so when people jumped in front of it, no one ran behind schedule.

Now imagine saving a friend's life from suicide...and it being frowned upon. You're intruding on this person's autonomy, their choice to end their life. You are forced to take a special class designed to teach you how wrong it was.

Then imagine saving a child's life only to wind up in the hospital yourself without an arm. When you wake up, you find out that the child was euthanized due to their injuries and the doctor is asking you if you would like to choose euthanasia - because you were missing an arm.

Now read all of these sentences again. The fine line between autonomy over one's life - whether that be continuing it or ending it.

This was an uncomfortable book to read but I personally appreciate that in books because it means I'm being pushed out of my normal comfort zone.

My prediction? This book will end up on a Banned Book List at some point, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't read it anyway.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and HistriaYA for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.