Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen is a witty, heartfelt story about love, trust, and facing fears. Petula is cautious and guarded after a family tragedy, but her world shifts when she meets Jacob, who challenges her outlook. With humor and empathy, Nielsen explores friendship, mental health, and healing in a refreshingly relatable way. Perfect for fans of contemporary YA with depth and humor.

I unfortunately was not able to read this book. I was excited when ever I had chosen to download or pick this book up on Netgalley. However, time moves by so quickly and I never got to read it.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. Though I did purchase a copy for my branch, I did not connect with the characters and really did not care for them.

I loved this book! The full review will be posted soon at kaitgoodwin.com/books! Thank you very much for this wonderful opportunity to connect books to their readers!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30335388-optimists-die-first?from_search=true

Optimists Die First is a sweet contemporary young adult book that focuses on mental illness. The main character, Petula de Wilde (what a name!) is obsessed with the dangers that could be lurking around every corner. She fills her time with collecting newspaper articles about freak accidents and memorizing statistics. This is Petula’s way of dealing with the death of her younger sibling. Her mom copes with the loss of her youngest child by collecting cats – literally becoming the crazy cat lady. Petula’s parents fight and she does everything she can – including clean up after all the cats – in hopes of preventing a fight or her parents having to do anything around the house.

Petula has to take part in an art therapy class which she hates and thinks is lame until Jacob joins the class. Petula starts to make friends and starts to face her fears and actually have fun, until she learns something about Jacob that feels like a betrayal and sends her on a tailspin, back into her morbid behavior. Does she reconcile with Jacob, her new friends and former best friend? Does she let go of the morbid behavior? I won’t spoil the surprise for you – read the book – it’s quite lovely.

I really liked Petula and her weirdness – both before and after Jacob joins the group. Her obsession with death is understandable and her quirkiness is relatable. I also liked learning about the motley band of kids in her art therapy class and her idealistic and somewhat silly art teacher – who wanted to work with younger students. I love the range of emotions and the depth to the characters plus the growth each character shares along the way.

This story was very sweet and a great read. I gave it 4 stars. I recommend it to adults and teens who like quirky characters and who have an interest in mental illness.

Unfortunately, I lost interest in this book after picking it up. Maybe I'll give it another try in the future.

I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book, though I did assume there would be more depth and that the characters would be better developed, but I know I was expecting to like a whole lot more than I actually do.
First of all, I really want to state how disappointed I am with how the author handled addiction, homophobia, death, and anxiety. While I assume she was trying to make dealing with those things seem as if they do not control your life, the way she did so made it seem like they were a joke. The characters are in an art therapy group together, and while I can understand that they feel too old for the councilors ideas, they also understand each others issues and constantly ridicule each other about them and offer no support. The families don't seem to help, and the characters themselves treat these issues the same way they would treat an afternoon in detention. That was a big pet peeve for me throughout my reading and in the end, it really did affect the way I felt about the characters and the story.
While this books is quirky, humorous, and a light read, considering what the characters are dealing with, especially the MC, I thought it would be...not darker, but not so fluffy either. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the book or wish I hadn't read it, I just wish that maybe the author would have chosen different issues for the characters to deal with since their reactions and the tone of the book don't necessarily coincide.
The progression was nice, the plot definitely moved along, but at the same time it felt fast. Like, all the kids in the Art Therapy group are dealing with some serious stuff, but when the new kid comes along they all just welcome him with open, happy arms and in no time are "fixing" their problems. It doesn't feel authentic or real in anyway to me, and it makes me think that if they had all met up for detention it would have made more sense. In fact, at one point one of the characters makes a comment about them being The Breakfast Club, which I could believe more than what was actually going on.
I also didn't fully understand the cats. Like, I love cats and own 3, but instead of the cats feeling like background they felt more like important, main points of the book. I get it, the mom is getting all these cats for an emotional reason, but at the same time the MC makes a deal out of finding them homes even though in the end, it kinda doesn't matter. And the contest? That felt like maybe the author was going to do something more with it but decided not to at the last minute, but still thought it would be fun to add, so she did. In the end, for me it felt like it whatever it was supposed to do, it didn't.
The ending kind of felt unfinished, I understand that the author probably wanted to leave the ending up to the reader, but the way she did it made me feel like SHE didn't know how she wanted to end it, so she just put that ending together. I didn't like it and it left me feeling annoyed because I don't like when books end that way.
All in all, this wasn't a terrible book or something that I regret reading, but it just wasn't what I thought it would and I definitely don't agree with how the author handled the characters' issues. This book was super easy to read and follow, the plot progresses quickly, and it was pretty fluffy.

Unfortunately, I DNFed this book in the first 13%. It didn't grab my attention, and despite the suggested hilarity in the blurb, I thought it was rather depressing.

A great read for middle or high school students. Optimists Die First is a novel about grief, guilt, anxiety and friendship. The characters are fully realized and the relationships and feelings of the kids in the art group are believable. Highly recommend for purchase.

I liked this book...mostly. Petula has great voice, she's got all the requisite quirks for a book of this subgenre (mental health, grief, misfitteriness, etc.) and it's always good for teens who experience tragedy to be able to view tragedy through another's eyes.

Petula has been messed up since her little sister's death four years (I think, could be two years) before the book opens. She's convinced she is the cause of sister's death and seeping guilt has her seeing potential disasters in everything. She's a walking, talking anxiety disorder who finally gets interested in her therapy group when a boy arrives. A boy with a prosthetic arm who's hiding his own secrets.

Petula and Jacob bond. If this was a movie, there'd be the obligatory montage scene - them making a hilarious cat video with Petula's mom's many cats (bc mom's grief has sublimated into caring for lots of cats at once), studying and shopping together, etc. And Petula's anxiety just...fades. Like all she needed was a cute guy to distract her. I'm no expert in anxiety - my own experience of panic attacks has been (thankfully!) limited - so it didn't seem all that strange to me that Petula just stops noticing all the weird, imagined dangers of her world. Teens change a lot during adolescence, and time does heal. Perhaps the elapsed time after sister's death combined with Jacob's influence was enough to heal her...? I'll leave that debate to people who have been through something similar to Petula. I will say that, as an educator, I'll be careful in my recommendations of this book. The last thing I want to suggest to teens is that a romantic relationship is the key to getting over life's traumas.

Optimists Die First:

I was sent this book as an EARC by Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Rating **4 stars**
Petula has gone through more heartache at her age that most others do in the entirety of their lives. She lost her sister Maxine due to a tragic accident and while dealing with the aftermath of her loss Petula has forced everyone away from her and blamed no one but herself. While pushing everyone away, Petula has introduced new ways in her daily life to avoid any possible bad scenario or situation that could ever arrive. Her daily habits range from steering clear of construction sites, no shaking people hands and even to the extreme of no elevators- period.
While being forced to deal with her grief and problems surround it, Petula is enrolled in a program at her school called YART. YART is an art program designed to help youth, like herself, deal with emotional and traumatic events in their life. Every person in the classroom has their own stories with their own motives, that is until Jacob arrives. Jacob is a transfer student sporting a bionic arm from a tragic accident of a suspected drunk driver that took the life of two of his friends.
Jacob seems to be the glue that this group needs in helping them all to confront their past with the use of film and storytelling. Every member of YART gets their opportunity to tell their story, make their amends and attempt to heal from the trauma that they’ve ensued, everyone it seems but Jacob. After one of Jacob’s video’s is posted online, a voice from his past opens the entire group’s eyes to the world that he left behind and a part of the story that was never told.


Review: SPOILERS
This story was such a fantastic read for me. Right away, you fall for the character of Petula and are thrown into her raw emotions of losing her sister and the demise of her parents’ marriage. You also get a front row seat to her anxiety, her love for cat’s and her quirks that make her 100% fantastic. After the loss of her sister, Petula lashed out at her best friend Rachel and since that time their friendship had fallen apart. Petula is pretty much a loner in school until the group at YART get drawn together by Jacob and his optimistic view on life. If is safe to say that Jacob is the reason I loved this book so much. The addition of his character brought out a whole new dimension of Petula and really opened her up to the readers.
The sub-characters in this book were also given their own individual times to shine and got to share their stories of grief, substance abuse and even coming out to an ultra conservative family. Usually I am pretty half and half about sub-characters due to their lack of addition to the story, but I feel that each member of YART and even Rachel and her Principal added important parts to the continuation of the story. Every person that Petula interacted with impacted her life in one way or another. Through their collective grief, they were able to heal with friendship and conversation- that really hit home to me.
One predictable plot twist that I saw coming from the beginning was the separation of her parents. Obviously her mom has issues dealing with the death of Maxine and chooses to fill that void with cats. Then there is her father, who’s choice of dealing with his grief is stuffing it deep down inside and not talking about it..ever. I don’t know if the impending divorce added anything to the story and especially where it was placed in the storyline. Things were already crappy for Petula, why hit a girl when she is down?
Another minor detail that kind of bugged me in the book is that awkward placement of Rachel in the storyline. I do understand that they had to rebuild their friendship after Petula lashed out and blamed the death of her sister on Rachel, but their rekindling was a bit weird to me being slow at first and then in fast forward back to bestie status.
I feel that this book highlighted the highs and lows of grief, self image and family issues in a young person’s mind. It’s so easy for me to classify a teenager as unruly and disrespectful and I am completely guilty of judging based upon their looks. This book was a perfect example of why I need to step back and maybe look at the bigger picture and realize that there are battles that people are facing that I know nothing about.
Last side note, epic as it may be; I got to highlight all of the cat/poop references and send them to my husband because they legitimately made me laugh out loud. When the topic of the cat Anne of Green Gable came up and her stealth poop I remember laughing at work and immediately sending it to him to share the humor. There was just enough quirk in this book to mute some of the serious undertones and keep the reader engaged.

I liked the book. I thought the topic of a therapy group in a high school was an interesting setting and one I hadn't read before. I liked the little twists and the way the reader had to re-evaluate how you felt about certain characters and how you would feel and react in the situation.

There's nothing really awful about this book; but there's also nothing that really stands out either, except maybe that it's set in Canada. I'm a sucker for books written and set in my own country; especially when I've been to the place as many times as I've been to Vancouver.

So why doesn't this stand-out?
I think it's because, while well-written and engaging, the characters are just not all that interesting or unique. They are very stereotypical. You have your typical classes of 'troubled teens'; a drug addict, a gay, a disabled person, someone anxiety plagued; and of course all of them have mental issues because of their specific situations. Now this is all very good and true; but it's nothing new or even all that inspiring.
It also takes on way too many issues at once. Not just teens with issues that are mentioned but even just the issues our lead gal has are overwhelming. What this means is that there is never a good focus on one thing over the other. I'd prefer to see more focus on an issue and really dig into them at a true human level and not just as a superficial discussion or thought.

While the characters may be archetypes, there are some gems in the plot. The clever videos they all make to tell their emotional story, a twist that many will see coming but those that don't will be shocked by, and the organization of events that don't go from bad to great, but instead are like life. Sometimes the going is good and sometimes it's bad.

There will likely be a teen or two out there that will really connect with this book (probably because of the cats); but this is not as impactful as many other young adult books like it.

So I give it three stars because it's fine, I read the whole thing, and it was entertaining enough. But I can't help but feel it could have been more.

A quick and easy read with some good laughs. Teens who are sarcastic or have a darker sense of humor would enjoy this.

After a horrible tragedy in her family, Petula de Wilde is obsessed with the danger in everything. Her mom is slowly becoming a cat lady, and she is forced into art therapy class with a group of misfits. Jacob, an amputee, joins their group, and Petula wants nothing to do with him at first. When the class is forced to work on a group project, he gets everyone together, and Petula finds herself growing close to Jacob and letting down her walls. Everything comes to a head, however, when the truth behind Jacob's accident is revealed.

“Optimists Die First” was a decent enough book about anxiety and a quick read, but it was missing that something extra to push it over into good. It also seemed to resolve things way too quickly. I can’t recommend nor not recommend it. Read the description and give it a try if it piques your interest.

**This e-arc was given to me in exchange for an honest review**

I was really excited for this book as it sounded like a character that I could possibly relate to and I love a good craft project. That said, this book was just "alright." The events throughout the book were rather predictable and the timeline felt off somehow. At first, I felt like there was a case a "insta-love" but after thinking about the events that occurred, I think it was really more of a lack of explaining the timeline. It would feel rushed, but then the narrator would mention its been months, which could explain the leaps and bounds of the development of the main relationship. By the end of the book, I'm still not totally sure how much time had passed (a full school year? Half of a school year?) The twist was not really a twist at all and the aftermath was predictable as well. Overall, it was a really quick read but not one I would recommend to someone struggling with anxiety and paranoia.

It is very difficult to be a Pessimist in a world where people Just. Want. You. To. Look. On. The. Bright. Side. Petulda De Wilde is determined though - she once was an optimist, but after a freak accident, she blames herself for the death of her beloved little sister. If she wraps herself in horrible facts and pessimism, nothing bad will happen to her again, right? And then .... she meets Jacob. And yes, the world is still really scary, but it's not *as* terrible.

Absolutely wonderful read, and while the subject matter had the potential to have me a sobbing, crying mess, I kept reading, eager to know more about what was happening with Petula and her friends. Her friends and parents, which the author could have made stock characters, are also three-dimensional with their own back stories. Absolutely exquisite. I inhaled this book in under twenty-four hours.