Together We Will Go

I enjoyed the experience of reading this book. I did not enjoy thinking about afterward. It's one of those books you get super invested in and finish pretty quickly. It was a good length so I didn't feel like it dragged too much.
Why I liked it:
-There's a decent variety of characters who felt distinct. It would have been fairly easily to write it so 50% of the characters were just depressed with no nuance. Instead, I got to enjoy each characters journey.
- Kitty! That's not a spoiler because it's on the cover. At least that's my excuse.
-It avoided the pitfalls of 13 reasons why. A. Everyone is an adult. B. several characters question their decision, which reflects research done on suicide. C) Through emails and texts we get to see the people on the buses loved ones trying to reach out.
- I enjoy this format of book where it's through journal entries, recordings etc.
What I didn't like
-Mark's backstory. It all being a trick is one of my least favorite tropes. I would have preferred a narrative where he chickened out etc.
-The way the women were handled. I didn't notice it as much when I was reading because I was in the moment. My post read think caused me to have some questions. Tl;DR If sexism super bothers you, you will like this book less than I did. Women leave the bus because of men. Not including Theo (NB, so I'm not assigning them a gender) Only one woman is on the bus at the end. At one point, there was 4. The women leave because a man interfered with their plan (causing them to be kicked off.) or a man cured their depression/problems with his penis. Men only left the bus because they were kicked off/abandoned (3) or died in transit (2). I understand the narrative need to get people off the bus. I even liked it. The gender split of how that happened rubbed me the wrong way a little bit.

I grew up with suicidal tendencies that lasted for years. I was unable to really explain how I was feeling, but living was unbearable for me for more than a decade. This book contains a lot of my exact thoughts and process of thoughts from that time while also containing the little sparks of light that made me be still alive today. I want to hug each of the passengers of this bus and cry with them, tears of love, but also of a deep understanding.

Since Babylon 5 I've been a real fan of Mr Straczynski's work and his ability to bring me profound joy, sadness and marvel at the wonders and mysteries of life. This book is another perfect example on how much this man is capable to express in terms of creativity and profound humanity.

For Vaughn, Karen, Lisa, Shannelle, Theo and all of them: thank you