[Review] "Bomb" by Sarah Mussi

I’m giving “Bomb” by Sarah Mussi a well-deserved 4’5 “what-a-thrilling-story” stars.

A few days ago I discovered this website called NetGalley, maybe some of you guys already know about it. I found out today that you actually need to request most books you want to read and it turns out if you are not from an English-speaking country you’re quite screwed. Still, the very first day I was looking through the website this book caught my attention, and it was available as a “Read Now” in Europe. So, yeah, I want to thank NetGalley and Hodder Children’s Books for I got this ARC from them.

Have you ever read a book that you loved, but at the very same time freaked you out? Let’s say you wake up strapped on a bomb. Like, how do you think you would react? Would you follow the orders you’re given? Would you break knowing you are a walking weapon risking the life of everyone near you? From the moment you start reading this book, there’s a lot of “what ifs” that will come to your mind and, believe me, it is scary. I’m-becoming-paranoid scary. 

We’ve all seen the rise of terror in modern times, and especially last year. We talk about it over dinner with family, we talk about in our lectures in class, and the News online and offline keep reminding us: terrorism is here, is a fact, and we are all in danger. This is what “Bomb” is about. The fear, the paranoia, and the danger we face every day without even knowing. And I can honestly say, I will never forget this story, it made me feel frightened and fragile.

As you can read, I loved the book, though I must say the first couple chapters of the book were quite hard to read. The book is written from Genesis, the main character, point of view and in present tense. Which means when she’s freaking out her thoughts step on each other, and it’s difficult to follow her thinking. I can honestly say if you go through the first two chapters, it gets better. Gen turns out to be an awesome and likable character: she may seem childish and obsessed with her ex-boyfriend at the beginning, but she grows out of it after a while. 

There aren’t lots of characters in this book, but I’ll say there are three important ones: Genesis, Dave, and Naz. It’s kind of like a love triangle, only that is not. Genesis dated Dave, dumped him for Naz, and then she was the one getting dumped. Ouch. But still, you get to see their strong and weak points; you get to see why she liked them so much, but also why she shouldn’t like them too. I guess everyone who reads the books will obviously be on Team Dave, but Mussi has done an awesome job showing the good side of Naz too. Thumbs up for it. 

Besides pointing out everything I liked, I would also like to state my opinion on something Gen does. She likes to write poetry, and she wants to know the meaning of life, so she’s obsessed over composing one-sentence poems regarding this. I didn’t like the LIFE IS sentences, thought I may say some of them were Awesome (capital-A-Awesome), just like “Life is a novel with the last page ripped out.” But there were some one-sentences that made me cringe. Let’s say you are reading an awesome book, your devouring eagerly every page of it, and suddenly you read “Life is a Tin of Sardines: We're all of us looking for the key.” It really kills my mood. Also, I don’t think a key will help you get out of a tin of sardines; you‘d need a tin opener for that. 

I recommend “Bomb” to everyone who likes books that linger, thrilling stories, not knowing what will happen till the last page, great endings, and who want to find out the purpose of life.