This book is a hard one to review, it is both moving and difficult to read. I loved the idea behind it and felt invested in what I was reading. It was just quite sad!

This was quite interesting. I did enjoy the style of the vignettes and thought it really allowed the experiences of the main character to come through. I thought the writing was really powerful and I felt so many ties to the characters and felt their experience so deeply. I am really impressed. I do think that at points it went on a bit too long and found myself struggling to stick with it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

"What I'd Rather Not Think About" is a complex story of a somehow enmeshed sibling relationship, written by a twin woman whose brother took his own life. The short snapshots of the moments of their life together, as well as hers after the traumatic loss create a narrative that resembles the grieving mind--memories are incomplete, episodic, searched over and over again to find clues and hidden meaning.

Credit for this book not only goes to the author- it was beautiful and poignant- but also to the translator. To do a book like this justice is, in my view, extremely difficult. I’ve read emotive, translated books in the past where because of the translation the words moved me less than they ought to but this was stunning. The second book I’ve read where the story revolves around the death of a twin this summer but it dealt with it very differently (I loved both, as it happens despite not being a twin myself).

So beautifully written that it stirs up emotions you didn't know you had. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for a review.

What I’d Rather Not Think About follows the lives of twins through short vignettes, wherein the brother suffers with his mental health and the sister will do anything to save him. Posthuma tells their story in a delicate manner, which really captures the special relationship the two shared. Where What I’d Rather Not Think About is devastating, it is also incredibly poignant and important. Although not an easy read, its structure makes it a quick one. By the end you will feel a deep connection with these characters, which is a triumph considering its short page length.

What I'd Rather Not Think About is beautiful in its simplicity. It is not really a book about the death of a twin but rather a collection of remembrances and of how the surviving twin is continuing to live while trying to understand how their big brother could leave them, leave life. It is also about the survivor wondering if they can or should be able to continue without the most significant relationship having gone.

The writing is spare but says everything it needs to. Some of the vignettes are only short paragraphs and others are pages long but they all address different parts of the twins' lives plus the aftermath first of their father leaving and then the twin brother taking his own life.

I meant to take this book slowly but found myself unable to put it down. This is the first Jente Posthuma I've read but I'd love to read more. Her writing is something I want more of.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This book was a surprise and a surprising 5 stars for me, I have never read anything like this, so bold, so raw, so real, so triggering. On mental health, siblings, suicide, death, loss, it is hard to believe this is a novel. The short paragraphs were very easy to read, timeline was jumping around like fragments of thoughts. I really like the other information and stats that were mentioned, seems side tracked but at the same time closely related. The writing voice was very unique, got me hooked on heavy topic like this, would definitely recommend especially if you are interested in mental health.

What I'd Rather Not Think About is a haunting and heart-breaking story of loss, and mourning a loved one. Our narrator tells the story of their childhood, growing up alongside her twin brother, growing apart later in life, his mental illness bringing them back together before he takes his own life unexpectedly. The beautiful writing draws the reader in and this is an incredibly emotional book In some ways, a difficult book to read, the writer so wonderfully illustrating the devastation of losing a sibling, the feeling of emptiness when they are gone, I actually found this hard to read at times. But definitely worth persevering, I enjoyed this immensely and recommend to anyone who enjoys emotional stories of grief and relationships.

What I’d Rather Not Think About by Jente Posthuma is one of the best novels I've read about the relationship you have with your sibling. It's sad, funny and insightful and reminded me of Jessie Cave's Sunset, Viola Di Grado's Blue Hunger and Miriam Toews' All My Puny Sorrows.