The Book:
Together We Will Go by J. Michael Straczynski
Published July 6th 2021 by Gallery/Scout Press
Date read: July 15, 2021
The Characters:
Mark, Dylan
Karen, Tyler, Theo, Peter, Chantel, Lisa
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
Trigger warnings: suicide, assisted suicide, rape, drug abuse
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Mark Antonelli, a failed young writer looking down the barrel at thirty, is planning a cross-country road trip. He buys a beat-up old tour bus and hires a young army vet to drive it. He puts out an ad for others to join him along the way. But this will be a road trip like no other: His passengers are all fellow disheartened souls who have decided that this will be their final journey—upon arrival in San Francisco, they will find a cliff with an amazing view of the ocean at sunset, hit the gas, and drive out of this world.
The unlikely companions include a young woman with a chronic pain sensory disorder and another who was relentlessly bullied at school for her size; a bipolar, party-loving neo-hippie; a gentle coder with a literal hole in his heart and blue skin; and a poet dreaming of a better world beyond this one. We get to know them through access to their texts, emails, voicemails, and the daily journal entries they write as the price of admission for this trip.
By turns tragic, funny, quirky, charming, and deeply moving, Together We Will Go explores the decisions that bring these characters together, and the relationships that grow between them, with some discovering love and affection for the first time. But as they cross state lines and complications to the initial plan arise, it becomes clear that this is a novel as much about the will to live as the choice to end it. The final, unforgettable moments as they hurtle toward the decisions awaiting them will be remembered for a lifetime.
The Twist:
Soldier dies on the way, so the others give Zeke a Viking funeral after he OD’s to be with him. There is a run-in with the police in Nebraska, so Tyler sacrifices himself and commits suicide by cop to let the others escape.
The Ending:
Chantel, Karen, and Dylan get off the bus. Lisa picks up the driving, and as they’re running from the cops in Utah they get cornered and run it off a cliff there instead.
The Review:
Holy shit, what an emotional book. The story was incredible, and I loved the premise.
This was the perfect book to listen to on audio. The cast was perfect and made it easy to keep so many characters straight, and I loved the little details like the text noises, the audio recorder voice, and the noise in the background of the recorded clips. It’s details like those that make an audiobook really worth it, and add things that you can’t get off the page.
This book certainly isn’t for everyone, as it closely examines the emotions that lead to committing suicide and the ethics of assisted suicide. Surprisingly, though, it is done with such good humor. I can’t think of a way to word it that doesn’t sound off-putting, but trust me that it is very well done. I think it has to do with the depth of the characters. Each is so complex, and they are able to enjoy the journey despite knowing how it will end.
I cried a lot. Especially over Soldier (a cat) and Zeke’s love for him, and also about Vaughn’s kindness towards Chantel. (Please excuse name misspellings–I listen to this on audio and am guessing.)
This book was very well written and extremely powerful. If you can handle the subject matter, I would highly recommend picking it up. Together We Will Go is certainly a novel that will stick with me for a long time.
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