The touching, restrained third novel by Canadian author Basran traces the repercussions of the suicide of a teenager in British Columbia, over three months..As the novel develops, it widens out from its tightly contained domestic world, setting its characters free to explore the natural realm and its possibilities...Basran sensitively examines four characters with their own sets of psychological struggles, all of whom gradually and to a believable degree begin to move past them and open up, offering a hint of hope to the reader.
Help! I'm Alive, Gurjinder Basran's insightful, compelling third novel, captures the guilt, confusion and longing for connection that follow the death of a suburban teen...Four people narrate the story, each of whom was close to Jay, a boy who livestreamed footage of his death...Rather than exploiting suicide for character development, Basran opts to probe fractures in the oldest, closest relationships and the beautiful fragility of new ones...Help! I'm Alive is a masterful examination of what it means to be human, to hope and to connect.
Basran’s striking if uneven latest follows four characters dealing with the aftermath of a teenager’s death...ay McAlister’s surviving friends and family are left to grapple with whether Jay’s fatal fall from Vancouver’s Lions Gate Bridge was intentional...Basran covers the 100 days leading up to Jay’s death with stories of Jay’s former friend Ash; Ash’s older brother, Anik; their mother, Pavan; and Winona...The story concludes with a dramatic and symbolic encounter, which brings the disparate story lines into startling cohesion...Despite its flaws, this makes for a satisfying drama.
