A Year and a Day, and why we should start doing trigger warnings for books

Here's the trigger warning that should have been included with the novel: This story contains in-depth references to anxiety, depression and suicide, as well as major instances of gaslighting and toxic masculinity.

I feel very strongly about this, not because I have any issue with books that deal with these sort of topics. I have an issue with books which spring these topics upon you after luring you in with the promise of a feel-good chick-lit set in a beautiful European city.

Having read two other novels by Isabelle Broom, I'd come to expect a less sugary tone than you average romantic comedy, combined with a personal mystery about the past of the main character that slowly reveals itself as you read on. What I did not expect, is the buckets of misery and self-loathing the three protagonists go through before they are finally allowed a happy ending.

This review will be heavy on spoilers, so if you want to keep your book experience untainted by more details, avert your eyes now.

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Where do I even start! I recently read in my friend's blog that you should lead with some positives, so lets focus on that first. This book paints a stunning picture of Prague. The descriptions of the main sights, the history and atmosphere of the city are woven in expertly into the narrative. Broom expertly steers clear of turning her novel into a travel blog and instead manages to pull the readers in, until you feel the nippy air of the Christmas market as if it's biting your own fingers, and smell the mulled wine. Reading this in the depth of winter made me wish to book a trip there and experience the city first-hand.

We also get some pretty bad-ass ladies by the end of the story - although, as I mention above, you have to sit through watching them suffer with toxic men and uncomfortable character growth pains before they get there. The silver lining is that ultimately they all come out the other end deciding that their happiness does not hinge on the men in their life - a deviation from chick-lit tropes which I love about Broom's writing style.

This is where the good things I have to say about this book end. So buckle up, here come the downsides.

I'll start with the men and work my way up to the triggers, because UGH. Let's begin by looking at Charlie, Mr Gaslight. As fellow Goodreads reviewer Helen points out, he flat out tries to convince his other half, Hope, that she's making up his mysterious phone calls and shifty behaviour. And although we end up learning that he was trying to arrange a pleasant surprise for Hope, I cannot overlook how poorly he handled this whole situation.

And then we've got Ollie, Mr Friendzone. I use the term half-ironically, as it is something I expect he'd believe himself to be in, rather than something I believe exists, per se. It's easy to let his type of toxic masculinity slip between the cracks by virtue of not being outwardly aggressive and threatening. But boy, oh boy, is he a manipulative bastard.

Much like Ross from Friends (as well as a number of guys I've had the misfortune to know), he thinks himself the 'good guy', and as such he feels he's entitled to the affections of his love interest, Megan. After being explicitly told that she's not interested in a romantic relationship, he continues to harbour amorous feelings towards her while pretending to be her friend, biding his time and being secretly bitter about having to be what most of us would simply call a decent person.

I cannot say this loud enough - men are not entitled to female affections just because they are nice to us. Being nice should be the norm, not something that entitles you to a reward.

Megan is already struggling with her own personal troubles, amongst which finding the balance between pursuing a career and pursuing a potential relationship. Not to mention some seriously justified trust issues which spawn from past romantic let-downs (and which Ollie knows about!!). So playing on Megan's emotional vulnerability to score some moments of intimacy and then proceeding to lash out at her for being confused just makes our second male character a pretty trashy human being.

Robin, guy number three, is by far the best one. But then again, he's dead.

Yeah, let that sink in. We're getting into the triggers folks, so, here's your second chance to look away.

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Sophie, the third main character in the book, clearly has some issues. And I'm not saying that to be insensitive - quite the contrary, as someone who struggles with mental health problems, I fairly quickly recognised the familiar signs of anxiety and depression she was exhibiting. Losing appetite, having trouble sleeping, panic attacks, sudden melancholy feelings triggered by happy memories, Soph ticks all the boxes.

Which begs the question, how didn't the rest of the gang notice? I suppose they don't spend all that much time together, but it broke my heart watching her slip her way through social interactions without anyone realising that she was struggling and needed help.

It was clear from the very first few chapters told from her PoV that something was up with Sophie and she was a not entirely reliable narrator. But, you know, having read my fair share of romantic novels, I just figured she'd had a fight or a break-up and was in denial, having escaped to a happy place where she'd spent many good days with Robin, only to be reunited with him in the end when he jumps on a plane to Prague to find her.

What I did not expect was him to have died of cancer few weeks prior to the beginning of the story, and a delusional Sophie to expect his return from the dead, or else plan to commit suicide. This is some heavy stuff right there. Let's unpack.

First, cancer in itself is pretty heavy to spring upon readers who expect a warm and cosy romantic holiday read. One does not expect to deal with death in such novels, or at least not one so recent and graphically described. Usually it's a long ago event, or a distant relative who suffers such fate. Was not prepared for the dark turn.

But what made it worse is Soph's denial and her attempted suicide. You foresee some level of heartbreak to happen in these books before the characters get their happy ending, but this is a whole other level of fucked-up. Did. Not. Need. Suicide. Attempts.

Having made it through the majority of the book, and already suffered through all the most triggering parts (one does not simply put the book down halfway through a character attempting suicide), I finished the story and was pleased to find that everyone has a relatively happy ending, albeit paired with our questionable male characters. Also, your'd be pleased to know that Sophie is recovering, and has more and more good days, which was perhaps the most satisfying of the three narrative resolutions.

Here's to living with mental health issues!

3.5/5 stars