Accidental

Review by Shruthi

Accidental by Alex Richards

Genre: YA, contemporary

Summary: Johanna has always known who she was. But when she learns that her mother didn’t actually die in a car accident, and that Johanna had accidentally shot her as a toddler, the foundation of her world is shaken. Johanna has to grapple with her guilt, her identity and find her voice.

I thought Accidental was a really interesting premise for a book. It’s a premise rooted in reality. Johanna is hardly the first toddler to accidentally shoot someone and the debates that happen in the book are debates that occur in real life. I don’t think the idea was executed well.

The book did well when it followed Johanna’s introspection. If more of the book was about Johanna dealing with her guilt and anger, it would have been a better book. I enjoyed the parts of the book where Johanna finds her voice, when she begins to fight for herself. Her grappling with her role in her mother’s death and her absentee father’s role was very interesting and presented moral dilemmas worth discussing. Johannah’s grandparents’ choice to raise her unknowing of her role in her mother’s death also raises many moral questions. However the introspective period of the book was not long enough and it’s why the book falls flat.

The book had two main flaws that severely detracted from the plot. The romance and the way the discussion around gun control was handled.

The romance was beyond unnecessary. It added nothing to the book, the love interest Milo was not well developed and it was the epitome of instalove. Within hours of meeting Milo, Johanna was telling him her life story and confiding in him. I have no clue why Milo would date Johanna, given the hot mess she is for all the time he knew her.

The other main flaw was the way the topic of gun violence was handled. I saw some other reviews saying they thought it was too political. I disagree. With a topic like gun violence, it is impossible to not become political. I think the author tried too hard to present both sides of the gun violence debate in ways that made no sense. Johanna’s grandfather being a safe gun owner should have been sufficient to present both sides.

 But when a girl at school Annette starts proselytizing pro gun opinions to Johanna’s face, I lost all credulity. Annette is portrayed to be rational and empathetic. I know many teenagers who are pro-gun. I do not know any pro-gun teenagers who would go up to a victim of gun violence and debate gun control. I also do not know any rational pro-gun teenagers who would actively fight against a peace mural. The debates between Johanna and Annette are clearly representative of the gun control debates that often occur in America but within the context of the book, it didn’t make sense to include Annette as such an important character. I don’t think the book took enough of a firm stance on gun violence as it presented Annette’s views as rational.

When everyone at school finds out Johanna had accidentally shot and killed her mother, she faced a lot of bullying. To me this part was somewhat unrealistic. Teenagers can be cruel, and I can definitely imagine that some people would react negatively. However, I would have expected to see more support and sympathy for Johanna amongst her classmates.

There aren’t any other YA books I can think of that can really be compared to Accidental plot-wise. However I was expecting Accidental to be closer to The Hate U Give and have more of an emotional impact and a stronger stance on gun control.

Final Thoughts: A book with a really interesting premise but a weak execution. 2.5 stars.