Blog Tour: If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come by Jen St Jude

Rating: 4/5

Genre: Young Adult, Queer, LGBT, Romance, Science Fiction

Length: 416  Pages

Publishing: 9th May 2023

Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tomorrow-Doesnt-Come-Jen-Jude-ebook/dp/B0B9JBMTGJ

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62039307-if-tomorrow-doesn-t-come

We Are Okay meets They Both Die at the End in this YA debut about queer first love and mental health at the end of the world-and the importance of saving yourself, no matter what tomorrow may hold.

Avery Byrne has secrets. She’s queer; she’s in love with her best friend, Cass; and she’s suffering from undiagnosed clinical depression. But on the morning Avery plans to jump into the river near her college campus, the world discovers there are only nine days left to an asteroid is headed for Earth, and no one can stop it.

Trying to spare her family and Cass additional pain, Avery does her best to make it through just nine more days. As time runs out and secrets slowly come to light, Avery would do anything to save the ones she loves. But most importantly, she learns to save herself. Speak her truth. Seek the support she needs. Find hope again in the tomorrows she has left.

If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come is a celebration of queer love, a gripping speculative narrative, and an urgent, conversation-starting book about depression, mental health, and shame.

Wow. This book really does put you through all of your emotions. This YA story about first love, mental health, and the importance of saving yourself even at the end of the world tugs on your heartstrings and has you questioning what you would do if you only had nine days left.

You have to allow yourself to be seen.

This book grabs you from the get go, with a sentence that immediately captures your heart and doesn’t let it go until the very last page:

I wanted to hide my body somewhere no one would have to find it.

If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come is not an easy book to read. The book has a trigger warning page at the front, including: discussions of suicide, mental health and homophobia. A central character deals with undiagnosed clinical depression. Whilst the scenes are not graphic, there are discussions and an awareness of these topics. Please do pay attention to them. This book will break you, but it is so more than a dark, heavy read. This book is full of hope, even in the most devastating circumstances; hope, humanity, and love.

I did believe this for certain, finally: There is no one so broken they are completely unsalvageable. There is no life so hopeless tomorrow can’t be at least a little better.

However, the book’s mental health rep is what secured this as a brilliant read. This book gets right into the heart of depression, anxiety and mental health- loneliness. Avery is one of the most guarded and reserved characters, and despite wanting to belong, her anxiety and intense desire to please all around her, alongside her incredibly high expectations of herself prevents this, which is just so heartbreaking to see. She is around a multitude of people for most of the story, however she always appears as the most isolated. This isolation is incredibly tangible and heartbreaking, and despite all the odds you can’t help but root for Avery, and for the survival of the eleven.

I would close my eyes. I would wish for more.

And the ending. So beautifully written and so full of love. But I definitely threw my copy across the room. How could it end there! Absolutely not acceptable.

This is such an incredible debut and one I will definitely be recommending.

Lambda Literary Fellow Jen St. Jude (she/they) grew up in New Hampshire apple orchards and now lives in Chicago with her wife and dog. She has served as an editor for Chicago Review of Books, Just Femme & Dandy, and Arcturus Magazine. When she’s not reading or writing, you can find her cheering on the Chicago Sky and Red Stars. If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come is her first novel.