In the novel “Welcome to My Planet”, author Shannon Olson experiments with both dark and light aspects of life that make readers feel a close relation to the narrator. The story is about a woman who comes to terms with turning 30 and with the realization that her life sucks. Shannon recounts her past experiences and with the help of her counselor tries to move forward and change the person she has become.
Throughout the story, Shannon takes readers into her dark and sordid past along with the even darker present state she’s in. Shannon hates her job, and barely hides the fact from her boss. She also suffers from credit card debt and is in denial of the circumstances until she is forced to move back into her parent’s home. The narrator’s relationship to her mother is so close that she calls her by name and the counselor often suggests that she needs to cut the umbilical cord. Shannon knows the relationship is unhealthy in an adult’s life of course, but makes no effort to change it. While living with her parents, she begins to see her parent’s marriage shatter right in front of her. Her mother is sinking into a deep depression from battling cancer and having half of her face paralyzed. Her father, who is a doctor, is so emotionally detached that he often keeps busy in the hospital.
Shannon’s own relationships have never been great, and as soon as she finds herself in one, she quickly tries to get out of it. Because she is so desperate to get married, she holds on to the two relationships she has in the novel, even when she knows that she does not love them. Shannon’s own depression sets in after finding out her younger sister is getting married, just when she broke off the longest relationship she’s ever had. Shannon is faced with many more problems when she enters graduate school and has to quit her job to keep up with school.
The main thing that is captivating about this novel is the bare honesty of reality. As you read through the chapters, you grow anxious and are awaiting a mind-blowing epiphany made by Shannon and her counselor, but no such thing happens. Readers expect that “happily ever after” to occur in every story, but you do not find that in this novel, which is surprisingly fresh. In reality, nothing really occurs the way we want and when we do realize what is wrong in our lives, it’s either too late to change or we’re too lazy to change it. The way Olson delivers her story is amazing, full of humor and with many emotional roller coasters throughout the book. Nothing seems to go the narrator’s way and readers may have a lot of sympathy but at the same time want to scream at her for her actions and decisions. The ending is quite a shock and leaves you feeling like the story is unfinished. Olson has said that the novel is a very loosely based autobiography and it is obvious that the emotions were all very real.