Before I die by Jenny Downham

title: Before I die
written by: Jenny Downham
series: -
genre: Young Adult, tragedy, romance
page count: 327
publication date: January 1st, 2007

Tessa has just months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It’s her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is Sex. Released from the constraints of ‘normal’ life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa’s feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, and her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallised in the precious weeks before Tessa’s time finally runs out.

I had been wanting to read Before I die for a long time, and then I just stumbled upon it in the library, and I just had to read it. So I did. And I loved it, and cried a lot. Just like most people who have read this book probably have. 

Before I die is not your stereotype sad story. The list made it a unique book. What would you want to do before you died? Tessa tries to do everything on the list. The list becomes her life, as far as she still has a life. But there are some things on the list that will be hard to accomplish. Love and be loved. It seems so hard. With the last power she has inside of her, Tessa completes the list. Some things are hilarious to read about, like the only-say-yes day she had, while others seemed impossible, like bring back together her parents. 

As I turned the pages of this book, I became fully aware of what was happening. Every page meant one page closer to Tessa's death. Even a miracle couldn't make her stay alive anymore. No-one should die at that age, or earlier. 

Tessa is one of the greatest characters ever. She has cancer but can still be happy, and she can still find the power to hang on to her life, even if that power is the list. Tessa was super realistic, and at one point in her process of accepting her own death she decided to stop giving a f*ck about her own life. And that's what made her so special. Then there was the YA-stereotype mean best friend. She didn't really interest me. And there was the Boyfriend, who was a-dor-able, he was so caring and protective, just like Tessa's dad. And the most amazing character from this book was Tessa's brother. He seemed to have accepted his sister's death, and was joking about it all the time, but when she was about to die he revealed his real feelings. That made me cry so much!

Jenny Downham has a great writing style, and the pace of this story was great, too. I just wished the book wasn't so short...

A recommender for every teen who likes sad tragic stories, or just wants to see how amazing his/her own life is. 

I rate this book 5/5 stars.

Love, Mar

Looking for Alaska by John Green

title: Looking for Alaska

written by: John Green 

series: -

genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemp

page count: 211

publication date: January 1st, 2005

Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.

Oh. My. Freaking. Gosh! John Green did it again! His first book, for me the last, is a masterpiece! Looking for Alaska belongs on my shelves, between my most-loved books. I never want to return it to the library. Ever. So, first of all, John Green - write more books. Please. For me? Otherwise ... ...  *scary glare* Looking for Alaska was not my favorite John Green book, that will, and will always remain to be, the Fault in our Stars. I absolutely LOVE that book. Make sure to read it!

Looking for Alaska is a typical John Green book. It is a) realistic, b) full of words I have to look up in my dictionary, c) is enormously sad, and d) I can talk about it for hours, and I will...  Especially d) -well, only d)- really annoys my friends and family. I will go rambling about this book for hours and they just have to listen. I think most of them have developed a mental mute mode with which they can switch the sound of my voice on and off... Actually it would be great if a thing like that existed :)

The characters were so wonderful. Miles, the main male character, was so a-dore-able. I totally want to hug him at the moment. His obsession with last words is one that is amazing and so original. Maybe I should pay more attention to them, too. :) And Alaska is so 101% messed up I just had to love her. I mean, you can choose your own name, and you choose Alaska, that told me a lot about her character already! Then there was Chip, the genius annex rebel and Miles' roommate. The three of them formed an amazing group of friends. I wish I knew them, and could be their fourth(/fifth) messed up friend!

John Green is the master of character development. This book had one major turning point, not very hard to locate because of the before-after writing style, which was pretty unique, just like the whole book was a one-of-a-kind book. Miles changed só much, but Green still made the whole transition look realistic. He totally deserves a medal for that! A big fat gold with diamonds medal!

The plot, however, was the best thing about this book. Never have I ever read a book with a plot as well thought-through and perfect as Looking for Alaska's. Everything worked out, every word sucked me deeper into the story and the lives of Miles, Alaska and Chip, and I loved everything about it! Most of the times I'm like - bwhlegg another college/high school story. But this one was indescribably good, incredibly close to perfection. The Before--After writing style was perfect for this book. It made the story easier to read, and made me interested. What was going to happen?!?! When I had found out I wished I could turn back the time. Oh my, I cried. I cried buckets full of tears. Like the girl in Absolutely - nine days. I quote: "this is the story of a girl, that cried a river and drowned the whole world" That song has been stuck in my head for days. Then there was the Great Perhaps and it made me think so much, about the labyrinth of suffering and all of it. 

Anyways, what usually bothers me about John Green's books, his use of extremely difficult words, was no problem with this book. Miles was a kind of genius, and so were -most of- the other characters, so I could imagine them really speaking like that. 

I've heard that people in America have to read this book in class. Lucky bastards! I wish I were reading such amazing books in class, but the only book I have had to read in class was Romeo and Juliet... 

I will never be able to give this book a rating worth it. It should get the highest number possible +1 out of 5!

DFTBA!!!

Love, Mar

ps; did you read this book? Do we share the same feelings about it? Let me know :)

A greyhound of a girl by Roddy Doyle

book: A greyhound of a girl

written by: Roddy Doyle
series? nope

genre: death, middle grade

pages: 208

own / library / netgalley

publication date: may 1st, 2012

publisher: ABRAMS

note: thanks to Amulet books and Netgalley for giving me the oppotunity to read and review this book, it has been an awesome read!

the book: 

Mia's best friend moves out of town, and just when her normal life is changing, she meets a strange woman, who looks as if she comes from another time. Also, she says she knows her grandmother, who lies in the hospital.  Who is the woman and how on earth does she know her grandmother? When her mother finds out that she is talking to strange women, she wants to meet this women. And it's a total shock to find out who she is!

my review:

This book was not a book I'd have chosen to buy in my bookstore, mainly because it's a middle grade book. But I must admit that I love the cover!!
This book is great in some ways. It shows you the value of family and how you take after your family, even when you look completely different! The characters are good, not annoying to read from their POV's! The story was pretty predictable, which made it kind of boring at some parts in the book. Also, the changing point of view was difficult to read sometimes. And the book did not have a lot of pages, which made it a very very very quick read. I get that it's a children's book, but still I would have written a thicker book...
But everything else was OK! I think my little sister would love this book, too bad she can't read English books...


There was one major problem I had with this book. A quote below:
"she read a bit of her book, Twilight. And not even the story - it was the best story she'd ever read and she'd seen the movie seven times- could not keep her awake"
I think this quote represents the innocence of the girl, and shows us how this twelve-year-old girl behaves, infected with the Twilight-virus. Sorry if you like twilight *sigh* but I get that this story couldn't keep her awake :S *yes, I had the twilight virus at that age, I know the feeling...*


I would recommend this book to 8-12 year old readers who value family and friendship, and like funny ghost stories. :D


total:
I give this book 2.5/5 stars :D

If I stay by Gayle Forman

book: If I stay
written by: Gayle Forman
genres: death, young adult
pages: 210
own / library / borrowed
release date: april 9th, 2009
publisher: Random House children's books


note: This book looked so thin, I thought this would be a quick and easy-to-read book. But reading it took longer than expected, it made me think. What would I choose?

the book: 
Everybody has to make choices. Some might break you. For seventeen-year-old Mia, surrounded by a wonderful family, friends and a gorgeous boyfriend decisions might seem tough, but they're all about a future full of music and love, a future that's brimming with hope. 


In a horrible accident, Mia's parents die. But that's not all. She herself is severely wounded and ends up in the hospital. Only, there is something strange happening. Why does nobody hear her when she screams, and why can she see her own body lying a few feet away from her? That's when she finds out that she is a ghost. She gets to choose: Will she choose to stay alive, or will she die, leaving behind her best friend, boyfriend and what's left of her family. How valuable is her life?

my review:
This book was nothing like I expected it to be. It was way better! The characters were great, and easy to relate to. Their love for music was awesome, since I love music, too. This book made me want to listen to classical music, something I have never ever wanted to do before.
The plot was very interesting. I have never read anything like this before, which means it's quite original :)
The book was written in a few present-time pieces and a lot of flashbacks, which I totally love. Flashbacks make the story look way longer than it actually is.
The love in this book *only in flashbacks* was great, it was not like boy meets girl and BOOM! love, but more like boy and girl are friends and fall in love slowly. That is so much better than most YA romance!
This book was a fantasy novel, but it was so realistic. It made me wonder if we all have to make this choice someday, and that made me think about it until I got a headache *which took pretty long*, and I think that the realism in this book contributed in the popularity of this book. If she were a 'ghosty' ghost flying around and walking through walls no-one could have related to her as much as you could when she was just a 'normal' girl.
The way the family of Mia and her friends deal with the accident seems realistic, like the author has experienced it herself.
Of course there were the few things that annoyed me, like the shortness of the story and the continuous 'should I stay or should I go' and a few minor other things, but overall it was a quick, great and most of all moving book with lots of almost-cry-moments. *yes, almost, I have not cried, only almost*


overall rating:
3.8 stars!!

Before I fall by Lauren Oliver

Hello everyone who's reading :)



book: Before I fall
written by: Lauren Oliver
genre: Young Adult, death, romance
pages:  470
own / library / borrowed
release date: March 2nd, 2010
series?: no
publisher: HarperCollins


note:  I really wanted to read this book. It had been on my TBR pile for a long long time, but I had never started this. And when I finally did I did not have enough time. But Finally, here it is; My review :D *epicfailure*




the book:
Every day can be your last. Samantha 'Sam' Kingston lives her last day without knowing it is her last. She dies. But there is something special about her death. It appears that her 'mission' on earth has not been finished. She gets to relive her last day for one weer. During this week she figures out why she died. And tries to save lives, including her own. That's how she can change the way she behaves, everyday, and no-one remembers it the next. She tries to save her own life, but will she manage...? 


review:
O.M.G. here is one of the things I tweeted while reading:
"Is it possible to be made laughing, crying, thinking, and about every emotion-ing by a book, before you've read the ending? IT IS O.o"
That's how I experienced this book. This is one of the best Debut novels I have ever read. I don't know how people cannot be touched by this book. 
When I started reading the book, after the first chapter I hated it! I did hate it because of the main character, Sam. I did not like her at all. I almost put down the book. But I am so lucky I didn't! Then I started reading chapter 2, and it made no sense at all.  but then I figured it out. She got to relive her last day of life. And that made me immediately think: groundhog day. Do you know that movie? It is about a guy that wakes up on the same day all the time. So that's why this book was for me groundhog day vs. High school teen drama. 
Did I envy Sam? First chapter: Not at all. Last chapter: Hellyeah. She transformed  into this girl full of confident, accepting life, and living her life like she is the only one thinking. I like her in that chapter. This book describes how to go form bitch to someone who's loved. And that's exactely why I love this book.
Then you have the ending. And I was surprised! A lot!!


rating:
5 awesome shining stars


final thoughts:
omg I want to read Delirium NOW!!!