Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff

Jacket Art Copyright: The Heads of State

Inside jacket summary:

"Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, Sam's best friend is dead. All he left Sam was a playlist and a note, saying that he took his own life. But what Sam doesn't know is: why? To figure out what happened, Sam must rely on the playlist and his own memory. But the more he listens, the more he realizes that his memory isn't as reliable as he thought."

Based off the jacket, you really expect the story to center around the significance of this playlist Hayden leaves Sam before committing suicide. Very disappointingly, it really doesn't. The chapter names are songs on the playlist and while they are mentioned briefly at the beginning of the chapter, there is no real significance to the playlist in the story. So while some very cool songs are picked, there is no real meaning there and seems to be just a selling point for the book. Lame. 

There is no answer to why Hayden killed himself, which I understand the author choice in not answering that for Sam or any of the other characters, because ultimately with suicide one can't really ever know for sure. That being said, the author never really explained why Hayden kept something a secret from Sam. We are told that Sam and Hayden are more like brothers. Despite Hayden's awful parents and brother, he is able to find escape by being at Sam's house where he liked it more. Nothing that Hayden was facing really gives you the sense that he lead the worst life, especially when he had Sam. 

That wasn't the worst offense by the author. In the end, the author throws in the character of Astrid, who is a "friend" of Hayden, unbeknownst to Sam. After Hayden's death, Sam's search for answers really then just turn into a romance with Astrid. Which ultimately doesn't work out because Sam finds something out about Astrid that he simply can forgive. There was just way too many things and characters that just didn't do anything for the story which a shame. The premise of learning about your best friend through a playlist is interesting and is why I picked up this book, but don't be fool.

my rating: C-

A.B.

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

Getting through high school is difficult for a number of people - and I'm not talking academically. As much as school is about class, it's about fitting in, and when you don't, the struggles can seem insurmountable. This novel isn't as much about finding your place in high school, but about find out who you are.

Ever since the fourth grade, Elise has known that she was unpopular. At the start of sophomore year, she's determined to be popular and did everything she could think of to succeed. When she fails, she believes that suicide is the only option, but even that doesn't work out like she planned. Now she's just as unpopular and lost until she runs into a pair of girls who invite her to an underground dance club where Elise can get lost in the music. While there, Elise discovers a passion for DJing, some real friends, and a boyfriend. All of this, though, is still a secret, and her real life is exploding with the discovery of a fake diary in her name that points out how unpopular she is in school. Just when she thinks that things are finally going her way at the club, everything falls apart and she risks losing everything that had finally made sense to her.  Had she really discovered who she really was, or was this just another act to try and fit in?

Elise has a great voice throughout this book. From the very beginning, she's someone you can relate to as this girl desperate to be liked. I was a little bothered by how casually she treated suicide given how serious of a situation it is, but I guess it fit with her personality and the fact that she really didn't want to die. You really felt for this character and her struggle to be liked that you cheer when she gets accepted and crushed when it seems like she's been rejected again. You want her to find her niche and she does. This book is heavy with music references. The problem I had is that some of them are obscure - at least in the eyes of someone not into the music scene. If it was all popular songs, it could easily date the book, but I only knew a handful of the songs and that left me feeling like I was missing out on something. Does that detract from the telling of the story, not really. 

This book has a great message about finding out what makes you "you" and embracing it. You can't let other people tell you what's cool or not or be afraid of who you are. Elise finds this awesome talent which also makes her psuedo-popular. It almost makes me wish her talent and experience was a little bit more realistic for the average person to relate to and see how "easy" it can be to find yourself because I think the message of the book is so important. Not everyone is going to become DJ Elise, but everyone has the chance to love who they are. Definitely a book to read.
MMK

One death, Nine Stories edited by Marc Aronson & Charles R. Smith Jr.

This book is described as a novel told in stories. Each chapter is a separate short story, but they are all connected around one character's death and the idea of "initiation." This is an interesting concept, but I didn't feel it was as successful as it could have been.

Kevin Nicholas is dead and his death touches the lives of many people. There are the few who only know him in death, such as Morris and Nadira who work at the funeral home or Jackson who learns about his death through a cousin on Facebook. Then there are those who knew him intimately, like his sister Lydia or his first love Candy. There are his best friends and friends who had only just begun to know him. Either way, all of these people came in contact with Kevin in one way or another and they all have a story to tell.

While each character has a story to tell, I didn't feel as if there really was a central story. In the Afterword, the editor says this was a "Pick-Up Game, a cross between an anthology and a novel...individual stories written by different authors shifted character and story lines, making each one both a piece in itself and part of a larger whole" (145). While I can appreciate what they were trying to do, to me it felt too disconnected. The only connection was that Kevin died, nothing else. There were three chapters in a row ("Initiation," "Just Once," and "The Next Next Level") that flowed together as similar characters appeared in each story. In those three chapters you saw a history developing, a story forming. Even the next one, "Running Man," helped to build the damaged character of Kevin. After reading those four in a row, I thought it was building to something, the truth behind whatever happened, but then it just died and went off in another direction. I think that's my problem with this book - things are just disconnected and I don't feel that it goes anyplace. I don't feel as if this book gives any closure, even if the Afterword feels like the last chapter brings it all together. The editor also said there was a continual theme of initiation, and while I saw it strong in some, it didn't feel strong enough in others to say that connects the stories. I've read another book along the "Pick-Up Game" concept where multiple authors work together to write a novel - each chapter is a different author but it continues the story, sometimes taking it into a completely different direction, but all connected. I've also read an anthology where each author writes a different interpretation of the same event. This novel tries to combine those two concepts and isn't, in my eyes, successful.

It's not really a novel, but it's too connected to just be considered an anthology. However you want to classify this, is does open you eyes to see how one person's death can affect multiple people, even if it is in the most minor way, and the different situations in which we are initiated and learn something about ourselves.
MMK

The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern

The Book of Tomorrow is an adult novel with young adult appeal given the teenage narrator. While the book starts out slow, eventually a mystery develops and sucks you in.

Tamara's life is turned upside down when her father commits suicide. Now she and her mother have lost everything and have to leave Dublin and head to the country to live with her odd aunt and uncle. Tamara is bored and sulky but eventually meets a traveling library where she discovers an odd locked book. When she finally opens it, she discovers that it's a blank diary. Deciding to finally write in it, she opens the book again and sees that she has already written in it - which is impossible. This diary seems to tell her what is going to happen tomorrow. When what is written actually comes true, Tamara uses it to her advantage to try and change the things she doesn't want to happen. In the meantime, her mother is withering away under a depression that Tamara doesn't feel is right and is desperate to help despite the opposition from her aunt. And her intrigue in some castle ruins leads to a mystery that will blow her mind even more so than a diary that can tell the future.

I struggled to get into this novel because at first it didn't read like a story in the sense that Tamara was telling me everything I needed to know before the story really felt like it started. Once things got going, though, and you were living in the moment with the narrator, things got more interesting. Slowly the mystery started to develop and suspicions began that became really interesting. Even without the diary predicting the future, it's a good story as Tamara's curiosity leads her to discover new things about the people and the world around her. It was nice to see her character change and develop into a better person because she was somewhat of a brat at the beginning. She's not perfect come the end, but definitely more likable.

This book is worth sticking out the slow beginning. I ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would.
MMK

Undiscovered Cpuntry by Lin Enger

This is an adult book with teen appeal. A Young Man, Jesse, is writing a memoir of all that happened one horrible year when he was in high school some 10 years ago and sharing it with a younger brother who was too young to remember that time. The time when their father apparently shot himself while out hunting with Jesse and Jesse found the disfigured body and his life changed forever. That was the medical examiner's call. But. his father appears to Jesse with a different story of what happened. The story involves his uncle Clay who once dated his mother and once shot a cat with a shot gun, not unlike that which killed Jesse's father, Clay's brother. Though no one believes him, except maybe one slow witted young man, Jesse pursues his beliefs all the way to their anticipated conclusion. All the while, I hoped it would not end that way. And an abused young woman, perhaps Jesse's first love tries to talk him out of his trajectory even as she deals with nasty abuse by her father. The impact a parent's death from apparent suicide can have on a child is profoundly presented. And, suicide is a very current hot topic.

By the time you read this, I'll be dead by Julie Anne Peters

Suicide is never a happy topic and this book proved rather depressing. I personally did not like this novel. With such a serious topic, I felt like there needed to be powerful message and I didn't find one. The ambiguous ending left me feeling uncertain about the whole story.

Daelyn is suicidal. For years she's been bullied for her weight and, while other suicide attempts have failed, this time she'll succeed. She's discovered a website for people to talk about suicide without being discouraged from completing the task. The website offers different chat forums for people to tell their story, as well as information on ways to commit suicide. Daelyn has 23 days to complete the task and during those days, as she "purges" her pain on the website, she also meets Santana, a neighboring boy who has a keen interest in her. She, though, has disconnected with the world, not feeling anything, and struggles when she does have those moments of connection with others.

My first complaint about this book is the actual discussion of ways to commit suicide. I personally felt that breaking down suicide methods by effectiveness, time, availability, and pain is in poor taste, especially when it gives notes on ways to be most successful. I don't want to say that this book encouraged suicide, but I as I read, I didn't see any alternatives offered. To me it almost felt like if you're bullied, things are never going to get better and the only solution is suicide. I think that's part of the reason I don't like the ambiguous ending. Maybe if it was clear that she didn't kill herself, then the book wouldn't feel so "pro-death" but that's not how I'm left feeling. I can see why the author might not have wanted a black and white ending because for her to live is too "happily ever after" but to flat out say she did the deed, is insensitive. With a topic like suicide, there is a thin line but to not choose a side even with subtle hints leaves me as the reader unsettled. True this topic is completely unsettling, but I personally needed some sort of comfort and closure for Daelyn

In terms of the book creating a suicidal character, I think the author did a great job. Since Daelyn isn't speaking in the novel, there's a lot of reflection to what she'd like to say and how she'd feeling and the disconnect is definitely there. As she explores certain incidents on the chat forum, you can really feel her pain. Santana is a good contrasting character because as much as Daelyn wants to die, he wants to live. Another character, Emily - the new fat girl in school - also proves a good contrast for Daelyn.

I don't like suicide. I don't understand it and while this book did a great job getting into the mind of a suicidal character, I don't like how it handled the actual topic of suicide. Maybe I'm just too sensitive and oblivious to the clear clues for the ending but this book left me thoroughly unsettled.
MMK