How She Died, How I LivedAuthor: Mary Crockett
Genre: YA Contemporary
Release Date: November 13, 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, audiobook
Pages: 416
Description:
I was one of five. The five girls Kyle texted that day. The girls it could have been. Only Jamie--beautiful, saintly Jamie--was kind enough to respond. And it got her killed.
On the eve of Kyle's sentencing a year after Jamie's death, all the other "chosen ones" are coping in various ways. But our tenacious narrator is full of anger, stuck somewhere between the horrifying past and the unknown future as she tries to piece together why she gets to live, while Jamie is dead.
Now she finds herself drawn to Charlie, Jamie's boyfriend--knowing all the while that their relationship will always be haunted by what-ifs and why-nots. Is hope possible in the face of such violence? Is forgiveness? How do you go on living when you know it could have been you instead?
How She Died, How I Lived is a very relevant and heartbreaking young adult contemporary novel that deals with several important topics and real life scenarios. I know that there's supposed to be a silver lining in this book, a sense of hope that filters through. But for me, this book was just incredibly sad and thought provoking. The topics that it covers - survivor's guilt, death, hate, love, forgiveness, moving on, being true to yourself (to name just a few) are really serious and incredibly relevant to anyone in today's society. I empathized so much with the main character, it made me hurt inside to hear all the details inside the story. She was very realistic and easy to identify with right from the beginning. The story is told from the first person point of view, from the main character's perspective. I love this writing style and I think it's the perfect fit for this novel. It wouldn't have had the same impact if it had been written in another way. But the author hits a home run right into the reader's heart by using the narrator's first person POV. The other characters were pretty flat, which was fine with me because this seemed more like a single person character study anyway. Even though I enjoyed the story and found it incredibly moving, there was a part of me that just couldn't get completely into the novel. It might be because I don't normally read YA contemporary, so I felt way out of my comfort zone. It doesn't reflect on the story, the writing, or the author in any way - these are solely my personal opinions. I do definitely recommend it to fans of the genre as well as readers who are interested in very relevant topics in today's society and how people deal with tragedy.
A
native of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Mary grew up as the
youngest of six children in a family of misfits. She has worked as
everything from a history museum director to a toilet seat hand model.
In her other life, she's an award-winning poet and teaches creative writing at Roanoke College in Virginia.
If you tweet at her, chances are she will tweet back.
(3) Winners will receive a finished copy of HOW SHE DIED, HOW I LIVED - US Only!
Tour Schedule:
Week One:
11/12/2018- Here's to Happy Endings- Review
11/13/2018- A Dream Within A Dream- Review
11/14/2018- Novel Novice- Excerpt
11/15/2018- Bri's Book Nook- Review
11/16/2018- Pretty Deadly Reviews- Review
Week Two:
11/19/2018- The Desert Bibliophile- Review
11/20/2018- Lifestyle of Me- Review
11/21/2018- Moonlight Rendezvous- Review
11/22/2018- Savings in Seconds- Review
11/23/2018- Cindy's Love of Books- Review
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