Book Review: Before I Die by Jenny Downham

Before I Die by Jenny Downham
Release Date: July 5th, 2007
Publisher: David Fickling
Rating: 3 out of 5
Recommended? Yeah... perhaps
Buy the Book: Amazon US

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. - Goodreads Page

Struggling... Struggling...

I was really looking forward to reading this book, having heard that it’s a huge tearjerker, but... I’m not sure I liked it. I love Jenny Downham’s writing (her other book, You Against Me, is fantastic) and yet I just didn’t enjoy this book for some reason.

Honestly, without meaning to sound like I don’t give a crap, I think it was the main character that put me off. I understand that what she was going through must have been terrible – my grandmother had cancer, I know – but I didn’t like the way she was handling it. I didn’t like her list, I didn’t like how she treated her parents (mainly her dad) and I didn’t like how she treated Adam. Again, I know that she was dying, but still. I can’t honestly say how I would react if I was in her situation, but I can’t imagine myself acting the way she did.

Other than Tessa, the story was interesting. I kept picturing the girl from My Sister’s Keeper (movie version) and seeing the links between the two. It did make me upset, just because no one deserves to suffer or to die like that, and I did cry when I read Tessa’s letter to her dad.

I do recommend this book, because so many other people have loved it, and it gives a great insight to what it’s like for someone living with cancer. And what it’s like to know that you’re not going to live much longer. But I can’t say that it was an overly enjoyable read for me.

Book Review: You Against Me by Jenny Downham

You Against Me by Jenny Downham
Release Date: December 2, 2010 (UK) | September 13, 2011 (US)
Publisher: David Fickling Books
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
Recommended? Yes.
Buy the Book: Amazon US | Amazon UK

If someone hurts your sister and you're any kind of man, you seek revenge, right? If your brother's been accused of a terrible crime and you're the main witness, then you banish all doubt and defend him. Isn't that what families do? When Mikey's sister claims a boy assaulted her at a party, his world of work and girls begins to fall apart. When Ellie's brother is charged with the crime, but says he didn't do it, her world of revision, exams and fitting in at a new school begins to unravel. When Mikey and Ellie meet, two worlds collide. Brave and unflinching, this is a novel of extraordinary skillfulness and almost unbearable tension. It's a book about loyalty and the choices that come with it. But above all it's a book about love - for one's family and for another. - Goodreads page

  
I’m sure a lot of you will have heard of Jenny Downham’s debut novel, Before I Die. I, for one, haven’t read it but I have heard some really incredible things. As you can imagine, this made me extremely excited to read her second YA novel, You Against Me, which is about a boy whose sister has been raped, and a girl whose brother is the alleged rapist.


Of course, this is an extremely serious subject matter which needed to be handled with great care. And I must say, Jenny Downham does it beautifully. Both sides of the story are shown from Mikey and Ellie’s point of view. As a reader, you see how having a family member who was raped affects the rest of the family. And you also get to see how the other half lives, with a son who has been accused of raping a young girl whilst she was drunk.

Mikey and Ellie meet under these strange circumstances, and that aspect reminded me a lot of the way Alex and Brittany fell for each other in Perfect Chemistry. Mikey, at first, just sets out to use Ellie for information on her brother, a lot like Alex sets out to sleep with Brittany for a dare.

Mikey is left to look after his two sisters after his mother has a slight break down after Karyn was raped. He has to deal with Karyn refusing to go to school, while fighting off social services. 

Ellie is the primary witness for her brother, and you can imagine the stress that she’s under while her brother is being put through court and it is assumed that she will testify for him. The tension between her, her family, and Mikey is just mind blowing. 

I don’t want to ruin anything for you guys, so I won’t say anything more about the plot or the characters. One of the best things about this book is that, as a reader, you’re kept wondering if Ellie’s brother is guilty, or if Mikey’s sister is making it all up.

It’s a truly incredible story about friendship, love and family. I highly recommend it to all of those who enjoy reading realistic fiction. This is a YA novel, but it can most definitely be enjoyed by those who read adult fiction as well.