Dead girls talking

 My rating: ♥ ♥

My rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

As what the blog entry title says, the common factor between these two books is the narrative point of view. Two dead girls (one from a vehicular accident, the other a suicide) tell their stories, particularly those surrounding and/or prior to their deaths.

I rated Before I Fall just two stars because I did not like the ending. Really. I mean, the whole point of Sam’s reliving the last day of her life not just once or twice but seven times over (for chrissakes!) is for her to make amends and become a better person, and then she still dies just like that after she does? Would have been more justifiable if she was supposed to move on or go to heaven or something after finally making things right on her seventh try, but no, there was nothing. She just died, period. Which is a crying shame since her seventh (last) day held so much promise had she been given another chance and allowed to live. Okay, I may be a sucker for happy endings but I do like tragic endings just the same. But this (for me) has not a tragic ending for the story, but a bitter one. As in it leaves a bitter taste in the mouth after you I finish the book, what with so much could-have-been’s. So there you go. Just two stars.

TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY got its three stars from me (sorta) relative to my rating for Before I Fall. I like its ending better, because while Hannah understandably stayed dead at the end of the story, there was a ray of hope there when Clay learned his lesson from her death and started doing something about it. Could have merited four stars, but for some reason I did not “connect” with the book so the fourth star got dropped. Anywho, I did like how tightly-woven Hannah’s story is as a whole, as narrated in her suicide tapes. For someone about to kill herself, she’s got enough clarity in her voice to make me wonder if she did it because she really give up or simply to exact revenge on those who played a hand in her downfall (with the sole exception of Clay). Both, I guess. Lord knows how messed up you’ll be if you were one of those people who received her tapes, finding out all those sick truths and how the repercussions of your actions led up to someone taking her life. Would you be able to live with that? The thought is frightening. So maybe I did connect with the book after all, but not in a way I like at all. So three stars still for me.

So. Both books deal with death in a major way, what with the narrators being dead girls after all. It’s not really as morbid you might think. In fact, the whole of the two books leaves you with lessons on living [better] and not on dying. Makes you appreciate your life and the fact that you can still do better for yourself and maybe even touch some lives in the process. Slaps you with the truth that every action has repercussions which may or may not turn out pleasant in the end, and you gotta be careful in dealing with others just in case. That it pays to be even just a bit nicer to the people you interact with, even just to those you meet while walking. Reminds of a quote I heard before:

Every smile saves a hurting soul.

It doesn’t cost anything to smile or be nice, after all. And the world would be so much nicer with a bit more kindness. 🙂