Before I Die by Jenny Downham

When I first picked up this book, I had somehow gotten it stuck in my mind that it was about the apocalypse. Don't ask how, but it might have had something to do with the play I was in at the time of it's appearance to me - Dracula Spectacula (in which the famous vampire wants to start his own show on Broadway). That's a Hellraiser for ya if there ever was one!

So anyway, I went into the library, saw this book, and snatched the last copy up and giggled with excitement as I rushed to check it out.

"Read the last chapter when you're alone," I was told. Well, guys, I obeyed, and today I am sitting at the computer sniffling over Tessa and her non-apocalyptic (in the loosest sense) 

world.

Even my mom read the last hundred pages in one sitting, and I had forgotten she knew how to read. 

Though the concept is well-worn, Jenny Downham puts a new spin on things. You see at pretty much every turn how the world is moving on without Tessa, and how anytime is too soon for a 16-year-old girl to die.

I love how Tessa's list played out. Especially in the end, when she started adding simple things like, "Eat an ice cream" and "Kiss my boyfriend".

The lifelike rendering of leukemia really gives you something to think about. But Before I Die is not just depressing. This novel also has some high notes as well. Like Tessa's witty facts about pregnancy, or whenever Tessa's with Adam, or Cal's last words to Tessa. Tessa's view of life was written beautifully, and is pretty darn near the carbon copy of how I'd live my life if I discovered I didn't have long to live.

BEWARE OF SPOILER!

My deepest regret about this book is that there was no rescue, no escape from her fate. I also hated that she never got to complete #10 - seeing Zoey's baby.

While searching for the cover to Before I Die, I came upon an alternate cover with a review from Heat on it. It said: "A book that will make you happy to be alive." And I know that no matter how many tissues I've used up, that line hit it dead-on.