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

Description:

Daelyn Rice is broken beyond repair, and after a string of botched suicide attempts, she’s determined to get her death right. She starts visiting a website for “completers”— www.through-the-light .com.

While she’s on the site, Daelyn blogs about her life, uncovering a history of bullying that goes back to kindergarten. When she’s not on the Web, Daelyn’s at her private school, where she’s known as the freak who doesn’t talk.


Then, a boy named Santana begins to sit with her after school while she’s waiting to for her parents to pick her up. Even though she’s made it clear that she wants to be left alone, Santana won’t give up. And it’s too late for Daelyn to be letting people into her life…isn’t it?


National Book Award finalist Julie Anne Peters shines a light on how bullying can push young people to the very edge.

Epic Wins:

• The Message: That there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
• Santana: He is a dork. A funny, cute and sometimes annoying flirt. He has a pet rat (he is soooo lucky!!). He also has a secret but if I tell you I would ruin a part of the book.
• The ending: Just the way I hoped…
• Humor: Funniest suicide book I ever read, honestly!
• Daelynn: She has attempted and failed suicide like three times. Due to her last attempt she is now mute and has to where a neck brace and is on suicide watch 24/7. Her past was hard and rewriting it is making her put her choice in stone. You discover why she wants to go so bad. Except now she is making a friend and meeting a guy that she tries so hard not to fall in love with. She is questioning herself; do I really want to go?

Epic Fails:

• The book Daelynn reads: It is like an adult romance, I wouldn’t read it and I don’t know if any a teen would. Plus it wasn’t a very clean book, basically I skipped over it. I hate the fact that Daelynn idolizes the main character.
• Her doubt of Santana’s intentions: She just assumes all he wants is sex, not that I blame her with her past but she won’t even believe him when he tells her the truth.
• Her locking out of everybody: She doesn’t trust anybody, and I understand why. What I don’t get is why she is locking her parents out and Emily, the first friend she has made in a while. Locking Santana out I understand to a certain point then I wonder why is she hurting herself like this?

Overall:

This book opens a window into the life of a suicidal girl. The way they think and why they act how they do. Never assume that they are weak for not dealing with their problems, you have no idea what is going on in their head. Though I don’t agree, religiously, with suicide I also don’t think the people who are headed down that road shouldn’t be ignored! If you think somebody is headed down that road, help them. That’s all Daeylnn needed to realized that life isn’t all bad. Another note: don’t cause it that is the worst you could do. Everybody needs to accept and love each other otherwise there is no cure to suicide. This book was a powerful read. (the funniest suicide book I ever read… that just sounds wrong!)

just sayin,

-Kare