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Before I Die

By Jenny Downham

(29)

| Paperback | 9781862304871

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Critics

Dying for a happier ending

Before I Die by Jenny Downham David Fickling Books £10.99, pp336 When you read the final pages of Jenny Downham's debut novel through tears, don't say you weren't warned. Before I Die is narrated by a perceptive, witty 16-year-old called Tessa Scott. ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

Carpe diem

Before I Die by Jenny Downham 336pp, David Fickling, £10.99 The children's publisher David Fickling has been a leading builder of bridges between adult and young adult fiction. Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (publishe ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

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5 Reviews

As a genre YA is one I normally stay well away from but this was recommended by a blogging friend who very kindly sent me her copy when she had finished with it.
I had to preserve with this one and I was at least half way through before it began to have much impact. It is indeed a very sad novel an ... (continue)

As a genre YA is one I normally stay well away from but this was recommended by a blogging friend who very kindly sent me her copy when she had finished with it.
I had to preserve with this one and I was at least half way through before it began to have much impact. It is indeed a very sad novel and you would have to be a very hard person for it not to be an emotional read.
The narrator is Tessa a sixteen year old that has been fighting a loosing battle with leukaemia for the past four years and has now been told that she probably just has months to live. She writes the inevitable list of things she wants to do before she dies, trying to cram them all into the few months she has left. The list includes everything from sex, drugs, crime, and fame as Tessa hurtles towards the time her body can no longer cope with the demands she has placed on it. As she tells us the story her feelings and relationships with her parents, sibling and friends are all painfully related.
The ending is of course particularly poignant as we already know that Tessa is going to die. Reality and dreams all start to get mixed together and the closing pages are a very emotional read as those that care about her gather around her to make their farewells.
I did not really enjoy this book and would never had chosen to read it myself had it not been recommended. I think though it is a good introduction to teenagers on the emotions that come with knowing you are dying. It will undoubtedly transfer well to the cinema and is to be released as a film Now Is Good in May 2012.

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Lindyloumac said on Mar 12, 2012 | Add your feedback

After spending almost an hour in WHSmiths, I finally chose to get this book. It was a spur of the moment buy... I had never heard of the author, and I was running late so had to choose a book quickly.
It's probably one of the best books I've ever read - it made me cry, and the only other book that ... (continue)

After spending almost an hour in WHSmiths, I finally chose to get this book. It was a spur of the moment buy... I had never heard of the author, and I was running late so had to choose a book quickly.
It's probably one of the best books I've ever read - it made me cry, and the only other book that has EVER made me cry was P.S I Love You. It also made me think about how much we take life for granted. To read about a girl dying, yet falling in love and having so much to live for, really made me think about my own life, and how much I would hate to be in that position. It's terrificly moving.

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Larley Xo said on Jan 10, 2010 | Add your feedback

Do artists never read the books they illustrate? The two versions of book covers I have seen show a beautiful girl with long blond hair instead of a sickly girl with her dark hair just starting to grow in again after the chemo.
Ah well. It is a beautiful book. Sixteen-year-old Tessa is, in tu ... (continue)

Do artists never read the books they illustrate? The two versions of book covers I have seen show a beautiful girl with long blond hair instead of a sickly girl with her dark hair just starting to grow in again after the chemo.
Ah well. It is a beautiful book. Sixteen-year-old Tessa is, in turns, disbelieving, angry, happy, irrational, hopeful, and very much in love with the life she is about to lose. She has made a list of ten things she wants to do before she dies. The list sometimes changes, and eventually it grows longer and longer.
It's not a depressing book -- sad, yes, but not depressing. This is a book meant for teens. It's a coming-of-age story for someone with little time left to grow up. There is quite a bit of sex in it (since that's first on the list). The book is actually very life-affirming and uplifting. Tessa lives what little life she has left to the fullest, and those around her facilitate her sometimes difficult requests.
As an added bonus (if you're listening to the book on CD as I did), the reader, Charlotte Parry, was good, with a delightful British accent.

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Missmath144 said on Apr 16, 2009 | Add your feedback

Not the world's easiest read, but a great one. Tessa has a list of things she'd like to do before she dies, and she doesn't plan to let anyone/thing get in her way.

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Jaemi K said on Jan 10, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

I really enjoyed this Y.A. novel because it made me cry like a baby. The plot wasn't particularly original but the writing was well done and moving and the character was believable.

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Icedream said on Oct 25, 2007 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback