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vdarcangelo's review against another edition
5.0
http://ensuingchapters.com/2013/12/06/588/
Backwards
By Todd Mitchell
Did you know there is no adjective form of the word “integrity”? Look it up. I was going to open this review with a declaration of how integritous we are here at Ensuing Chapters. Or is the word I’m looking for integrian? Integrilicious?
None of the above.
Nevertheless, that’s my silly way to introduce a serious (and seriously good) book with the requisite disclaimer: I have known Todd Mitchell, the author of the young adult novel, Backwards, for about three years, studied under him and served as his teaching assistant in a nonfiction writing class. It’s important to establish this up front, because this will be a glowing review, and I can say with all integrity that the praise is deserved, not spooned out because I know the author.
And with that out of the way, let’s jump to the end. Or rather the beginning. Sort of.
Backwards begins with a teenaged boy, Dan, dead in the bathtub from an apparent suicide. Standing over the scene is our narrator, a Rider (a kind of immaterial wandering soul) who isn’t sure where he is, who he is or how he got there. It doesn’t take him long to realize that he is experiencing time in reverse. We observe Dan’s suicide and his preparations, his daily habits and behaviors, and once we meet pre-dead Dan, it’s easy to diagnose his terminal condition.
I believe the clinical term for it is: He’s an asshole.
But as time bends backward, we pick up more and more fragments of Dan’s life. Yeah, he’s an asshole, but he’s a teenager. Is that so odd? And maybe there’s something dark and vulnerable driving his bad behavior. Indeed there is, but he is also supported with love and encouraging voices, which he silences through self-deliverance.
This is a difficult book to describe, and I’m sure far more difficult to write. Mitchell, however, pulls it off. He taps a mainline to those cringe-worthy cafeteria moments when every little thing was life or death. High school was uncomfortable the first time, and doesn’t seem much better the second time around.
At least not at first.
The narrator, who is living Dan’s life in reverse, provides the wide-angle view that teenagers tend to lack. Actually, it’s a comforting vantage point, and if Dan could’ve seen his life from this perspective, he probably wouldn’t have ended up in the bathtub.
As I’ve often told youth groups as an addictions counselor: Teenagers aren’t stupid. Teenagers just do stupid things. That’s an important distinction, which becomes clear as we watch Dan try to make the right choices, but stumble along in that ham-handed manner that I recognize from my own high school memories. There are missed opportunities, mixed signals, mistaken intentions, the right words left unspoken and the worst ones screamed out loud.
Sound familiar?
That’s the beauty of Backwards. Though the time-manipulated narrative can be disorienting, we are grounded in the familiarity of Dan’s world. Sure, the fashion has changed, but the angst is the same as it always was and will be—and even that elicits a weird nostalgia. Even someone like me, who hated high school and all its cliques, will appreciate its stabilizing force within this chaos.
I also appreciate that the novel isn’t preachy. Of course, the message is clearly against suicide, but Mitchell isn’t talking us off the ledge with niceties. The truth can be vicious, and the author doesn’t recoil from the abyss. Through the character of the Rider, he digs into the horrors of high school and tries to come to terms with the trauma.
Is the Rider successful? The better question is, does it even matter? I’m not well-versed in literary theory, but at its core, Backwards, despite a dash of the spiritual realm, is an existentialist anthem.
Longtime readers know my affinity for existentialist anthems.
My point is that perhaps understanding your awkward years is better than changing them. By revisiting our past, we can be struck by how small everything looks in comparison. If only Dan could’ve seen what the Rider sees.
At least that’s the view from my early 40s. I’m not sure how a young adult would read it, but there’s no doubting the importance of Backwards for its intended audience. But I would argue that Backwards is as much, if not more, of a must-read for adults.
And I’d bet my integritude on that.
Backwards
By Todd Mitchell
Did you know there is no adjective form of the word “integrity”? Look it up. I was going to open this review with a declaration of how integritous we are here at Ensuing Chapters. Or is the word I’m looking for integrian? Integrilicious?
None of the above.
Nevertheless, that’s my silly way to introduce a serious (and seriously good) book with the requisite disclaimer: I have known Todd Mitchell, the author of the young adult novel, Backwards, for about three years, studied under him and served as his teaching assistant in a nonfiction writing class. It’s important to establish this up front, because this will be a glowing review, and I can say with all integrity that the praise is deserved, not spooned out because I know the author.
And with that out of the way, let’s jump to the end. Or rather the beginning. Sort of.
Backwards begins with a teenaged boy, Dan, dead in the bathtub from an apparent suicide. Standing over the scene is our narrator, a Rider (a kind of immaterial wandering soul) who isn’t sure where he is, who he is or how he got there. It doesn’t take him long to realize that he is experiencing time in reverse. We observe Dan’s suicide and his preparations, his daily habits and behaviors, and once we meet pre-dead Dan, it’s easy to diagnose his terminal condition.
I believe the clinical term for it is: He’s an asshole.
But as time bends backward, we pick up more and more fragments of Dan’s life. Yeah, he’s an asshole, but he’s a teenager. Is that so odd? And maybe there’s something dark and vulnerable driving his bad behavior. Indeed there is, but he is also supported with love and encouraging voices, which he silences through self-deliverance.
This is a difficult book to describe, and I’m sure far more difficult to write. Mitchell, however, pulls it off. He taps a mainline to those cringe-worthy cafeteria moments when every little thing was life or death. High school was uncomfortable the first time, and doesn’t seem much better the second time around.
At least not at first.
The narrator, who is living Dan’s life in reverse, provides the wide-angle view that teenagers tend to lack. Actually, it’s a comforting vantage point, and if Dan could’ve seen his life from this perspective, he probably wouldn’t have ended up in the bathtub.
As I’ve often told youth groups as an addictions counselor: Teenagers aren’t stupid. Teenagers just do stupid things. That’s an important distinction, which becomes clear as we watch Dan try to make the right choices, but stumble along in that ham-handed manner that I recognize from my own high school memories. There are missed opportunities, mixed signals, mistaken intentions, the right words left unspoken and the worst ones screamed out loud.
Sound familiar?
That’s the beauty of Backwards. Though the time-manipulated narrative can be disorienting, we are grounded in the familiarity of Dan’s world. Sure, the fashion has changed, but the angst is the same as it always was and will be—and even that elicits a weird nostalgia. Even someone like me, who hated high school and all its cliques, will appreciate its stabilizing force within this chaos.
I also appreciate that the novel isn’t preachy. Of course, the message is clearly against suicide, but Mitchell isn’t talking us off the ledge with niceties. The truth can be vicious, and the author doesn’t recoil from the abyss. Through the character of the Rider, he digs into the horrors of high school and tries to come to terms with the trauma.
Is the Rider successful? The better question is, does it even matter? I’m not well-versed in literary theory, but at its core, Backwards, despite a dash of the spiritual realm, is an existentialist anthem.
Longtime readers know my affinity for existentialist anthems.
My point is that perhaps understanding your awkward years is better than changing them. By revisiting our past, we can be struck by how small everything looks in comparison. If only Dan could’ve seen what the Rider sees.
At least that’s the view from my early 40s. I’m not sure how a young adult would read it, but there’s no doubting the importance of Backwards for its intended audience. But I would argue that Backwards is as much, if not more, of a must-read for adults.
And I’d bet my integritude on that.
froggylibrarian1's review against another edition
5.0
The book starts with Dan’s suicide which is when the Rider is first aware of his existence. The narrator or Rider has no idea what is going on but is at once disgusted with Dan’s apparent wasted life and the effect his suicide has on his sister and mother. When the Rider next wakes up Dan is alive and the Rider soon discovers that he is experiencing Dan’s life backwards. As the Rider goes through Dan’s life he slowly discovers the events leading up to Dan’s suicide. Can he gain control of Dan’s mind and prevent the suicide and the events leading up to it? Can he change the past? Could he get enough control and live Dan’s life and get the girl, Cat? By going backwards the Rider and the reader try to piece together events and at times both get the wrong information. This was a powerful book.
I read this a few days ago and I can’t get it out of my head. It is very powerful. I was a little creeped out when it started with Dan’s suicide but was intrigued with the narrator or Rider. Then as the Rider began living Dan’s life backwards I was sucked in. As more and more was revealed it became apparent what led to the suicide but so sad. The Rider tries to undo the mistakes that were made but because he doesn’t know all the details he can’t know if he is really making a difference. Things the Rider thinks he knows turn out to be false. I really enjoyed this and it has a very good message about cause and effect and consequences of our actions. I highly recommend it.
I read this a few days ago and I can’t get it out of my head. It is very powerful. I was a little creeped out when it started with Dan’s suicide but was intrigued with the narrator or Rider. Then as the Rider began living Dan’s life backwards I was sucked in. As more and more was revealed it became apparent what led to the suicide but so sad. The Rider tries to undo the mistakes that were made but because he doesn’t know all the details he can’t know if he is really making a difference. Things the Rider thinks he knows turn out to be false. I really enjoyed this and it has a very good message about cause and effect and consequences of our actions. I highly recommend it.
reliymz's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
dairyqueen84's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting concept but got confused at points with time going backward.
silverneurotic's review against another edition
3.0
This was an odd book. I'm not even sure if I totally understood what I had read when I was finished it. There were a lot of things that didn't quite add up, in my mind. I mostly enjoyed it, and it was a good reminder that every person has their own personal demons they are battling. A very good effort, I enjoyed the uniqueness of the setup, even though I'm not sure if the actual execution worked.
thursdaymouse's review against another edition
5.0
What made me pick up this book was the fact that the author would be attending READCON, an amazing event put on by the High Plains Library and specifically the Farr Library in Greeley, CO.
I browsed the display of books that Farr had presented in anticipation of the authors, and of course was drawn in by the compelling cover of Backwards. Additionally, my curiosity was piqued by the concept of the book. It was the Rider's fate to experience life backwards, linked to a body and a teenager named Dan that had taken his own life.
Suicide is an excruciatingly painful topic, one that arrests our thoughts- creating a blank in our minds when trying to understand it. Those of us past those turbulent years know how hard that period of life is, but we have no idea the depth of pain that other people experience or how they manage to cope with it. In this case, how they decide to give in.
Backwards is an attempt for a rider to figure out his host's situation, and in turn to attempt to understand life, about how we live though a series of events and decisions that are ours alone to make. It is a great lesson for teens to understand that they should always do their best to choose the right path and surround themselves with the right people. If they listen to their gut feeling, and be brave and noble in their efforts, they will live the kind of life they will look back and be proud about.
Todd Mitchell has a very insightful and engaging way of approaching this difficult subject. I was delighted to have chosen it out of the bunch, it was a "great" read.
I browsed the display of books that Farr had presented in anticipation of the authors, and of course was drawn in by the compelling cover of Backwards. Additionally, my curiosity was piqued by the concept of the book. It was the Rider's fate to experience life backwards, linked to a body and a teenager named Dan that had taken his own life.
Suicide is an excruciatingly painful topic, one that arrests our thoughts- creating a blank in our minds when trying to understand it. Those of us past those turbulent years know how hard that period of life is, but we have no idea the depth of pain that other people experience or how they manage to cope with it. In this case, how they decide to give in.
Backwards is an attempt for a rider to figure out his host's situation, and in turn to attempt to understand life, about how we live though a series of events and decisions that are ours alone to make. It is a great lesson for teens to understand that they should always do their best to choose the right path and surround themselves with the right people. If they listen to their gut feeling, and be brave and noble in their efforts, they will live the kind of life they will look back and be proud about.
Todd Mitchell has a very insightful and engaging way of approaching this difficult subject. I was delighted to have chosen it out of the bunch, it was a "great" read.
amber_insight's review
5.0
This left me in chills. There is so much truth within these lines of story. I do not understand why this is categorized a "thriller" - it is no such thing. This is a deeply psychological and spiritual address of every day behavior and its impact, both large and small, on real life events.
dodie's review
5.0
I first became familiar with Todd Mitchell through his YA novel, The Secret to Lying. In that title, his main character recreates himself. In Backwards, the main character is trying to figure out who he is, pulling the reader along every inch of the way, back through time. I hesitate to call Backwards a time-travel novel, since time only moves in one direction - in reverse. When a "Rider" finds himself hovering above and then inhabiting Dan, a teenager who has just committed suicide, he does not understand what his role is, or what the sequence of events was to bring him to this moment. As the story unfolds, readers will discover that the next day is actually yesterday, for Dan. It is not until Dan's rider befriends another, named TR, that he begins to grasp what his potential is - and there are options. Through the rider, readers learn about Dan's broken family, problems at high school, and his longing for a relationship with a girl named Cat.
As it becomes apparent the rider may be able to change the future as he goes into the past, the pace and intensity of the story grows, giving readers the feeling of driving in reverse by looking in the rear view mirror. Mitchell artfully unfolds what keeps Dan, whom the rider nicknames "the zombie," from being wholly human and compassionate. And though the other rider, TR, seems complacent at first, his story becomes a beautiful parallel to Dan's, intersecting at the most unexpected moments.
Through Dan's story, we learn about bullying, including the acceptance of it by adults in the position of authority. Mitchell introduces this in bits and pieces; there are mean girls who harass Cat for looking and acting differently from them, a gay teenager in denial that calls his lover a fag when in public, and anti-Hispanic taunts and slurs. Being that October is National Bullying Prevention Month, this title would be an excellent choice for One Book One School program. Underage drinking and the negative aspects of it are laid out as well, but never with a heavy hand.
Backwards is totally unique in its offerings, with themes and issues that concern teenagers and their adults, told in language that compels the reader to keep going forward while considering the actions of the past. Highly recommended to readers grade 8 and up.
As it becomes apparent the rider may be able to change the future as he goes into the past, the pace and intensity of the story grows, giving readers the feeling of driving in reverse by looking in the rear view mirror. Mitchell artfully unfolds what keeps Dan, whom the rider nicknames "the zombie," from being wholly human and compassionate. And though the other rider, TR, seems complacent at first, his story becomes a beautiful parallel to Dan's, intersecting at the most unexpected moments.
Through Dan's story, we learn about bullying, including the acceptance of it by adults in the position of authority. Mitchell introduces this in bits and pieces; there are mean girls who harass Cat for looking and acting differently from them, a gay teenager in denial that calls his lover a fag when in public, and anti-Hispanic taunts and slurs. Being that October is National Bullying Prevention Month, this title would be an excellent choice for One Book One School program. Underage drinking and the negative aspects of it are laid out as well, but never with a heavy hand.
Backwards is totally unique in its offerings, with themes and issues that concern teenagers and their adults, told in language that compels the reader to keep going forward while considering the actions of the past. Highly recommended to readers grade 8 and up.
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