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kaitrosereads's review against another edition
3.0
I knew going into this that it was going to be a sad book but I had no clue it would be so depressing. I just can't get past how saw the book was and how honest it was. I think that's the real hard part.
Daelyn Rice feels that she has no reason to live. She has no friends, no confidence, nothing left to live for. When she finds throughthelight.com it just helps solidify her plan. All the people on the site are like her and she can finally tell someone about everything that has happened to her. She knows that once she gets everything out she will finally be ready to end her life. Then Santana comes along and changes everything.
I liked Santana way more than Daelyn. He so clearly loved life and had no problems with the fact that Daelyn wasn't a normal girl. He accepted her the way she was. Daelyn, on the other hand, didn't care about living. I hate to say it but she was kind of pitiful. She gave up. She even admits that she never bothered trying to defend herself. I know that she was bullied by everyone but she could have changed that if she tried.
By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead is depressing in it's honesty. Everything mentioned in those pages happens regularly. Bullying does lead to kids taking their own lives and sometimes all it takes is one person to stop them, one friend.
Overall, By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead was a good book but I can't get past Daelyn's weakness and the end of the book. Now don't think that because I say that I give away the ending because you will really never guess how it ends until you read it. I guess it just shocked me so much and I can't get past it. So yes if this looks like something you might like, give it a shot!
Daelyn Rice feels that she has no reason to live. She has no friends, no confidence, nothing left to live for. When she finds throughthelight.com it just helps solidify her plan. All the people on the site are like her and she can finally tell someone about everything that has happened to her. She knows that once she gets everything out she will finally be ready to end her life. Then Santana comes along and changes everything.
I liked Santana way more than Daelyn. He so clearly loved life and had no problems with the fact that Daelyn wasn't a normal girl. He accepted her the way she was. Daelyn, on the other hand, didn't care about living. I hate to say it but she was kind of pitiful. She gave up. She even admits that she never bothered trying to defend herself. I know that she was bullied by everyone but she could have changed that if she tried.
By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead is depressing in it's honesty. Everything mentioned in those pages happens regularly. Bullying does lead to kids taking their own lives and sometimes all it takes is one person to stop them, one friend.
Overall, By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead was a good book but I can't get past Daelyn's weakness and the end of the book. Now don't think that because I say that I give away the ending because you will really never guess how it ends until you read it. I guess it just shocked me so much and I can't get past it. So yes if this looks like something you might like, give it a shot!
abril_m's review against another edition
3.0
No se ni cuantas estrellas darle...
Fue mucho mas fuerte de lo que esperaba, y odie el final. Tampoco entendi por que Santana seguia intentandolo con ella...
Fue mucho mas fuerte de lo que esperaba, y odie el final. Tampoco entendi por que Santana seguia intentandolo con ella...
kanarazu's review against another edition
3.0
Not sure how I feel about this book... I couldn't really connect with any of the characters and I wish the ending had more.
nikzbookcorner's review against another edition
3.0
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead is about a 15-year old girl who is determined to commit suicide. This time for good.
It's been a year since Daelyn's last suicide attempt which rendered her speechless and living in a neck brace. And life continues to go in a downward spiral. So it's time to try again. She stumbles upon a website called "Through-the-Light", which is dedicated to helping people become complete in their attempts to end their lives. Using the forums on her newly discovered sanctuary, she reveals the torment and ridicule she endured as a child all because she was fat. The lies, the hate, the secrets - all unburdened so she can finally gain some peace.
Then one day while waiting for her mother on the stone bench outside of school, a boy named Santana with bleach blond hair makes every attempt to befriend her. And Daelyn does her best to ignore him. Until, somehow, someway, the boy begins to soften the fortified wall that Daelyn has surrounded herself in. But is it too little too late?
By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead is a very thought-provoking book on many different levels. There's a lot of layers to peel back with this one.
Formulated mostly on dialogue, the words are both powerful and heartbreaking. At the beginning the prose is short and concise. But as the story progresses, and a little light begins to show in Daelyn's dark world, the sentence structure becomes more open, more revealing. I really grew to love Santana in all his unrelenting, pesky glory. The boy provided much needed humor in an otherwise sad and heavy tale. And the ending will be a personal choice. Some may love it, some may not, but I felt Julie did a wonderful job closing out the book.
Overall consensus: I didn't really know what to expect when I first started By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead. I expected it to be emotional, and it was, but it just didn't have the same affect on me that it did others. A heavy subject to be sure, with raw and real emotion, but I would have liked to have seen it expanded upon. There was just enough to make it a worthy read but not enough to fully satiate my reading appetite. And I won't lie, this book is a bit of a downer (I think the title kind of implies that) but there is a powerful message to relay - that words are indeed a powerful force and can cause some major damage if we aren't careful. This is definitely a book that should be read by both teens and adults.
By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead is about a 15-year old girl who is determined to commit suicide. This time for good.
It's been a year since Daelyn's last suicide attempt which rendered her speechless and living in a neck brace. And life continues to go in a downward spiral. So it's time to try again. She stumbles upon a website called "Through-the-Light", which is dedicated to helping people become complete in their attempts to end their lives. Using the forums on her newly discovered sanctuary, she reveals the torment and ridicule she endured as a child all because she was fat. The lies, the hate, the secrets - all unburdened so she can finally gain some peace.
Then one day while waiting for her mother on the stone bench outside of school, a boy named Santana with bleach blond hair makes every attempt to befriend her. And Daelyn does her best to ignore him. Until, somehow, someway, the boy begins to soften the fortified wall that Daelyn has surrounded herself in. But is it too little too late?
By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead is a very thought-provoking book on many different levels. There's a lot of layers to peel back with this one.
Formulated mostly on dialogue, the words are both powerful and heartbreaking. At the beginning the prose is short and concise. But as the story progresses, and a little light begins to show in Daelyn's dark world, the sentence structure becomes more open, more revealing. I really grew to love Santana in all his unrelenting, pesky glory. The boy provided much needed humor in an otherwise sad and heavy tale. And the ending will be a personal choice. Some may love it, some may not, but I felt Julie did a wonderful job closing out the book.
Overall consensus: I didn't really know what to expect when I first started By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead. I expected it to be emotional, and it was, but it just didn't have the same affect on me that it did others. A heavy subject to be sure, with raw and real emotion, but I would have liked to have seen it expanded upon. There was just enough to make it a worthy read but not enough to fully satiate my reading appetite. And I won't lie, this book is a bit of a downer (I think the title kind of implies that) but there is a powerful message to relay - that words are indeed a powerful force and can cause some major damage if we aren't careful. This is definitely a book that should be read by both teens and adults.
ketuna's review against another edition
I was kind of hoping she wouldn't die. I think she did. I wish I could start over. I wish it could end. I do think the book feels incomplete. Maybe it's a metaphor for her life. Maybe it's not that deep. Definitely not something to be read when you're feeling suicidal.
heather4994's review against another edition
4.0
Daelyn has been demeaned, bullied, tortured and almost raped through her years in school. For some reason, the teachers and principals always believe the other students, making her feel further bullied. Daelyn was overweight most of her life and that was the main fodder for the bullies, but not all. She tried to make her parents listen, but they just passed it off as kids being kids. Her mom went on diets with her saying it would be "fun" and her father would sneak food to her at night. She was sent to fat camp where they were tortured with emotional abuse and physical exercise beyond their limits. She final went home when a boy died. But that was before. She has made a few attempts to take her life and failed. The last attempt, pouring bleach and ammonia down her throat only resulted in a burned stomach lining and collapsed esophagus. She has to wear a heavy neck brace, can't talk, and all her food has to be pureed. She doesn't realize that she's become a frail, skinny, looking girl. And that she's pretty.
Daelyn flies under the radar. It's what keeps her safe and how she plans to slip from this world without anyone knowing her plans. Her father monitors her computer so she can't get on suicide websites. But she finds one that he can't trace and there she begins her countdown. Twenty four days. But a boy begins sitting on the bench with her while she waits for her parents to get her from school and he worms himself into her life without her permission. Next thing she knows she's staying at his house because she can't be trusted to stay at home alone and her parents both have meetings when there's a half day of school. Despite the fact that Daelyn can't talk, Santana talks a lot asking lots of questions. She writes some answers down. Others she ignores. Then she finds out something about Santana that seems to make her think. She doesn't stop her countdown, but one day in chorus (she did it as a joke) a mean girl elbows her and a teacher moves her to a different section. In a way, he sticks up for her. And she ends up standing by the overweight girl. And she's nice to the girl and the girl starts chatting to her and sits with her in another class. Daelyn even writes a joke about the mean girl to the overweight girl and they laugh in chorus. But she's not supposed to be making friends. She's supposed to be letting go of everything.
Daelyn is not a pitiful character. The neck thing gets to me, but that's a personal thing. She's strong in her decision to end her life. She isn't blaming anyone. She blames herself. She doesn't believe in God because he was never there for her before. And she really thinks her parents will be better off without her. She doesn't take her medicine that was seeming to work. She really is strongly convinced that suicide is the answer. The website is not one that talks you into doing it. It ask questions that make you think about your choices. It makes you wait those twenty four days. It asks if you've thought of this and that. Have you decided how, where. Have you decided who will find you etc. But asks deeper questions like who will become you after you're gone. Daelyn keys in no one, but can't help but think of the overweight girl in chorus. Tougher questions come.
The author does a great job of portraying a girl in the depths of depression. There is no feeling. An absolute absence of any emotion. Inside is dead. That's how Daelyn is for most of the book until Santana starts to stir feelings in her. She's a sympathetic character. She doesn't whine about her life. Maybe because she can't feel. She just lays it out in flashbacks in black and white. She doesn't even seem to hate the people that were so cruel to her. She can't feel even that emotion. But Santana is hard to ignore. He's loud with bleached blond hair and colored tips and he seems to appear out of nowhere. And like I said, he talks a lot.
I can't say I enjoyed this book because I don't enjoy reading about suicide. But this was a very well written book on bullying, its effects on the victims and suicide. It addressed a very tough subject with integrity. People that attempt suicide aren't doing it for attention. They're doing it to say, "Hey, I NEED HELP!" They should be treated with respect and kindness and understanding. Not like a freak, a criminal, or a burden. They should get help because the next time probably won't be an attempt.
Now there is no clear ending to the novel. The author lets you decide for yourself what you think Daelyn did on the last day. I know what she did and I have my proof to back it up. But some others might see it differently. But be it bullying or suicide this novel is a great lesson on both.
Daelyn flies under the radar. It's what keeps her safe and how she plans to slip from this world without anyone knowing her plans. Her father monitors her computer so she can't get on suicide websites. But she finds one that he can't trace and there she begins her countdown. Twenty four days. But a boy begins sitting on the bench with her while she waits for her parents to get her from school and he worms himself into her life without her permission. Next thing she knows she's staying at his house because she can't be trusted to stay at home alone and her parents both have meetings when there's a half day of school. Despite the fact that Daelyn can't talk, Santana talks a lot asking lots of questions. She writes some answers down. Others she ignores. Then she finds out something about Santana that seems to make her think. She doesn't stop her countdown, but one day in chorus (she did it as a joke) a mean girl elbows her and a teacher moves her to a different section. In a way, he sticks up for her. And she ends up standing by the overweight girl. And she's nice to the girl and the girl starts chatting to her and sits with her in another class. Daelyn even writes a joke about the mean girl to the overweight girl and they laugh in chorus. But she's not supposed to be making friends. She's supposed to be letting go of everything.
Daelyn is not a pitiful character. The neck thing gets to me, but that's a personal thing. She's strong in her decision to end her life. She isn't blaming anyone. She blames herself. She doesn't believe in God because he was never there for her before. And she really thinks her parents will be better off without her. She doesn't take her medicine that was seeming to work. She really is strongly convinced that suicide is the answer. The website is not one that talks you into doing it. It ask questions that make you think about your choices. It makes you wait those twenty four days. It asks if you've thought of this and that. Have you decided how, where. Have you decided who will find you etc. But asks deeper questions like who will become you after you're gone. Daelyn keys in no one, but can't help but think of the overweight girl in chorus. Tougher questions come.
The author does a great job of portraying a girl in the depths of depression. There is no feeling. An absolute absence of any emotion. Inside is dead. That's how Daelyn is for most of the book until Santana starts to stir feelings in her. She's a sympathetic character. She doesn't whine about her life. Maybe because she can't feel. She just lays it out in flashbacks in black and white. She doesn't even seem to hate the people that were so cruel to her. She can't feel even that emotion. But Santana is hard to ignore. He's loud with bleached blond hair and colored tips and he seems to appear out of nowhere. And like I said, he talks a lot.
I can't say I enjoyed this book because I don't enjoy reading about suicide. But this was a very well written book on bullying, its effects on the victims and suicide. It addressed a very tough subject with integrity. People that attempt suicide aren't doing it for attention. They're doing it to say, "Hey, I NEED HELP!" They should be treated with respect and kindness and understanding. Not like a freak, a criminal, or a burden. They should get help because the next time probably won't be an attempt.
Now there is no clear ending to the novel. The author lets you decide for yourself what you think Daelyn did on the last day. I know what she did and I have my proof to back it up. But some others might see it differently. But be it bullying or suicide this novel is a great lesson on both.
minseigle's review against another edition
3.0
This book was interesting - not something I've really read before in the YA genre. I didn't like the fact that the book lists "ways to go" and gives pros/cons of each. The ending is left to the reader's imagination also. Just an ok read.
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
3.0
I just finished and closed this book.
Typically I would wait to do my review on a book like this. I would sit with it for a few days, but I read this book for a challenge so I'm going to go ahead and write it up. I may change it again later.
I struggle with books like these. I'm glad that they are out there - books that deal with REAL issues that kids are having. Not bad hair days, but bad YEARS. days and days and days where they drag on and...when a person reaches a point where they don't feel they can go on.
I also don't think these books that deal with real issues - like suicide - should be for adults only. I think it's a very real, very serious issue in our teens, our youth - that dying by their own hand is very much a reality and a choice they choose!
But...(you knew that was coming, right?) I know I have my own bias. It's hard for me to read these books and not pull my own stuff in to it.
As a mom, I want to scream and yell, scold and...hug and cry and hold her hands and...just crumble because it just breaks my heart that this is an option. That kids die every day by their own hand.
As a survivor of all different types of abuse - it always surprises me just how differently we can all handle it. Did I handle it right? Is she handling it wrong? Is it MY place to judge her? Is it her place to judge me?
I just...I'm a mom of two girls and a survivor. It's hard not to get angry about a book about suicide - it's hard not to get angry at SUICIDE. It's just hard not to scream and yell and pull this book apart.
Typically I would wait to do my review on a book like this. I would sit with it for a few days, but I read this book for a challenge so I'm going to go ahead and write it up. I may change it again later.
I struggle with books like these. I'm glad that they are out there - books that deal with REAL issues that kids are having. Not bad hair days, but bad YEARS. days and days and days where they drag on and...when a person reaches a point where they don't feel they can go on.
I also don't think these books that deal with real issues - like suicide - should be for adults only. I think it's a very real, very serious issue in our teens, our youth - that dying by their own hand is very much a reality and a choice they choose!
But...(you knew that was coming, right?) I know I have my own bias. It's hard for me to read these books and not pull my own stuff in to it.
As a mom, I want to scream and yell, scold and...hug and cry and hold her hands and...just crumble because it just breaks my heart that this is an option. That kids die every day by their own hand.
As a survivor of all different types of abuse - it always surprises me just how differently we can all handle it. Did I handle it right? Is she handling it wrong? Is it MY place to judge her? Is it her place to judge me?
I just...I'm a mom of two girls and a survivor. It's hard not to get angry about a book about suicide - it's hard not to get angry at SUICIDE. It's just hard not to scream and yell and pull this book apart.
janaklar06's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
raerae6226's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Idk why I was reading this in the 7th grade but I do remember that learning that I wasn't alone in feeling that way made me feel understood and comfortable to talk about my feelings and report my bullies in school🤷♀️