Hi guys, and welcome to our tour stop for How She Died, How I Lived by Mary Crockett. I am super excited to be on the blog tour for this book. Sit back, read my review and don't forget to add this book to your Goodreads shelves. Oh, and don't forget to enter the giveaway below!
Book Details
Title: HOW SHE DIED, HOW I LIVED
Title: HOW SHE DIED, HOW I LIVED
Author: Mary Crockett
Pub. Date: November 13, 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young
Readers
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook,
audiobook
Pages: 416
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Synopsis: I was one of five. The five girls Kyle texted that day. The girls it could have been. Only Jamie--beautiful, saintly Jamie--was kind enough to respond. And it got her killed.
On the eve of Kyle's sentencing a year after Jamie's death, all the other "chosen ones" are coping in various ways. But our tenacious narrator is full of anger, stuck somewhere between the horrifying past and the unknown future as she tries to piece together why she gets to live, while Jamie is dead.
Now she finds herself drawn to Charlie, Jamie's boyfriend--knowing all the while that their relationship will always be haunted by what-ifs and why-nots. Is hope possible in the face of such violence? Is forgiveness? How do you go on living when you know it could have been you instead?
Book Review
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. It looked interesting and like one I would enjoy, but I wasn't sold on it immediately. My reading has been non-existent this month, so I was worried that the first book I read this month would be a disappointment. I wasn't expecting a book like this. Sure parts of it were dark and sad, but it was also full of forgiveness and realizing that it was okay to live life like normal and be happy that you were still alive.
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. It looked interesting and like one I would enjoy, but I wasn't sold on it immediately. My reading has been non-existent this month, so I was worried that the first book I read this month would be a disappointment. I wasn't expecting a book like this. Sure parts of it were dark and sad, but it was also full of forgiveness and realizing that it was okay to live life like normal and be happy that you were still alive.
I've dealt with what is called "survivor's guilt" myself, so I understood our main character and her struggle with it. She was one of a handful of girls the homicidal maniac texted on the day he eventually killed Jamie. How could she not feel so much guilt for still being alive when sweet Jamie was dead? I could not even imagine what she went through, knowing that if she had just met up with Kyle Paxton when he asked, she would be the dead one. Not Jamie.
Our main character goes through a lot of conflicting emotions in this book and Crockett does an awesome job at showing us, rather than telling us. As the reader, I could see our main character going through so much, along with the other girls. The only other one that we get to know really well is Lindsay, and I really liked her. Her home life & parental involvement was a sharp contrast to our main character. Lindsay's mother was barely around and I couldn't imagine going through all of this and not having the parental support. At least our main character had support from her parents.
I was not sure how I'd feel about our main character's romance with Jamie's boyfriend. I was worried our main character was going to be hurt by him. I was also worried that it would be toxic & troubling because both Charlie and our main character had been through so much since that fateful day. I actually really liked them together. Sure, Charlie pulled disappearing acts sometimes, but he always came back.
The only thing I would say this book needed was a bit more character development for the secondary characters. Our main character, Charlie and Lindsay were all developed well, but the rest of them could definitely have had more development. Overall, this book was really good, definitely a "quiet YA" that YA contemporary lovers need to read.
About the Author
A native of the Shenandoah Valley of
Virginia, Mary grew up as the youngest of six children in a family of misfits.
She has worked as everything from a history museum director to a toilet seat
hand model.
In her other life, she's an
award-winning poet and teaches creative writing at Roanoke College in Virginia.
If you tweet at her, chances are she
will tweet back.
Giveaway
Tour Schedule
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