" It's really going to happen. They said it would, but this is quicker than anyone thought" 16 year old Tessa has just found out that the leukeamia she has been battling for 4 long years is terminal and she only has months to live. But there are things she still wants to experience before she dies, and so she compiles a list of ten things, beginning with sex. With the help of her wild friend Zoey, Tessa sets about her list. But Tessa is about to find out that what she thinks she wants and whats she needs are completely different, and what she needs is closer than she ever believed. I'm just going to start this review by saying WOW! I knew ...  Read the complete review

This is a review of the 2007 book 'Before I die' by Jenny Downham. It's a young adult fiction book about a teenager who has little time left before she dies and she makes a plan of the things she feels she still needs to do. This wouldn't be a typical choice to read for me but it was in a load of books I won so it was going to get read anyway! A little on the story line Tessa is 16 and has a life threatening illness so begins a list which runs parallel to the story. She wants to do things like break the law, have sex, go clubbing, do silly things like say yes to everything for a day, and ultimately she wants to experience true ...  Read the complete review

I have just finished reading 'Before I Die' written by Jenny Downham. It is a story with a difficult subject matter: death. And the worst thing about this death is that it is going to happen to a young girl, Tessa, who has not even really had much time to live before she is told by the doctor that her leukaemia is terminal and that she has a limited time left to live. When I started reading this book I can't say that I was particularly in the mood for a book with a morbid storyline. I have had enough ups and downs lately to want to read something a little more cheery, but this book was another freebie that I have been meaning to read for a while so I thought ...  Read the complete review

I bought this book on a whim one day as I was browsing in Waterstones and I am so glad I did because it has touched me in a way that many books just can not do. The story is of a teenage girl called Tessa who is suffering from terminal cancer and she has a list of things that she wants to do before she dies. Her list doesn't consist of the normal sweet, appropriate things you might expect such as swimming with dolphins or going in a hot air balloon, it includes things like taking drugs, losing her virginity, committing crime and saying yes to everything people ask her for a day. The book follows Tessa as she crosses each activity off her list as her ...  Read the complete review

I recently was lucky enough to escape to Tunisia for a lovely week of very much needed sunshine after our rather dismal attempt at a summer. Now if there's one thing I like to do on holiday more than sun bathing it's sun bathing while reading, on average I've been known to go through nearly a book a day on holiday. As I left it rather late to get myself organised for this holiday I had only a couple of days to stock up on all my holiday essentials, including books. While browsing on Amazon for books I came across one called "Before I Die" by Jenny Downham, it was recommended by people who had read the same books as me in the past so I quickly requested it from .  Read the complete review