Fridge at the undertakers (Before I Die - Jenny Downham)

Member Name: SweetTooth93

Product:	Before I Die - Jenny Downham
Date:	04/07/09 (69 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good surrounding characters, makes you appreciate life

Disadvantages: Not as tearjerking as it's made out to be, writing at the end, lead character

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Jenny Downham
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Jenny Downham, was born in Britain in the year of 1964. Jenny Downham is a extremely successful author despite the fact she has only one published book. Before Jenny turned to writing, she was a full time actress. She used to work in a youth community theatre, who often visited terrifying places such as prisons and friendlier places, for example hospitals and youth clubs. Part of her job was to tell stories to people, and she adored this. Her acting career was fairly successful, however after having her second child, she found she just didn't have the time anymore, so she gave up her job and decided to start a profession as an author.

Jenny very cleverly employs her acting skills in her writing. One thing she likes to do, is to keep notebooks and journals of characters as if she was going to play them on stage, and them adapts this and writes it down in paper. Jenny is an extremely talented writer, and in her writing includes so much emotion and experiences she has dealt with.

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Before I die
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Before I die, is Downham's first, and only book. The book, took two and a half years to complete, from the ideas in her head to the actual finishing and publication of the book. Downham began writing in 2005, and after paying close attention to detail and writing every day, the book was finished in early 2007 and only months later it had been published, as well as being translated into another 10 different languages. Before I die has been extremely successful and has been nominated for many book awards including 2008 Carnegie Medal, 2008 Booktrust teenage prize and came to win the 2008 Branford Boase Award.

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The Story
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Before I die is the story of a teenage girl named Tessa. Tessa, was diagnosed with leukaemia 4 years ago and ever since, her personality and outlook on life has changed. Unlike some sick, dying people, she doesn't want to lay in bed all day waiting for her death, no, Tessa wants to live. So, Tessa decides to make a list of things to do before she dies which she writes on the wall behind her bed. On Tessa's list include falling in love, and getting her parents back together as well as many other things, some beautiful and some dangerous. But will Tessa survive long enough to do everything she has always wanted? Will her parents reunite for the sake of their daughter? Will Tessa fall in love? And how long does Tessa really have left to live?

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The Good
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Before reading this book, I was fairly sceptical. I'd heard good things about the book, but on the other hand I'd heard equally as bad reports. However, I tried to start the book with an open mind. In my opinion their were some definite good factors to the book. One thing I really liked was the short chapters. Each chapter was between one and twelve pages long. I wasn't too keen on the chapters that were one or two pages long but I think it made it a lot easier to read as I always tend to find I'm flicking through the pages to see when the chapter is going too end. Another thing I really enjoyed about the book, was that Downham was not afraid in writing the book, and although she risked offending some readers, she wrote it very cleverly so that I didn't feel uncomfortable or offended in the slightest. For example, Tessa often came out with some facts and opinions about her illness which could make a fellow sufferer (or not a sufferer) feeling very angry towards her, but I don't think this happened with me. Another good thing I found about the book was that the characters were described so well I could imagine them all. Zoey, Tessa's best friend brought a bit of relief to the story I feel. Even though she has serious problems of her own, (read to find out what they are...), she brought a bit of normality to the story and bounced of Tessa's personality extremely well. All of the other characters were built up superbly, included Tessa's brother, Cal and her father.
Something which I can't explain whether I liked or disliked, was the totally split personality of Tessa. Sometimes she could be kind, caring and responsible but at other times it was like a switch flipped inside of her, and she became angry, resentful, jealous and selfish. I found the times where she was happy very enjoyable but when she turned in to a "monster", I didn't like her one bit!

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The Bad
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When I read books normally, I usually love it, or hate it. But this book was a totally different matter and although I loved some bits of it, other bits I really didn't. Tessa's personality often annoyed me especially when she was being selfish and didn't think of anybody else. I also found it very annoying when she used her illness to her advantage and thought she was superior to everybody else. Although I think that this was Downham's intention, I just found it rather uncomfortable.
Another down point to the book was the ending. I won't tell you what happens, but for around the last 25-30 pages, the writing is written extremely unusual. There are only extremely short paragraphs, some 5 lines, some only one line, and these are spaced out all over the page. I can see what she was trying to achieve; it could have been very effective, however I don't feel it worked; only adding confusion and extra length to the book. Also at the end I found it fairly difficult to understand as it was written very metaphorical and required a bit of thinking.
If I have to mention one more bad point, it is that I found some of the medical terms a bit of a nightmare to understand however I guess with a bit of research it wouldn't have been a problem!

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My opinion
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In my opinion, the book was written exceptionally well, excluding the last 30 pages of so. Downham's passion for writing really shone through and made the book slightly easier to read. She used brilliant sentence structure- some very short sentences only a word long to provide tension which really worked. Downham's use of figurative language, for example metaphors was outstanding and I don't think one page went by where I couldn't find a simile or comparison.
I did find it fairly difficult to relate to the main character Tessa which put a bit of strain on reading, but Zoey was easy to relate to and her decisions reflected real life- a world away from Tessa.
Many of the reviews I have read on this book say that they found themselves in floods of tears through the book, mainly at the end, however I only found myself with a lump in my throat right at the very end and I didn't find it as upsetting or tear jerking as I was imagining.

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Recommendations
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I would recommend this book if you like tragic stories. It is no chick-lit or rom-com and it does require a bit of thinking and reading between the lines. I don't think I would recommend it for anybody who is suffering from cancer or is close to somebody who is suffering from cancer or such like as it could be seen as offensive in some places and I can imagine a serious dislike and almost hatred towards Tessa.
Overall, I did half enjoy the book however I don't think I'd read it again out of choice.

**
I got my book from Waterstones book shop for the retail price of £6.99. This is quite a low price for a book I feel so I don't grudge buying it at all. The book is available in most shops, such as WHSmith and Ottikars. I have also seen it in Asda, however that was last summer time so I'm not sure if it will still be on sale!

SweetTooth 93

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