The Aussie Zombie

By the Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead (abbreviated to BTYRT for ease of typing) was never going to be anything other than an intense, sad book. For some reason, I'm always drawn to tough books that pull at my emotions and have me glued to the pages, hoping that something better will happen for the characters, and BTYRT was no exception.

Bullying is something that many of us have experienced as children and teens, from schoolyard taunts through to actual physical abuse, and whilst reading BTYRT, Daelyn's story felt so very real, I wanted to grab all the people that had made her so miserable and shake them. Interwoven with the bullying there are also struggles with body-image and an overwhelming need for acceptance.

Daelyn is so isolated, so lonely and so very bleak that it was impossible not to feel a huge sympathy for her. The back-story gradually reveals itself, rather than having a huge information dump at once, which makes it all the more haunting and sad as fragments of her teen years come together to form a very disturbing, cruel picture.

Ms. Peters strikes the perfect balance of parental involvement, something often missing in YA books, without having them overshadow Daelyn's very private thoughts and actions. Their actions portrayed an overwhelming love and concern for their daughter, but it was also easy to see where they had missed the signs of things going very wrong, despite everything they were doing to try and help her live a happier life.

Santana was certainly a bright spot in BTYRT - his outlook on life was so very different to Daelyn's, and the gradual revealing of his own story perfectly juxtaposed with Daelyn's own journey through the past few years of her life.

The website that forms the backbone of the plot was a great catalyst for the story. I won't say much about it for fear of spoiling it, but it is mysterious, disturbing and really pulls some of the underlying themes together.

This is an intense book, folks. It's haunting, shocking and almost ethereal and Daelyn's story is one that isn't easily forgettable. A quick read but one that is very very worthwhile.

And if you're wondering why four stars instead of five? Although I really liked this book, I didn't love the ending - it just didn't work for me, but it does fit the tone of the book.

Read more of my reviews at The Aussie Zombie