Reviews by Tag: death

Rent is a rock musical about New York City struggles in the 90s with the rise of AIDS. It is a musical written by Jonathan Larson and has many awards. It started off Broadway, made its way to Broadway, and now there is the movie adaptation. Unfortunately, Jonathan Larson passed away before he was able to see its success. This musical is all about love, acceptance, bohemia, drugs, pride, friends and loyalty.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is one of the most powerful stories that I have read. Taking place during the Holocaust, this book’s depth is immediately apparent (as is any story in the face of such a great tragedy.) The story centers around a girl named Liesel, who loses her family at the novel’s opening, and thus finds herself in the care of the Huberman family. The Huberman family provides Liesel with a new warmth that had been lacking previously in her life–they represent, for her, a true family.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman takes place in a world where humanity has conquered natural forms of death with the help of a godlike artificial intelligence known as the Thunderhead. To prevent Earth from overpopulating, an organization known as the Scythes formed to “glean” citizens at random. The story follows two teenagers, Citra Terranova and Rowan Damisch, who are selected by Scythe Faraday to train as his apprentices. Neither have a choice in the matter, but must compete for the title of scythe.

A book narrated by death, who follows a young lonely girl through Nazi Germany. This is perhaps my favorite book of all time. The story telling is superb, the writing divine and the characters and plot weave a tale that will leave you in tears. Such a fascinating idea, to write a book narrated by death, its surprising it took so long for someone to think of it. It could so easily be overdone, made cheesy and lifeless but Zusak perfectly captures the essence of death in a meaningful and brilliant way.

Pack Up the Moon by Kristan Higgins explores the aftermath of being widowed. Josh and Lauren are a couple madly in love, but Lauren is diagnosed with a terminal illness. She spends the last few months of her life writing letters that will have delivered to Josh after her passing. Both the plot and the writing were outstanding. I got so invested in this book. I will admit the three weird popular culture references from this book were a little out of place.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a profound, heartbreaking historical fiction narrated by Death. Tasked with collecting the souls of the departed, Death recalls the life of an extraordinary book thief. He tells the story of a young girl adopted by an old couple in Molching, Germany. Despite the Nazi-organized book burnings, Liesel learns to read and write, recovering works from the mayor’s library and piles on the street.

In Julia Alvarez’s Afterlife, Antonia’s commitment to her family and willingness to support others highlights her selfless nature, even at the expense of her needs and desires. Antonia hesitates when one of Antonia’s neighbors, Mario, asks if his girlfriend Estela, an undocumented immigrant, can stay at Antonia’s house due to the precarious situation she may face. She explains that she cannot “handle something like this right now” because she is grieving the recent passing of her husband, Sam (Alvarez 29).

Death-Cast has just made its latest calls to the people who will die sometime in the next twenty-four hours. Goodbyes are being said, and last minute wishes are being fulfilled. For Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio, total strangers before the call that changed their lives, all they want is a friend who understands. Through an app especially for people on their last day, they get to talking, and decide to meet up. Their goal? To live their future in their last moments. 

Thunderhead is the second book in the Scythe book series. This book specifically focuses on the Thunderhead, the big cloud-like technology that controls everything, and corruption within the Scythedom. Citra gleans using her compassionate methods and Rowan hunts down corrupt Scythes. Meanwhile, the Thunderhead is growing worried about the corruption, yet it can’t do anything about it due to its limitations.

Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End is a Young Adult, LGBT novel that recounts the final hours of main characters Mateo and Rufus’ lives after being informed that they only have 24 hours to live. Confronted by this daunting news, both characters are forced to confront their fears and regrets as they set off together to fulfill their final wishes.