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sheilasamuelson's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Rating: 2 Stars!!
Review:
This was my first time reading a book by Gregory Galloway so i wasnt sure what to expect but i have to say i was iffy about this one considering the low reviews ive read on Goodreads and sadly i was right since i didnt really like this one.
The Characters were OK but not the best. I felt like Adam was a very selfish Teen who wanted to end his life because he didnt enjoy it which felt like it was a petty thing to do.
The Setting was OK but not very descriptive.
The Consept of this Book and Story was very clear but i felt like the author could of build more on that instead of letting it fall flat.
Overall an OK YA Book but could of been better!! I'll explore more of Gregory's books but i hope the others arent like this one was.
Review:
This was my first time reading a book by Gregory Galloway so i wasnt sure what to expect but i have to say i was iffy about this one considering the low reviews ive read on Goodreads and sadly i was right since i didnt really like this one.
The Characters were OK but not the best. I felt like Adam was a very selfish Teen who wanted to end his life because he didnt enjoy it which felt like it was a petty thing to do.
The Setting was OK but not very descriptive.
The Consept of this Book and Story was very clear but i felt like the author could of build more on that instead of letting it fall flat.
Overall an OK YA Book but could of been better!! I'll explore more of Gregory's books but i hope the others arent like this one was.
mxbluet18's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
"It's an answer," I said, "but maybe not the right one."
~
The trigger warnings for The 39 Deaths of Adam Strand include: self harm, in depth discussions of various methods of suicide, and frequent mention of drinking alcohol.
☆
☆
This is the second time I've tried to read this, and it took me over two weeks to actually finish it. And not because it isn't a good, well written book, but because I've just been in a bit of a reading slump and dealing with other things so I've not been wanting to read it.
~
I don't really know what to think or say about this book. It's well written, and the characters are well developed and detailed. But aside from that, I don't know. I felt like there wasn't much substance in it beyond a severely depressed main character who makes 39 different attempts on his life, but remains alive each time. None of that is ever actually explained, maybe the attempts just failed, maybe he's unable to die. I don't know, and that leaves me feeling unsatisfied.
~
I do feel as though the descriptions of every method he tried were partly unnecessary, since you get the general message that he's depressed and doesn't want to be alive, or at the very least, doesn't want the life he has to begin with. And yeah, through the book, and by the end that view changes a little and he's less inclined to attempt again, he suggests he isn't called to it to same degree anymore. But ultimately I don't know what to think. And it isn't a book I'm ever going to read again.
~
The trigger warnings for The 39 Deaths of Adam Strand include: self harm, in depth discussions of various methods of suicide, and frequent mention of drinking alcohol.
☆
☆
This is the second time I've tried to read this, and it took me over two weeks to actually finish it. And not because it isn't a good, well written book, but because I've just been in a bit of a reading slump and dealing with other things so I've not been wanting to read it.
~
I don't really know what to think or say about this book. It's well written, and the characters are well developed and detailed. But aside from that, I don't know. I felt like there wasn't much substance in it beyond a severely depressed main character who makes 39 different attempts on his life, but remains alive each time. None of that is ever actually explained, maybe the attempts just failed, maybe he's unable to die. I don't know, and that leaves me feeling unsatisfied.
~
I do feel as though the descriptions of every method he tried were partly unnecessary, since you get the general message that he's depressed and doesn't want to be alive, or at the very least, doesn't want the life he has to begin with. And yeah, through the book, and by the end that view changes a little and he's less inclined to attempt again, he suggests he isn't called to it to same degree anymore. But ultimately I don't know what to think. And it isn't a book I'm ever going to read again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Alcohol
miss_stra's review
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
foreveryoungadult's review
Graded By: Brian
Cover Story: Scenic Bridges of New England
Drinking Buddy: You've Had Enough
Testosterone Level: Zilch
Talky Talk: Maddening Omissions
Bonus Factors: Crusty Old Men, Precocious Little Girl
Bromance Status: You're Still Hanging Around?
Read the full book report here.
Cover Story: Scenic Bridges of New England
Drinking Buddy: You've Had Enough
Testosterone Level: Zilch
Talky Talk: Maddening Omissions
Bonus Factors: Crusty Old Men, Precocious Little Girl
Bromance Status: You're Still Hanging Around?
Read the full book report here.
electraheart's review
1.0
This book was on my to-read list for five years, and I have to say it was a lot of build up for very little reward. I have a feeling I might have liked it more when I was younger, when I thought reading edgier books about darker topics like suicide were fun and interesting.
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what this book is about, which was why I had such a hard time enjoying it. I want to call it a coming-of-age story, but it's not quite that. There isn't anything dark or difficult for Adam to go through, and he never changes his behavior or grows as a person simply because he never wants to. For some reason, Adam is immune to his suicide attempts. We never learn why, and the book focuses more on him goofing around with friends he doesn't really like and his boring day-to-day life. Maybe a good sci-fi twist for the explanation would have made this less dry than it was.
My biggest problem with this book is how Adam just kills himself because he's bored. He's not depressed; he doesn't have something traumatic that caused him to not want to be alive anymore. He's just bored. And that's a bit of a slap in the face for people who genuinely do have depressive and suicidal thoughts. The thing about depression is that you do not choose it, you don't pick when it comes and goes, and you don't always feel in control of your actions. There's part of you that doesn't want to live anymore, but another part of you that wants to want to live. There are so many people who commit suicide because they don't have the help they need, because the system fails them. And here is Adam, mundane teenage boy with all the resources he could possibly need, more than he could imagine, and he scoffs off therapists and laughs at medication, because he doesn't need them. He's just bored.
I know the author wrote this book because he was upset about the number of people he knew personally who had committed suicide, but it's like he just...didn't Get It. The drive to commit suicide comes from your lowest point, when your anger and hurt and frustration and loneliness have all built up and shoved their way through your veins. So for the people who have been there, for the people who are there, having an author write about a teenager doing it repeatedly because he's just not having any fun is the exact opposite of Getting It.
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what this book is about, which was why I had such a hard time enjoying it. I want to call it a coming-of-age story, but it's not quite that. There isn't anything dark or difficult for Adam to go through, and he never changes his behavior or grows as a person simply because he never wants to. For some reason, Adam is immune to his suicide attempts. We never learn why, and the book focuses more on him goofing around with friends he doesn't really like and his boring day-to-day life. Maybe a good sci-fi twist for the explanation would have made this less dry than it was.
My biggest problem with this book is how Adam just kills himself because he's bored. He's not depressed; he doesn't have something traumatic that caused him to not want to be alive anymore. He's just bored. And that's a bit of a slap in the face for people who genuinely do have depressive and suicidal thoughts. The thing about depression is that you do not choose it, you don't pick when it comes and goes, and you don't always feel in control of your actions. There's part of you that doesn't want to live anymore, but another part of you that wants to want to live. There are so many people who commit suicide because they don't have the help they need, because the system fails them. And here is Adam, mundane teenage boy with all the resources he could possibly need, more than he could imagine, and he scoffs off therapists and laughs at medication, because he doesn't need them. He's just bored.
I know the author wrote this book because he was upset about the number of people he knew personally who had committed suicide, but it's like he just...didn't Get It. The drive to commit suicide comes from your lowest point, when your anger and hurt and frustration and loneliness have all built up and shoved their way through your veins. So for the people who have been there, for the people who are there, having an author write about a teenager doing it repeatedly because he's just not having any fun is the exact opposite of Getting It.
monty_reads's review
2.0
Two stars out of generosity only. It's sort of confounding to see a book that's generally well-written be so awful. If we're to believe the author's note at the end, he wrote this book after experiencing the suicide of several friends and family members, and this book is his attempt explore the psyche of the clinically and chronically depressed. It makes perfect sense, then, that he'd make the title character a suicidal teen who can't die. He flings himself off bridges, shoots himself in the head, drinks himself to death, and always comes back. We don't know why – it's literally never explained – and, to make a dopey premise even worse, everyone in his small town knows about it and just treats it like an annoyance.
So what we get for 300 pages is a thoroughly unlikable character hanging out and drinking with his thoroughly unlikable buddies, flirting with a long-time friend, driving a ten-year-old girl to the doctor, and trying to kill himself. It's told out of sequence, so we don't even really have a narrative to hang on to – it's fragments and impressions, a bunch of vignettes that never add up to anything. It feels like there's something here, like it could be a solid read, but if you're going to write a book that spends much of its time trying to be a quasi-existential meditation on the hopelessness of life – something, by the way, I'm totally on board with – the characters have to be more compelling than what we're given here.
So what we get for 300 pages is a thoroughly unlikable character hanging out and drinking with his thoroughly unlikable buddies, flirting with a long-time friend, driving a ten-year-old girl to the doctor, and trying to kill himself. It's told out of sequence, so we don't even really have a narrative to hang on to – it's fragments and impressions, a bunch of vignettes that never add up to anything. It feels like there's something here, like it could be a solid read, but if you're going to write a book that spends much of its time trying to be a quasi-existential meditation on the hopelessness of life – something, by the way, I'm totally on board with – the characters have to be more compelling than what we're given here.
skylit's review
4.0
I took forever trying to read this book (mainly because I started it during 2020 and the mood resonated a bit too closely to reality). I felt that Galloway managed to capture (sometimes in paragraphs, sometimes in a sentence) the thoughts that would pass through my mind as I encountered difficult or stressful situations or sometimes...even boredom. The ending was pretty good. Adam changed from going directly to attempting suicide to seeing that there are components of life worth living for and is emotionally healthier as his friendship with Maddy and Don Lemley developed. It just goes to show that you can never gauge the impact you can make on the lives of other people. I also liked how the town didn't make a big deal of it...after all Adam didn't want to make a big deal of it anyways.
randyribay's review
3.0
I really enjoyed Galloway's writing, but I really don't think the attempt at a fragmented narrative worked with this story.
kade_spade's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75