Blood on My Hands by Todd Strasser YP FIC STRASSER

When Callie Carson finds her ex ‘friend’ Katherine (number one mean girl, queen bee in school) lying on the ground outside a party with a knife in her she assumes it’s another one of her mean spirited pranks. However, upon pulling the knife from Katherine she realizes:

1. It’s REAL!

2. Katherine is ding dong dead!

3. She isn’t alone!

Her picture is taken with a cell phone and is online faster than you can say, “Viral.” Now everyone thinks Callie is a murderer and has to find the real killer. But how do you find a killer when over half the school has a motive?

Okay, so right off the bat it is a little, tiny bit hard to feel for Callie after pulling such a bonehead play like assume a knife is fake and play Sword in the Stone with a dead body, BUT the book being from her perspective helped me warm up to her within a few chapters. Callie used to be a willing salve to Katherine’s evil whims and the book has loads of flashbacks showing how MEAN Katherine really was and giving Callie plenty of suspects. It reminds me of a faster paced and shallower version of Rosebush by Michele Jaffe (YP FIC JAFFE). It isn’t that it is completely shallow; just that Strasser’s recent thrillers are fun, suspenseful, quick reads and Rosebush succeeds in being something more. There are a good amount of twists and turns, a rekindled romance, and a nicely satisfying ending. The ending was more believable than a fair amount of teen murder mysteries and thrillers. The choice Callie makes at the end may leave you wanting to strangle her (I did!) or you may think she makes a good choice. If you want a good mystery and you enjoy teen thrillers, especially if you liked Strasser’s last thriller Wish You Were Dead, then you should have a fun time with Blood on My Hands.

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver YP FIC OLIVER

Samantha has it all, super hot and popular boyfriend, the most popular girls in scholl as best friends, and all the makings of a bright future. Unfortunately, Samantha also has only one day left to live. Well, she has a week of one days left to live. After a pretty terrible last day on Earth ending with a car crash Samantha finds herself falling for what feels like ages. When she wakes up in bed she finds that she is reliving the same day. Now she has seven more chances to relive her last day and try to figure out what her life and her death were all about.

This is a great addition to the Dead/Dying Teens Genre. I don’t know if it’s officially a ‘genre’ yet, but it is definitely getting there. Fortunately, Before I Fall is one of the best. Samantha is a really well written character and she changes so much throughout the book. I found it fascinating watching her go through different ways to cope with her own death. When she finally begins to try to change herself for the better hoping to save her own life the novel really hits its stride. Her attempts to help the people she’s hurt only reveal how little she knew them and herself. It is only through being willing to let go of everything that she finally understands what she is losing. This is a really great read with excellent characters and a gripping plot. It’s both uplifting and sad all at once. Great for fans of Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher (YP FIC ASHER) or If I Stay by Gayle Forman (YP FIC FORMAN).