Hardcover, 288 pagesExpected publication: January 27th 2015 by HarperTeen
A teenage boy tries to understand his best friend's suicide by listening to the playlist of songs he left behind in this smart, voice-driven debut novel.
Here's what Sam knows: There was a party. There was a fight. The next morning, his best friend, Hayden, was dead. And all he left Sam was a playlist of songs, and a suicide note: For Sam—listen and you'll understand.
As he listens to song after song, Sam tries to face up to what happened the night Hayden killed himself. But it's only by taking out his earbuds and opening his eyes to the people around him that he will finally be able to piece together his best friend’s story. And maybe have a chance to change his own.
Part mystery, part love story, and part coming-of-age tale in the vein of Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Tim Tharp’s The Spectacular Now, Playlist for the Dead is an honest and gut-wrenching first novel about loss, rage, what it feels like to outgrow a friendship that's always defined you—and the struggle to redefine yourself. But above all, it's about finding hope when hope seems like the hardest thing to find.
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Michelle Falkoff
"For Sam-Listen and you'll understand...."
Playlist For The Dead is a young adult book that focuses on teen suicide and the circumstances that occur following this life changing event. The story is told from the main characters point of view which is a young bot named Sam. Sam and his best friend Hayden are described as being "geeky" and are each other's only friend. They are both loners and teen outcasts. While attending a party Sam and Hayden get into an argument and Sam leaves. The next day when Sam goes looking for Hayden....he discovers Hayden has committed suicide.
Sam also finds a flash drive with a note saying that this flash drive would explain everything. When Sam opens the flash drive he discovers that it is a playlist of songs....some of which Sam has heard and some that Sam has never heard before. Each of the songs is a clue to what really happened to Hayden and leads Sam on a journey to discover the truth behind Hayden's suicide.
"My fists clenched, fingernails digging into my palms, and I tried to calm down. I'd spent the past few days alternating between missing him and hating him, feeling guilty and shitty, not knowing how I was supposed to be feeling but wanting it to be different, somehow. He'd left me alone, and I'd never have done that to him, no matter how mad I was. It had made it almost impossible to sleep, so on top of everything else I was exhausted. Exhausted and angry. A great combination."
Playlist For The Dead is a story about bullying, teen suicide, and how teens deal with death. This story is painful, honest and speaks about the issues and real-life struggles that teens deal with on a daily basis. I would recommend Playlist For The Dead to young adult and teen readers who enjoy male point of views and books about serious issues.
**The quotes from this book have been taken from an Advanced Reading Copy and are subject to change when the final book is printed. Please refer to the final, finished copy for exact quotes!**
**I want to say Thank You to Harper Teen for the opportunity to review this book!!**
I am not one that usually reads this deep of books. They tend to tear me apart. I did read 13 reasons why and loved it so I was hoping I wold love this one too. I think i will. thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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