Customer Reviews
This book made me cry - By: Serena Seghedoni, 01 Dec 2008 
The first book that made me cry. It's writtenin such a good way & seems so spontaneous even if it talks of such delicate subjects.
Unforgetable - By: Kaytee xo, 26 Oct 2008 This is one of the best books i have ever read. I am thirteen years old & this was very easy to read but still hard to put down. I raced to bed every night just to read it. In one word - amazing. =)
Something NOT to read before you die... - By: AlwaysSilverDoe, 25 Oct 2008 
I was recommended this book by Amazon whilst searching for other books to read. Although it sounded good at the time, I didn't buy the book & forgot about it for a few months. When I saw the book on a shelf at work whilst on a break, I immediately remembered all the praise & good reviews it had recieved, & bought it there & then.
I began reading on the way home but the first few pages didn't really grab me - the main character, Tessa babbled on about every small detail of what was happening to her at that moment, how she could hear people unzipping their coats & such. I'm all for details & hanging on, but it was overdone.
As I continued reading,in the hope things might get better, it became clear that Tessa wasn't particularly developed as a character & I was finding it very difficult to see how people had cried over her eventual death at the end of the book - there's nothing to get attached to. She wasn't particularly nice as a person, was rude to her family constantly & although she was dying, didn't want to be her own person or find herself & what she wanted - she was still wrapped upin pleasing her "friend" Zoey. This alleged friend seems to forget that Tessa is terminally ill & takes her out to go clubbing with the main aim of finding her a guy - any guy for Tessa to lose her virginity to. Strangely enough, Tessa doesn't seem to mind all that much about the way Zoey treats her; doing anything Zoey tells her to. This even includes walking up a manin the street & telling him she loves him; yet another seemingly pointless task designed to amuse her so called friend & revealing the sort of teenager Tessa would have continued to be, had she not become terminally ill.
For the first 20 or so pages it mostly leads up to this final scene where Tessa goes go home with a stranger Zoey picks out for herin a club; after debating about whether to go home with him & get on with number one of her list, Tessa goes. What followed next was with a complete lack of emotions & feelings - the whole event itself was over with the exact words "This is it. It's really happening. I'm living it now. Sex.". Not only that, but previously, Tessa hadn't even kissed anyone, making this whole escapade highly unlikely, & had it occurred, I would have expected her to show a lot more emotion - she's dying, this is it, this is supposed to be her one chance to go out into the world & discover, learn, find out.
Allin all, it feels like the author had a good idea for a plot, but the characters are cold, empty & I really couldn't have cared less whether or not Tessa died, whether she completed her list & what filled the 300 pagesin between. Although Tessa's father gets upset on some occasions the way it's described you just can't feel anything for him.
I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone & I can't wait to get rid of it - its no reflection of what cancer is really like at all.
rubbish - By: N. Shrives, 18 Oct 2008 I bought this book as I read a lot of great reviews on it.I totally wasted my money as I found it boring & was extremely dissapointed.
The most wonderful, insightful book I have ever been lucky enough to read! - By: Aphrodite, 06 Oct 2008 This book is one if the best books I have ever read! It is well written, sensitive, insightful, emotional & very moving.
It is the story of a 16 year old girl called Tessa who is terminally ill with leukemia; she is not ready to die & wants so much more from life. She makes a list of things that she would like to achieve before she dies, & what follows is a story of her trying to live life to it's fullest, trying her hardest before she gets too weak. It makes for such a heartwarming read as you are willing her on, wishing her to feel all the things that she should feelin her life. This could have easily become a depressing book but it is not at all, it is uplifting, positive & life affirming.
I defy anyone who reads this book to not...a) cry or well up.........and b) feel blessed to be alive!
I would definitely recommend this book, it is absolutely amazing!
