Denton Little's Deathdate (Denton Little, #1)

by Lance Rubin

The first of two books, Denton Little's Deathdate is an utterly gripping read - with a killer plot twist, hilarious characters, and a truly memorable voice.

Imminent death has never been so funny! Denton Little's Deathdate takes place in a world exactly like our own - except that everyone knows the day on which they will die. For Denton, that's in just two days - the day of his senior prom. Despite his early deathdate, Denton has always wanted to live a normal life - but his final days are filled with dramatic firsts. First hangover. First sex. First love triangle (the first sex seems to have happened not with his adoring girlfriend, but with his best friend's sister. Though he's not totallysure - see, first hangover).

His anxiety builds when he discovers a mysterious purple rash making its way up his body. Is this what will kill him? Then a strange man shows up at his funeral, claiming to have known Denton's long-deceased mother, and giving him a confusing warning...

Suddenly Denton's life is filled with mysterious questions and precious little time to find the answers. Lance Rubin takes us on a fast, gripping, and outrageously funny ride through the last hours of a teenager's life as he searches for love, meaning and (just maybe) a way to live on . . .

• ISBN10: 1471124231
• ISBN13: 9781471124235
• Publish Date: 26 March 2015 (first published 1 January 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Ltd
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 352
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

I didn't know this ended in a cliffy, and what a a doozie of an ending. This book was hilarious, but it also made me think - how would I live my life if I knew my death date? Can't wait to start the next book.

[mrs_mander_reads]

This book starts a little slow, but picks up about halfway through. I like the basis that everyone knows the day they die - it put an interesting spin on how people approach the end of their life, and the traditions that go with it. I like Denton, especially once he feels like he's found his "purpose". Great ending, and I can't wait to read the next one.

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: Hilariously original, Denton Little's Deathdate imagines what life would be like, knowing when one would die. Would we live more meaningful lives? Would we be more reckless? In the case of Denton, his life still is comparably ordinary. He goes to school, jokes with friends, has a girlfriend, and does a load of stupid stuff, as any teenage boy would (even without deathdates).

His last days on earth are a no holds barred trip that had me counting down the pages — until the cliffhanger. I need the sequel now. Though I wish there had been more answers explaining how or why determining deathdates had come about. The characters accept it as a matter of course, so that part was a little bust for me.

[Kelly]

http://www.divabooknerd.com/2015/05/laugh-your-ass-off-denton-littles.html
Denton Little's Deathdate is a hilarious story of dying, living and what you do with the in between. Denton isn't popular, nor is he a ladies man. He's intelligent, conforming and a teen that parents would be proud of. But in a society where at birth your date of death is determined, Denton realises that he's never truly lived his life. He's never had a hangover, he's never felt a wild abandonment and he's certainly never had sex. But when Denton wakes up after a night of drunken sex, he can cross two more achievements off his list and a girlfriend that is none the wiser.

With his best friend and partner in crime Pablo, Denton is in for forty eight hours of fast living and mayhem, all before he kicks the bucket. An elderly police officer who is ready to strike, a gun toting former boyfriend of his current but not for much longer girlfriend, slowly turning purple and now a stranger who claims to have known his late mother, warns him of government conspiracies.

It was a strange of blend of contemporary and science fiction elements, Denton Little's Deathdate is nothing short of incredible. Denton is not only likable, but the cast of secondary characters inject personality and a lightheartedness throughout the storyline. Lance Rubin should be applauded for creating a brilliantly unique debut novel.

I laughed, I sniggered and snorted my way through reading Denton's story. It's fun, it's hilarious and never guilty of taking itself too seriously. It's the perfect release for those who enjoy the sillier side of fiction, myself included.

[Jo]

Originally published on Once Upon a Bookcase.

I thought Denton Little's Deathdate by Lance Rubin sounded pretty good when I first heard of it, but it exceeded my expectations! This is a fantastic book; a dystopian novel with a difference!

In a world a few generations in the future, everyone knows their deathdate - the date they will die. Due to some scientific discoveries, doctors can now determine the date of your death using blood and hair from when you are born. For Denton, his deathdate is tomorrow. It hasn't really bothered him too much that he will die early, but once his deathdate is imminent, his life is turned on it's head. Experiencing a lot of firsts, a lot of confusion, and a fair dose of teenage angst, Denton is now wishing he had more time. But when a strange purple splotch appears of his thigh and starts to spread, he knows his time is coming. If he hadn't enough to worry about, a strange man appears at his funeral, telling him he knew his dead mother, and he should trust no-one. With Denton's death just around the corner, what could he possibly have to be wary about?

This book! Oh my god, this book is brilliant! As I said above, this is a dystopia with a difference - for the most part, it doesn't feel like a dystopian novel at all, but rather a contemporary fantasy/comedy (comic fantasy isn't quite right). It's literally set just a few generations into the future, as Denton's grandfather remembers a time when no-one knew their deathdate, so it's a fairly recent thing, but to Denton the whole idea of people not knowing when they could die is completely bizarre to him. How could you live when every day could be the day you died? For the most part, he's quite calm about him impending death, accepting of it; he's known it was coming, and it's ok. At least it is at first.

But he has other things to worry about, like the possibility that he might have maybe cheated on his girlfriend with his best friend's sister, who has maybe always hated him. And he can't quite remember if he did and/or why, due to getting completely off his head on alcohol - an experience he can't say he enjoyed as he can't remember most of it. As you can tell, for the most part, Denton Little's Deathdate is a pretty normal YA contemporary novel, one that's pretty funny too. Denton's best mate, Poalo is awesome! He is one of the major highlights of the book for me, because he's always coming out with something hilarious! He literally had me laughing out loud, and I love him! I kind of wish he also had his own book.

But then the book takes a turn. It starts off gradually. Questions are raised in his mind about his mum, after the appearance of Brian Blum, who also warned him about being followed and to stay away from government officials. There's a cop who keeps appearing and acting strangely. And suddenly the book has a thriller feel to it, and you're sitting on the edge of your seat, not quite sure how it's going to go! Will Denton die with all these questions? Is dying maybe the best thing that can happen right now? What is going on, and what are people not telling him? It's so exciting and awesome! Who has ever heard of a teen-angsty, hilariously funny, fast-paced, exciting dystopian? I love it!

But there's even more to this book; amidst the comedy and thriller side of things, it's also really thought-provoking about life. How you live it, what really counts. How would you live your life if you knew when, in the future, you were going to die? How would you live if you didn't know if you'd die today, or tomorrow, or a week or a month from now? What would you do with your last few hours? Why aren't you doing those things all the time? Not all these questions are covered or asked in this book, but they're what it made me think as I was reading. Our lives matter, no matter how short or long - shouldn't we make it count? (This might also be due to the fact that my Nan's funeral was four days ago, so I've been thinking about how best to live, anyway. Yes, I chose to read this book at a really awkward time - I wanted a comedy - but it worked out for me.)

This really is an amazing and wonderfully surprising book! There are certain aspects of the book I worked out early on, but this didn't diminish my enjoyment of the work, nor did I have any clue where exactly this story was going to go! It ends on such a fantastic cliffhanger, and with the teaser from the sequel included at the end, oh my god, I cannot wait for the next book! It's going to be brilliant! This is one hell of a debut, and deserves to be a hit! Beyond the sequel, I will definitely read whatever else Rubin writes!

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Children's Books for the review copy.

[shannonmiz]

So, this book has a whole host of things that made me really enjoy it. Let’s talk about them!

First, everyone in this world knows when they’ll die. It’s just science. Too bad if that isn’t a good day, or you aren’t ready. “Sorry, not sorry Denton, that you’re going to bite it on the day of your prom”, says science. Obviously, having a deathdate at a young age is a real downer, but Denton is just trying to live what’s left of his life. And he is a funny, witty, and all too real teenage guy. He thinks about all the stuff teenage guys do (well, not ever having been a teenage guy, it’s what I assume they think of, anyway), and he has the same worries and insecurities as everyone else. Only his kind of won’t matter the next day, since he will be dead and such.

All the characters are great in their own right, too. Denton’s friend Paolo and his family are fantastic, and Denton’s own family had me laughing too. They all just seemed so realistic, so much like someone I might know in my life, that it all worked so well. Denton’s relationships with these people are a huge focus,of course, because I think anyone who’s about to die is going to focus on that, no?

Amidst the humor though, it is thought provoking as well. What would you do if you knew when you were going to die? Would you want to know? Would it be awful? Of course, I asked myself those questions a lot throughout the book.

And just when I thought it was just going to be a clever book about Denton’s last day… there is a mystery! Which of course leads to some action, and a plot twist, and more ways for Denton and his friends to get themselves into a whole new set of ridiculous circumstances. That’s where I’d been concerned: How can the book end without me knowing all the things!? But alas, there is to be another, so I can just wait around impatiently to find out the answers to my questions.

Bottom Line: I liked this book a lot. It’s fun, it’s charming, it has a great cast of characters, and it’s one I definitely recommend.

4.5*