#Notreadytodie

by Cate Carlyle

• ISBN10: 1988761395
• ISBN13: 9781988761398
• Publish Date: 7 October 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Common Deer Press
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 128
• Language: English

Reviews

[Pigpen.Reads]

Thank you Netgalley for the digital ARC. This is my own honest review.

Trigger warnings: self harm and sexual assualt.

I have read a few books based in school shootings. While each one has been intense and even share different povs, this book does not.

We follow Ginny and her day throughout this terrifying ordeal. She gave us details on how her day started, as well as her past. We also see her classmates through her eyes. She has everyone labeled, until this day happens.

She finds friendship in someone she least expected it from.

This story doesn't focus on the shooter or even the reasons why it is happening. We just get the one side from Ginny and how she and her classmates handle it. And that, is enough to make this a good read.

[Julie @ Struck by Stories]

When I saw this book up on Netgalley, I was immediately drawn into it. While I know others like this exist, this was my first time seeing a book about a school shooting. That, combined with the intriguing cover and title, made me want to instantly dive into it. And so, yesterday afternoon, I did.

The plot of the story centers around a school shooting from the perspective of Ginny (named in honor of Ginny Weasley, on account of being the daughter of both a librarian and a book editor). Throughout the book, the reader not only gains insight into the school shooting incident, but also her outside life at home. I really enjoyed the mental health rep, especially the reasoning given to why Ginny has recently taken to cutting her wrists. I also liked Ginny's character development and how, over the course of the book, she was able to completely change her ridiculously stereotypical opinions of her fellow classmates.

However, for the most part, this book felt like a pretty average read. For one, it's a pretty short read. I read the full book in under two hours, which gave it more of a "novella" feeling than an actual full length novel.

My biggest criticism for this would probably have to be the lack of explanation as to the specific motives behind the shooter. In the end, we do get a generic motive, but to me it just wasn't enough and didn't add much to the book. I would have definitely liked to see some backstory, maybe in the form of a news article, to dive into the shooter's character.

Overall, this was an average, yet emotional and quickly paced read. Final rating: 3.5 stars

*I was given a free eARC on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my thoughts or opinions of this book*