Tessa has just a few months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs with excruciating side-effects, Tessa compiles a list. It's her To Do Before I Die list. And number one is sex. Released from the constraints of 'normal' life, Tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up. Tessa's feelings, her relationships with her father and brother, her estranged mother, her best friend, her new boyfriend, all are painfully crystallized in the precious weeks before Tessa's time finally runs out. "Before I Die" is a brilliantly-crafted novel, heartbreaking yet astonishingly life-affirming. It will take you to the very edge.
I hated this book. I hated the main character. The topic was sad and depressing.
I read If I Stay by Gayle Forman just before this and it was amazing. It broke my heart. I was literally sobbing my way through most of it. It was sad and horribly depressing but there was hope and happiness and love and none of that was in this book.
Tessa is a bitch. Yes, she's dying. But she's horrible. Too horrible. Pass the boundaries of me caring. Yes, maybe I'm horrible. The plot was weak. The relationships with her family and the love interest were meh. Yes it was tragic and overwhelmingly sad but it was also just bad. I pushed through but it was a struggle to finish. 1 star.
