#Notreadytodie

by Cate Carlyle

[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*