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Before I Die by Jenny Downham is not a book to be read in a hurry. But somehow you can't stop reading it. And, as you read it you have a hope for a better tomorrow and you feel a desperate urge to live. To live your life to the fullest because life can be so fragile and short. I discovered this book on a list of books shared on Adme.ru site. The name of the list referred to the books as the type of books you read and you want to live more right after that. And, they got it right. That's how it feels.

(view spoiler)['Before I Die' tells the story of a young teenage girl - Tessa Scott. She has been diagnosed with leukemia and the story goes right onto her last year to live. It looks like she has not much time left and no more satisfying treatments are left either(no more hope left, too, at least not for Tessa...her Dad still keeps trying to find an alternative mean to prolongue or even cure his daughter's life. Even though he secretly knows this is not possible.) The plot goes around Tessa's idea to get a list of 10 things she wants to do before she dies. As naive ás this might sound the list is not a "travel-the-world-do-this-and-that" one, but it contains stuff teenagers normally are attracted to: sex, love, drugs , run away from home, be famous, and so on. As the story develops Tessa realizes time is going faster than she wants and she has much more than 10 things to complete (and experience) in her young life, so the list extends farther beyond the number of 10. And, she is finally able to meet love (a bit naive as it may sound but isn't love on of the greatest gifts in our world?! Then it well deserves a spot in this heart-breaking story). (hide spoiler)]

I am not a medical person but I was stunned by the detailed descriptions the author used to support the story line. You can literally feel the pain Tessa experiences and what she deals with. I was also hooked into all the details that go along the trips Tessa made and the experiences she got along the task to cross off things of her list. I think for me personally the most powerful scene was when Tessa and Adam climbed upon that tree. The ultimate experience and freedom Tessa experienced were so vivid that I wanted to climb a tree myself, too.

Apart from the plot idea and the beautiful, detailed descriptions I am afraid the characters might seem a bit plain. Then, it might have been author's purpose to make you hate some characters and love the others, and if so - then the goal is accomplished. But, I found some characters' development a bit boring and slow, i.e. Zoey (Tessa's best friend), Cal, Tessa's Mom - all show not significant development during the plot and are a bit in shadow. Zoey gets spur of author's attention, so does Cal, but those moments are so sporadic and random that you feel no real connection with those particular characters. Tessa's Mom is another character I see no real connection with the story at all - she has no active participation as the story develops (besides Tessa's visit to the hospital due to nose bleeding at one point) and, as per my humble opinion, the plot would have been just fine without her. The idea the author tried to imply (Tessa being more mature than her mother is) seems a bit off and feels awkward as we can clearly see Tessa is quite immature teenage girl. Hence the parallel with her mother does not look good.

A character I really liked is Adam. (view spoiler)[Adam is Tessa's neighbor and boyfriend-to-be as the story develops. Even though he is just few years older than Tessa, he lost his father, he is taking care of his mother and he does take a good care of Tessa as they become something more than neighbors, too. (hide spoiler)] But, this is just a sympathy towards a story character. I'd rather want to know more details about Adam and read more of his thoughts and feelings. Again, his character comes underdeveloped in the story, too. At least for my taste.

No matter I find that characters need further development and more work from the author's side, I did enjoy the book (if I can put it in this way at all....I mean how you could enjoy a book about a girl who is dying?!), the detailed descriptions and the plot. This is a short read you can take if you are looking to extend your reading list of young adult books and/or want to feel an urgent need to live your life to its fullest.