Dying To Forget by Trish Marie Dawson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I promise to be brutally honest with my opinion, but it should not be taken as fact. Any reader should read it for themselves, before they decide if this book has any merit or not. Do not judge this book biased solely on my opinion. If you do, you might miss out on a great read. You never know. It could happen. My review may contain spoilers, but I really strive to be spoiler-free.
1. Strong Main Character/ Female Heroine: Piper is lost soul of a girl, who has been through a lot of trauma. She is funny, caring, and naïve: a perfect innocent combination until that innocence is lost forever. She toughens up and when she finally arrives at the station, she is determined to make it to the light by helping others. She understands hurt and regrets like no other. However, her caring nature towards her first client might have done more damage than she had anticipated. Although, the narrative goes through the life of Piper, Sloan, and Abby, the reader sees the whole experience through Piper’s eyes the way she sees it. It is an interesting POV that I enjoyed every much, but she is a very well developed character so maybe that is why I found the book so enjoyable. 5 out of 5 stars
2. Strong Main Character / Male Hero: Sloan’s story, thoughts and feelings are interpreted by Piper and his story is only about one third of the novel. Although he is not really a hero, I know that he plays an important role in the whole story. Sloan is a man considering suicide, because of all the scars he has and had caused during his childhood. Piper tries to turn his life around and makes him feel alive again, but she leaves him too soon. Without her guidance, Sloan’s condition deteriorates, especially with Piper’s parting words to him. He is not a strong person, because of the events that happened in his life. I feel like I actually know him after reading his part of the story, although I wish I knew more about what he was thinking all of those times. 4 out of 5 stars
3. Strong Main Character / Evil Antagonist: Ryan is not a real evil mastermind, but he was a really despicable person in the book. Even though he was not in the book for very long, I hated him. How could he have done that to her?! How could any guy do that is beyond me, but I’m a girl, so maybe I don’t understand. But there is nothing that makes sense about doing THAT. If you cannot get it, than pay for it. Don’t make someone do something they don’t want to do. How much more blunt can I get? He gets a three for evilness, but I would have liked to have seen it more developed. 3 out of 5 stars
4. Strong Minor Characters: Abby’s story is another third of the book seen from Piper’s point of view, which was less interesting than learning about Sloan’s, especially since she was so easy to manipulate. I would have liked to see more of Sloan than Abby to be honest, but her story was very tragic as well. Piper helped her to get through it, but I hate how the author did it. Improving someone’s outward appearance does not stop bullying; it actually intensifies if you are looking better than ever before. Niles is an interesting character that I still have not figured out. He is a caring person that loves his job, but I do not get why he has not moved on yet, if he has been there for such a long time. What wrongs does he still have to make right? I still do not know Kerry-Anne’s story, but she forms a sisterly attachment to Piper. She keeps Piper grounded as she takes in her new role in life or should I say, afterlife. It is very tragic what happened to Bree, but that is all it is. She was not in the story long enough for me to form an attachment to her or really understand who she was. She did not seem like the greatest friend in the world, let me tell you that much. 3 out of 5 stars
5. The Plot: This book, the first in the series, has a very interesting plot to it. I have never read anything quite like this before. I have read plenty of afterlife books before, but they usually have the person coming back to their own body in the end. I do not believe that that will happen to Piper, though I think it would be amusing if she woke up and everything was a dream and she moved and met Sloan. That would be epic. As you read, I am so into this book that I am fantasizing about it. The plot is unique, although I do think that it needs a little more development. The book was too short of a read to really obtain any information to the fullest. 4 out of 5 stars
6. The Setting: There is not a lot of effort put into describing any of the scenes, because of how short the whole book is. I would appreciate a little more details and descriptions about some of the places Piper sees. I love descriptions and fine details. These are the things that make a book worth reading to me. 2 out of 5 stars
7. The Dialogue: The dialogue was very believable and used properly throughout the book. No words were said just to take up space. The words chosen seemed very deliberate, but not unnatural. Dialogue is what gives life to a book and if you do not have great dialogue, than your book will not be sustaining enough. This dialogue was in a great balance throughout the book and comic relief was added at all the appropriate times to keep the story from getting too dark. 4 out of 5 stars
8. Engaging Surprises: There were a few surprises, not a lot, but enough for me to keep on reading through some of the slower paced parts. There were a few wow moments that were not the surprises that I mentioned before that elicited an emotional response from me, because I just could not believe how people could be so cruel. Even though this is a fictional book, situations like the ones described in the book happens every day top all people around the globe. It is saddening, but also sickening that these people do not see the hurt that they are causing to the people around them. 3 out of 5 stars
9. Climax: I am not really sure where the climax was in this book. There really did not seem to be a highlight in this book, when everything else seemed to be going downhill. All that really happened was after her last mission and I did not notice a real rise in suspense. The climax was in synch with the ending. 2 out of 5 stars
10. Emotional Response: There were scenes in this book that were so emotional. Okay, so most of the book was emotional, but at some points, I actually cried real tears over what was happening with these fictional characters. It was amazing how connected I felt to these characters and I took everything that happened to them to heart. I felt like I knew a lot about some of them by the end of the book. This book does a great job of pulling the reader into the story and actually caring about the characters in it. 5 out of 5 stars
11. Ending: The ending has me craving for the second book in the series. The ending was unexpected and exhilarating. It was the ending that Piper really needed, but did not need. It complicates the plot and I am all for complications as long as it is not TOO crazy with everything else going on in the story. This ending just seemed like a natural course of events and this book really needed that kind of an ending. I love the ending so much. It is a very well-deserved, well-executed ending. 5 out of 5 stars
12. The Writing: This author’s writing took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride. It had such an emotional element that the few little grammatical errors there were I could easily gloss over, because of how well written the whole thing was. I would read anything by this author, if everything this author writes is as well written as this book. 4 out of 5 stars
13. The Artwork: The cover is really amazing, although it does not have anything to do with the story. I love the girl, the clothes, and the pose. It is a work of art, but again, nothing to do with the book. So, I have to take off a star for that, otherwise this cover would have been perfect if it had pertained to the plot. 4 out of 5 stars
14. Genre: The story had an undercurrent of Christianity, but I believe that Atheists could enjoy this book as well. There is a strong paranormal element, but not the way most paranormal novels are. It is a sort of romance, but I do not think any real romance starts until the second book. I did not see any real romance in this book, at least with the main character Piper. I do not know if I would call this book paranormal, because it is more of a different type of paranormal than what I am used to. I do not really know what to classify this book as. 4 out of 5 stars
15. Title: The title suits the book very well. It relates to the plot and the characters. I love it! The author did a great job of picking this title out, out of so many possibilities. Dying to Forget is the core message behind this book. That some people would rather die than remember the past, present, and what the future might hold for them. 5 out of 5 stars
Overall, I give this book 3.8 stars, so I will be rounding it to 4 stars. This book is a great start for this series and I hope that I will love it as much as the first book.
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