This was my first time reading a novel by Martin, but wow, has she
ever left an impression. I'll admit, I was a bit wary to begin
reading the novel so I kept putting it off, but finally, I grabbed
it and just began... and I'm glad I did. In some ways, The Lighter
Side of Life and Death was exactly the kind of book I expected it
to be- a teen romance which goes awry with the main lead needing a
distraction to get over it- but it was also so much more than that.
With honest storytelling, Martin writes with a bluntness that never
strays far from the truth. She tells things for what they are, the
good and the bad, allowing readers to get right into the mindset of
a sixteen -year-old teenage boy.
Mason thought he just had the best night of his life. His
performance in the school play was stellar and best of all, he's
just lost his virginity to his beautiful, best friend Kat Medina,
who he's been secretly in love with for years. But Kat doesn't see
things quite like Mason. In fact, she wants to pretend the night
never happened and is now avoiding him. Crushed, Mason finds
himself lost and depressed. His other best friend, Jamie, had
feelings for Kat too and is mad at him, and Mason's father will be
remarrying soon. Then, Mason meets twenty-three-year-old Colette,
immediately seeming to hit it off with the older woman. Before
Mason knows it, he'll be even more lost than he was before.
The language and mature content in this novel would be more
suitable for older teens and adults. Martin isn't afraid to write
about sex, and yes, it does happen several times in the novel...
and not the glossed over version that most YA novels would have
done. She gets all the emotions, all the descriptions, all the
thoughts that a boy would be thinking- and isn't afraid to shy away
from writing about it.
Martin pushes the boundaries in YA lit, giving you a novel that's
both edgy and emotionally-charged at the same time.
You can also check out the review here:
http://midnightbloomreads.blogspot.com/2010/07/lighter-side-of-life-and-death-by-ck.html