The 39 Deaths of Adam Strand by Gregory Galloway

Title: The 39 Deaths of Adam Strand
Author: Gregory Galloway
Series: N/A
Source: Won via Librarything
Publisher: Dutton
Publication Date: February 21, 2013
GoodReads||The Book Depository

A groundbreaking YA from the award-winning author of As Simple as Snow.

Adam Strand isn't depressed. He's just bored. Disaffected. So he kills himself—39 times. No matter the method, Adam can't seem to stay dead; he wakes after each suicide alive and physically unharmed, more determined to succeed and undeterred by others' concerns. But when his self-contained, self-absorbed path is diverted, Adam is struck by the reality that life is an ever-expanding web of impact and forged connections, and that nothing—not even death—can sever those bonds.

In stark, arresting prose, Gregory Galloway finds hope and understanding in the blackest humor.

I don't know what it is about books with suicide, but when they end, I'm always left with this huge profound sense of peace. Does anyone else get that feeling, or is it just me? Maybe it's that the content is so out there, yet SO FREAKING true and sad that it makes me feel peaceful, because it usually doesn't end badly.

Maybe it's like philosophy, you know? I LOVE philosophy, but in an "argues with the greats, paranoid what if" kind of way. It's interesting to think about. Maybe, if one thing in your day had been different, something else in someone else's day would have been different too. It's interesting, no? And the philosophy that's presented in this book is the best kind. The kind that makes you REALLY think and question, why?

Why did Adam Strand commit suicide 39 times? Because he was bored, and it gave him peace. That's an odd way of looking at it, but it's also really interesting.

Adam was very straightforward. He was telling it like it was, from the very beginning, and I loved that. To be honest, the way this story was told was AMAZING. I was pulled in from the very first page, and the story never let me go. It's like we retreated into Adam's mind, and I absolutely could not get enough of that feeling. He was really interesting, that's for sure. Also, as I've said before, the writing was fabulous. It had an almost lyrical quality, with just a hint of lucid. It was great.

I did find a couple things really freaky deaky, though. In a cool way, of course! The WHOLE town accepts that Adam just CAN'T die. He's tried 39 times, and failed, so when someone finds him, they just kind of accept it and take him to his parents. They don't stop at the hospital, but they take him right where he needs to be. Then he wakes up. o_O

All in all, The 39 Deaths of Adam Strand was a very interesting story, told through the mind of a seventeen year old boy-- and it is one wild and interesting ride that I just couldn't put down.

"I don't want my life to be over and still have to live it. It's better this way, better to do it now when I'm not afraid of any of that other stuff. That's it. That's the reason. That's it." ~ Pg. 262, ARC