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A review by narteest
Playlist for the Dead by Michelle Falkoff
4.0
Unexpectedly good
More review later
U P D A T E
I will not lie, when I first got my hands on this book, I was hesitant because I was expecting a book similar to [b:Thirteen Reasons Why|1217100|Thirteen Reasons Why|Jay Asher|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333822506s/1217100.jpg|2588213]--a book I really loved when I read it when it first debuted.
But boy was I wrong. And you know, I'm glad that I was, because this turned out to be a really nice pleasantly engaging surprise.
Sam is actually, for a guy a really easy to relate character. I think I liked him more because for him (unlike Greg in [b:Me and Earl and the Dying Girl|12700353|Me and Earl and the Dying Girl|Jesse Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337216932s/12700353.jpg|17831620]), it was more about knowing why did Hayden die rather than 'how pathetic am I'. You really get to empathise with Sam throughout the whole story.
Sam's story begins quite normally like any contemporary novel. He finds Hayden dead, and then there's the funeral. Right from the start I was really engaged with the story--although the playlist Hayden left behind wasn't really much of a clue to what was happening in the story, but then you don't realise it until the mystery starts to unravel.
At first you kinda wonder what's happening. I mean there's a playlist, a very innocent playlist left behind by Hayden with the suicide note, and in a way, I feel like it was Thirteen Reasons Why. But of course, this story is really different in the sense that the playlist is important because of what the songs mean, whereas in Thirteen Reasons Why, you have a set of cassettes with voice recordings of the girl who died. So Yes I know there is a major difference between the two books, but you can't blame me for feeling as if they could be the same...I know the only similarity is that both protagonists have someone who died and left behind something for the protagonists to listen to. Still it's not my fault they sounded the same to me!
But where Thirteen Reasons Why is a retelling of what happened, Playlist for the Dead is a telling of a mystery to be unfolded. Each song on the playlist that's left behind for Hayden's best friend to listen to, marks some important event, and eventually leads Sam to the real story behind his suicide. It's a mystery, only you don't find a killer, the killer isn't one person, but it's a whole bunch of reasons that added to the final blow.
While I absolutely loved this mystery approach to suicide (and it makes it interesting as well as touching) I gotta say, there were some things at the end that bothered me, like how Ryan (Hayden's brother) and Sam call a truce. I feel that Ryan's story wasn't given as much attention as it probably should have.
All the characters who played a significant role in this story otherwise, were well formed and empathic. They were interesting and relateable, and also, had good intentions that lead to some of the not so brightest actions. I liked seeing the pain in each character, and I liked how Flakoff slowly built up the mystery--the mystery serious deepened when someone hacked into Hayden's account and contacted Sam. It was somewhat creepy, but not overly creepy, and the anticipation pushed the mystery onwards.
I will sadly admit that I found the mystery/thriller aspect of this normal ten times more engaging than if it was just Sam going about life after Hayden died. Falkoff really has a way with building up the mystery and making Sam an unofficial detective in the sense that he goes around asking people about what happened on the last night Hayden was alive, but never actually taking on a 'detective' role.
Overall I would recommend it as a suggestive read for contemporary readers, and those who want a little bit of mystery mixed in their reading diet lol.
More review later
U P D A T E
I will not lie, when I first got my hands on this book, I was hesitant because I was expecting a book similar to [b:Thirteen Reasons Why|1217100|Thirteen Reasons Why|Jay Asher|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1333822506s/1217100.jpg|2588213]--a book I really loved when I read it when it first debuted.
But boy was I wrong. And you know, I'm glad that I was, because this turned out to be a really nice pleasantly engaging surprise.
Sam is actually, for a guy a really easy to relate character. I think I liked him more because for him (unlike Greg in [b:Me and Earl and the Dying Girl|12700353|Me and Earl and the Dying Girl|Jesse Andrews|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1337216932s/12700353.jpg|17831620]), it was more about knowing why did Hayden die rather than 'how pathetic am I'. You really get to empathise with Sam throughout the whole story.
Sam's story begins quite normally like any contemporary novel. He finds Hayden dead, and then there's the funeral. Right from the start I was really engaged with the story--although the playlist Hayden left behind wasn't really much of a clue to what was happening in the story, but then you don't realise it until the mystery starts to unravel.
At first you kinda wonder what's happening. I mean there's a playlist, a very innocent playlist left behind by Hayden with the suicide note, and in a way, I feel like it was Thirteen Reasons Why. But of course, this story is really different in the sense that the playlist is important because of what the songs mean, whereas in Thirteen Reasons Why, you have a set of cassettes with voice recordings of the girl who died. So Yes I know there is a major difference between the two books, but you can't blame me for feeling as if they could be the same...I know the only similarity is that both protagonists have someone who died and left behind something for the protagonists to listen to. Still it's not my fault they sounded the same to me!
But where Thirteen Reasons Why is a retelling of what happened, Playlist for the Dead is a telling of a mystery to be unfolded. Each song on the playlist that's left behind for Hayden's best friend to listen to, marks some important event, and eventually leads Sam to the real story behind his suicide. It's a mystery, only you don't find a killer, the killer isn't one person, but it's a whole bunch of reasons that added to the final blow.
While I absolutely loved this mystery approach to suicide (and it makes it interesting as well as touching) I gotta say, there were some things at the end that bothered me, like how Ryan (Hayden's brother) and Sam call a truce. I feel that Ryan's story wasn't given as much attention as it probably should have.
All the characters who played a significant role in this story otherwise, were well formed and empathic. They were interesting and relateable, and also, had good intentions that lead to some of the not so brightest actions. I liked seeing the pain in each character, and I liked how Flakoff slowly built up the mystery--the mystery serious deepened when someone hacked into Hayden's account and contacted Sam. It was somewhat creepy, but not overly creepy, and the anticipation pushed the mystery onwards.
I will sadly admit that I found the mystery/thriller aspect of this normal ten times more engaging than if it was just Sam going about life after Hayden died. Falkoff really has a way with building up the mystery and making Sam an unofficial detective in the sense that he goes around asking people about what happened on the last night Hayden was alive, but never actually taking on a 'detective' role.
Overall I would recommend it as a suggestive read for contemporary readers, and those who want a little bit of mystery mixed in their reading diet lol.