A review by enemaofthestate
Pretend I'm Dead by Jen Beagin

5.0

"He would never burn himself with a curling iron, for instance, or overdose on a stockpile of pills. He would never stockpile pills in the first place. She wondered why that was, what separated him from her, and realized it was right there, tattooed on his chest: “Cathy & Danny.” He was one of the fortunate ones: he’d emerged from childhood a whole person..."

holy shitttt. the main character, mona, is probably one of the most fully formed, fully realized characters i've ever read in a book this short. i've seen some people call her an unlikeable narrator but to me there is nothing more relatable than watching someone learn that they can't pretend to be dead their whole life until they finally are. i think i'll carry mona with me for quite a while.