The Deathday Letter

The Deathday Letter by Shaun David Hutchinson is a young adult standalone novel. This is not the first book by Shaun David Hutchinson that I have read; in fact it’s the third one.

Since the first two books I read by this author did not disappoint, I decided I would read everything he writes. Hutchinson’s stories are all unique but have the common theme of one or two main characters being young homosexual males. However, the sexual orientation of the characters is not the main focus of Hutchinson’s stories, which lends appeal to readers outside the LGBTQ+ community.

The Deathday Letter is about a girl-crazy high school boy named Ollie Travers who receives his Deathday Letter and learns he has 24 hours to live. There is no rhyme or reason why some people receive the letter and others don’t. They also don’t know how they will die at the end of the 24 hours. Ollie decides to make the most of it and spends his last 24 hours making things right with his ex-girlfriend and spending time with his gay best friend. The 3 friends embark on a day of trying to knock things off Ollie’s and the other’s bucket lists. This includes some craziness like driving without a license, trespassing, and cops. The book starts out by saying the first thing you need to know about Ollie Travers is he is going to die, which might’ve deterred me from continuing (when a book hints straight away the main character will die, I’m not apt to continue.) But because I have so much confidence in Hutchinson’s stories, I didn’t let that deter me from reading.

Overall, I enjoyed this story and loved the 3 main characters. Ollie’s raunchiness, however, was a bit repetitive and it made me think: is this what high school boys think about 24/7?

This book is shelved in the young adult section, but some of the content walks a fine line between PG-13 and R. I would recommend this for readers 16+. This book earns 4 North of Normal stars!

The plot in itself made me curious to read it. And the story itself gave me a roller coaster ride.

I truly loved the flow of the book. It was well-paced, funny and I really didn't want to put it down.

The lessons from this book is something that I already learned from my life and from other books. And then I realized that if I read this the time it was published, I would found it freeing... just like how Ollie found driving freeing. I mean, we would've been the same age if I read this when it was published, so I think it would've held more meaning to me. But don't get me wrong, it still does.

The things that Ollie and his friends did was so simple, but amazing and unexpected. I would think I would never do the things they have done in this book. But I might have if I knew I was going to die. The only difference is, they did it better.

The simplicity of this book made me think of the complexity of life. It's very funny and I laughed all through out the book. And the emotions, would just make you feel.