By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Julie Anne Peter's --- Pt. 2

Pgs. 49-102

Up until the last two chapters of this section, Daelyn still isn't a character you can associate with. She is so secretive. She doesn't let anything out. Yes, this does reflect the mindset of teens today, but if you are trying to tell a story it doesn't work so well. It's always a hint. You get the faintest outline, then she shuts down and you won't hear about it for another four or five chapters.

Now that I am getting a better look at who she is, even if that look is only two chapters out of the first 100 pages, I can understand her pain a little better. Up until this point, I wasn't sure if she was a skinny person that people just decided to call "fat" because she had low self-esteem or if she really was "fat." At one time, she had been on the heavier side. It seems, now, that she has lost most of her weight, but she is still insecure about her body shape. I recall her saying something about her being "spongey." I still don't know any other physical qualities about her. Maybe, as time goes on, Peters will grace us with some more information. It'll probably be at the very end of the next section...

However, now that I am really thinking about it, I think I understand why Peters left out so much detail. She doesn't want this book to fit a certain person. She doesn't want it to just fit "fat" or "skinny," light or dark hair, tall or short; she wants it to fit all body types and all persons. On the website, Through-the-Light, that Daelyn visits, all of the people are anonymous. You can't tell by their "posts" whether they are boy or girl. You can't tell anything about them. One post said, "My father used to lock me in the cellar on Sundays. He'd get drunk and come at me with a belt. He'd strap my back until I was bloody then tie me up and rape me" (pg. 100). Nothing in that sentence points to a guy or a girl. It's because she wants this to be a universal book. It should fit all struggling teens. It should fit all struggling peoples, not just teens.

There is one character that you grow to like. Santana. He is so awkward and funny. You'll have to read this book to truly understand just how irritatingly hilarious that this young guy is. I also think it's ironic that he likes a girl that he knows nothing about, but I don't like her because I know nothing about her. It's like Peters knew what the reader would think and then planted someone in the plot to balance my attitude. Lucky or clever, he's a good character.