Denton Little's Deathdate by Lance Rubin

 

 Series: Denton Little #1

Title: Denton Little’s Deathdate

Author: Lance Rubin

Published: 2017

Genre: Science Fiction 

Grade Level: Young Adult

-Trigger Warning: Stupidity from a Teenage Male Protagonist, lol

-Movie Rating: R, substance abuse, sexual elements, suicidal thoughts

 

Blurb (from goodreads):

Denton Little’s Deathdate takes place in a world exactly like our own except that everyone knows the day on which they will die. For Denton, that’s in just two days—the day of his senior prom.

Despite his early deathdate, Denton has always wanted to live a normal life, but his final days are filled with dramatic firsts. First hangover. First sex. First love triangle—as the first sex seems to have happened not with his adoring girlfriend, but with his best friend’s hostile sister. (Though he’s not totally sure—see, first hangover.) His anxiety builds when he discovers a strange purple rash making its way up his body. Is this what will kill him? And then a strange man shows up at his funeral, claiming to have known Denton’s long-deceased mother, and warning him to beware of suspicious government characters. . . . Suddenly Denton’s life is filled with mysterious questions and precious little time to find the answers.

 

My Scores:

Writing Style: Top Notch

I read this novel in about two days, but it’s taken me about a week to figure out what to think of it. It is written like a contemporary, but there are clearly too many science fiction elements for it to be an actual contemporary. Also, it’s advertised as a young adult novel, but I feel that there are too many adult topics featured for this category. 

Regardless of my misgivings concerning which category the novel should appear in, I found the book exceptionally well written! Anyone who has tried, knows how hard it is to be funny on paper, especially in a sarcastically, dark kind of way. So, I was impressed with the amount of gallows humor, dark wit, and self-deprecating jokes that had me smiling or smirking.

 

Characters: Memorable

The MC in this novel reminds me a LOT of Scott Pilgrim (from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World). If you take away the plot's sci-fi / fantasy elements, both characters are realistic portrayals of an average teenage boy. Because of this, I often found myself cringing at their stupidity. 

Memo to guys: Problems do not go away by avoiding them!

A number of times I found myself mouthing the words “How stupid!” when reading through Denton Little’s POV. But that just goes to show how well Rubin crafted his character. Denton Little could have become annoying (as most stupid characters usually do), but because he is realistically funny, he never did.

The other characters are well crafted too. I found them to be funny, interesting, reckless, flawed, and believable. And they converse in a way that is so natural, with all the glorious interruptions, missteps, and painful awkwardness that practically bleeds off the page. Honestly, the dialogue is written so well I could have cried!

 

Plot: So Many Plot Twists

The plot is a weird one guys. As you find out in the blurb, the characters know the date of their death. This knowledge causes the characters to make reckless decisions that snowball into a big, emotional, but ridiculously funny mess of problems.

I was completely sucked in from the first page. I just had to know if this screw-up of a character could possibly make things any worse! And how on earth the author was going to create a sequel without coping-out of the rules he set up for his universe.  

 

Overall: Obsessed

This novel was a weird one for me guys, but I have to admit that I was totally sucked into the book! If you’re into dark, gallows humor, this should definitely be your next read!

 

Goodreads Rating: 4 out of 5 stars