Early Departures
Ratings2
Average rating4.5
Like Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End and Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us, Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds, author of Opposite of Always, is a powerful and deeply moving YA contemporary novel with a speculative twist about love, death, grief, and friendship.
What if you could bring your best friend back to life—but only for a short time?
Jamal’s best friend, Q, doesn’t know that he died, and that he’s about to die . . . again. He doesn’t know that Jamal tried to save him. And that the reason they haven’t been friends for two years is because Jamal blames Q for the accident that killed his parents.
But what if Jamal could have a second chance? A new technology allows Q to be reanimated for a few weeks before he dies . . . permanently. And Q’s mom is not about to let anyone ruin this miracle by telling Q about his impending death. So how can Jamal fix everything if he can’t tell Q the truth?
Early Departures weaves together loss, grief, friendship, and love to form a wholly unique homage to the bonds that bring people together for life—and beyond.
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tw: death
i have.... nothing bad to say about this book
i had no idea what it was about going in, so when the early on twist happened i was shocked to say the least. this book brings up so many important discussions on what it means to be alive but also living your life, and how grief can consume and change us. also a brief but thoughtful discussion on the ethics of bringing someone back to life and how to treat/approach them, adored this part especially!!
This was a pretty good, short read. The characters were well developed, the story heart felt. I wish it had delved more deeply into the scifi elements, or questioned further the ramifications of bringing people back to life, even if only for a short period of time.
