Review: How She Died How I Lived by Mary Crockett

Synopsis:

Girl in Pieces meets The Way I Used to Be in this poignant and thought-provoking novel about a girl who must overcome her survivor’s guilt after a fellow classmate is brutally murdered. 

I was one of five. The five girls Kyle texted that day. The girls it could have been. Only Jamie–beautiful, saintly Jamie–was kind enough to respond. And it got her killed. 

On the eve of Kyle’s sentencing a year after Jamie’s death, all the other “chosen ones” are coping in various ways. But our tenacious narrator is full of anger, stuck somewhere between the horrifying past and the unknown future as she tries to piece together why she gets to live, while Jamie is dead. 

Now she finds herself drawn to Charlie, Jamie’s boyfriend–knowing all the while that their relationship will always be haunted by what-ifs and why-nots. Is hope possible in the face of such violence? Is forgiveness? How do you go on living when you know it could have been you instead?

My Review:

I received this book from Novl to review and feature. All thoughts are my own.

This was a 4/5 ⭐️ read for me. The MC was interesting, I enjoyed watching the events unfold from her POV as she came to terms with being one of 5 girls who could have died. However, which is no fault of the authors, what bothered me was that the MC had no name. Unlike Go Ask Alice or those types of similar books, we have the semblance of a name. This read more like a Y/N type of fanfiction piece for me (without the fanfiction element) which isn’t for everyone.

I do suggest you pick this up though, it was a great read.