I know you’re supposed to mention it if you know an author
you’re reviewing, and if you look at the cover of my book you’ll see Susin
Nielsen has given me a lovely review quote for my YA novel, but I hasten to add
that this isn’t because she and I are great mates! I’ve never met her, and the
reason she read my book was that I’m such a huge
fan of hers I asked my publisher to send her one. I never thought
she’d read it, I just thought it would be really cool to think that she had a
copy.
Anyway, the point is, she’s my favourite YA writer. I’ve loved all her books and Optimists Die First
was no exception (and what a fab title!). I love books that are firmly
character-based, where the characters are so beautifully drawn and endearing
that you really don’t need to add an explosion or a melodramatic vampire every
three pages to keep readers hooked. Nielsen’s characters grab you from the
first page and stay with you.
Which isn’t to say there’s no plot. Her books deal with some
serious issues and heavy stuff – I think every one of them features the aftermath
of a death – and they deal with it well, but still manage to be light and funny,
which is a skill I really admire. They’re the sort of books where you laugh the
whole way through and then find yourself crying at the end (how does she do
that!). They’re beautifully written and she’s brilliant at making you feel for
the characters without adding an ounce of unnecessary sentiment. There’s
absolutely no mush – the tagline of Optimists Die First, ‘A Love Story for Cynics’
is very apt.
In this latest book, Petula’s family is imploding since the
death of her little sister. She believes she is responsible for the accident
that killed Maxine and is now completely obsessed with calculating the risk of
death in any given situation and avoiding it. Unfortunately, this means
avoiding living her life too. She has adopted pessimism as a survival strategy,
which is working fine until she meets optimist Jacob – the mysterious ‘bionic
man’ – in her therapy group.
As well as being a love story between two characters we care
about, there’s plenty of comedy in the shape of cat videos, truly awful
counsellors, and quirky minor characters who all have poignant stories of their
own.
I’ve been sharing Nielsen’s books with my teen writing group
(13-16s) and they all love them, boys
and girls, younger and older. In fact, I asked one of them for a quote for this
review:
Sophia (13) on Optimists Die First: “Relatable and heart
wrenching”
I couldn’t have put it better.
Kelly McCaughrain is a
YA writer and her debut title Flying Tips for Flightless Birds will be out in
March 2018 from Walker Books. Visit her at www.KellyMcCaughrain.com.
@kmccaughrainReturn to REVIEWS HOMEPAGE
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