Thanks to Netgalley for the early copy!

Sadly this is going in the DNF pile for me. As another review said, the whole story feels like a well developed outline but a poorly developed book. The character voice of the protagonist was just a step below engaging (I liked his cheerfulness and his lists, but somehow he didn't quite pull me in). Plank felt like a bit of a stand-in break-the-mold old guy (I couldn't help comparing him to A Man Called Ove, which might be unfair because that book is Brilliant, but I wished Plank was more of a grumbling, fleshed out old man and less like a swearing caricature).

I got to about page 20 and still didn't feel hooked, so I've decided to set this down. I like the concept, but wish it felt more like a finished novel than an early draft. However, if you want a quick, relatively light read about terminal illness, this could be for you!

Plank’s Law is a surprisingly upbeat, quite short book and an enjoyable read. It is about a boy with Huntington’s disease who is allowed to do pretty much everything by his parents due to it. Somehow, he does not abuse this too much, except for unlimited amounts of ice-cream and not going to school. Obviously, he is also not too happy about people feeling sorry for him, which actually does make sense, and I cannot say it is a cliché, but it is not something that needs to be stressed as often as it is in this book.

One day he is thinking of flying, even off the cliff, when he ‘meets’ an old man, who tells him to jump, surprisingly. From that moment on, they become a kind of friends, with the man telling Trevor his two laws. Trevor takes them to heart and starts living and not overthinking.

I liked Trevor and Sara, even though the characters were not really fleshed out as much as they could be. I loved Antonio, who showed that even with his luck and money he could not be happy, not even as happy as Trevor was, with his girlfriend. But it finished way too fast. I’d love to know more about Antonio and not necessarily him getting happier but just…more life-like. It was also kind of obvious how it would all end from the few exchanges Trevor and Antonio had. It would have been almost the same if he weren’t there. I mean, I thought there would be at least some conversations about depression and all, but I guess then the book would not be as easy as it is.

However, the more and more you think about the book, you realise it was way too short to actually make everything seem anything as real as it could be. Trevor accepts the advice so easily and he finds a girlfriend in five days. And it’s all based on one of her smiles. In the end, it did not seem as realistic after all.

This is such a refreshingly adorable novel. So much life, joy, and sadness carry throughout these pages and I loved it! Even though this book was short, each character felt so alive and tangible that I really felt for all there individual stories. This story was funny at times and serious in others and I loved how important real friendships were to this novel.
Most of all I loved Plank. Plank, a cranky no nonsense old man who gives all his wisdom to Trevor and teaches him that it's not enough to be alive, but to truly take chances and live.

Sara and Trevor made such an endearing couple in this story. Both of them going through terminal illness and yet finding happiness in the moment with one another. It all lends to the true live your life to the fullest message that this book has and I absolutely enjoyed it!

I hate to give a bad review, but it was very difficult for me to really get into the story. The pacing was a bit slow for me and I felt that the voice of the character made it hard learn about his world, as he wasn't very, I don't know. wordy, Would love to give a different book by the same author a chance, but this one was not for me,.

Plank's Law, by Leslie Choyce, was a book I will not forget and will enjoy recommending to my friends and students. When 16 year old Trevor learns that Huntington's Disease has left him with one more year to live, he has to decide how to spend the rest of his life. With the help of his childhood friend, Antonio Watson, his 90 year old friend, Plank, and the new girl in his life, Sara, Trevor discovers that life has a lot to offer no matter how long that life might be. I loved this book. Everyone should live each day to the fullest. Plank said it best when he told Trevor to "....just live......Stop trying to make sense of the things and bloody well live your life. Really live it!" Thanks to NetGalley and Orca Books for allowing me to read this ARC.

This book was pretty straight forward and realistic. I love the writing style, however, it did feel like it needed a bit more depth towards the end. The books was pretty short and to the point. It talked alot about life, love, and from a perspective that not many authors prefer to write.

The way Trevor talks about live and death in this book is so different than how i look at things. He just doesn't take everything for granted and tries to make someting of his live. He lives what is left of his live to the fullest and he has even thought about ghe things he still wants to do before he dies. This leads to Sara eventually. I love them together. They really get what it is to not have all the time in the world and that makes them so good together. And then there is Antonio. I love that he just does what he wants and that he doesn't care what anyone thinks of him but it is so sad that this eventually leads to his end.
The thing i didn't so much love about this book is that it doesn't go into detail enough. For example you have the part about Antonio's accident. Trevor starts with the part about their last conversation and than he tells what happened but doesn't go in on it. He just goes on with whatever he did and doesn't really grief about it. And after this happened the book gets wrapped up pretty quikly and you still don't know when Trevor dies and if Sara gets better or not. And that's something i really wanted to know.

Yet another book about teenagers with cancer. As per usual they fall in love, have sex for the first time ever and learn to make every moment count. Blah, blah, blah. This book definitely had potential but instead it was written with the same formula as countless others. If I had to recommend it to anyone, it would be to pre-teens who are just getting in to YA fiction because it is super short and comprehensible.

I enjoyed reading this quick book about living life to the full. We should focus on the here and now and not what the future holds for us, as our lives could change at any given second!

A sweet story that managed to avoid over-sentimentality while still being moving.

Now this book gave me a bit of mixed feelings, I mean this not in a bad way. I found it very insightful and fast paced. I loved the idea of how the book was written and the voice of Trevor was so mature and sweet at the same time. It is a book that deals with grief, family issues, regrets, depression, suicidal thoughts, terminal illness but also a redemption, love, friendship, and hope. The only reason I give it 4 stars was because I wanted it, I needed it to be longer and explore some of the topics more in depth. Still amazing book that left its imprint on me.

This was an interesting read - one that held a lot of truth and wisdom. We follow a young boy who's been diagnosed with HD and told that he has very little time left and the story opens up with him at the edge of the cliffs wondering about what it would be like to fly. He meets a cranky old man who goes by Plank and the two form an unlikely friendship. In some ways their relationship reminds me of the one in Disney's Up between Carl and Russell. Plank certainly comes up with an interesting set of laws to live by and these laws help our main character grow up in the allotted time that he has left.

This brief review appears on Goodreads. I may at some point write a more detailed review for my blog, in which case I'll update this.

Well, as far as books about dying teenagers falling in love go, this was less emotionally manipulative than some of them. It mainly avoided Manic Pixie Dream Girl tropes by virtue of it being an old man (Plank) who tells the protagonist to seize the day, and not his girlfriend Sara, a girl he basically stalks in the hospital because she smiled at him once and then they fall in love and so on. While I appreciate the "live while you're alive" mentality (even if it stresses me out) promoted by the book, though, I guess my total lack of interest in romance meant the storyline didn't win me over, because that formed a large part of it. I did, however, like that the book contained lots of lists and other more informal ways of narrating, and thought on the whole the writing style was one of its strengths.

A quick read perfect for any reader during any season, I loved that this book was short and sweet and still was able to convey the "live your life" message or should I say "Plank's Law?" The ending was wrapped up nicely and I really enjoyed it.

I was drawn to this book because of the promise of self-discovery and the whole "getting my life together despite adversity" theme from the synopsis, but unfortunately, it was disappointing. Plank's Law was bland. That's it. I think the author really tried to be short-and-sweet feels inducing but the book didn't sit all that well with me. I barely processed the words, the plot was a bit of a let-down, and the simplicity in the writing (which, on its own can be good but whew, lack of cohesiveness too?) didn't exactly complement the work.

The characters were all fairly two-dimensional, and I guess that might have to do with the length of Plank's Law, seeing as it isn't the longest book, but everyone, main character included, was about as basic/textbook as can be.

Plot-wise, I wasn't very involved in all that went on, due to general disinterest after trying to get in the characters' mindset, but it was difficult, so laziness got the better of me. Also, I just really wanted to have some conflict of sorts in terms of siding with a mentality or a character, which sounds really vague, I know, but the book itself rested on farmland in terms of peculiarity or thoughtfulness.

All in all, I don't have too much to say about this book, other than the fact that I could've gone better without reading it. Expectations are destructive, I swear, and I really need something to get me out of this slump.

Thanks to Orca Book Publishers and Netgalley for exposing me to this read!

This book was not at all what I was expecting, but yet I could not put it down. The pacing was almost perfect, nothing was dragged out to make me bored and nothing felt rushed. A story was told from start to finish. I do, however, wish this book was longer.

Review of Plank's Law by Lesley Choyce- (I received this copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)

'It's what I call Plank's Law. Stop trying to make sense of things and bloody well live your life. Really live it'

Plank's Law tells the story of 16-year old Trevor suffering from Huntington's Disease and the life-changing bond he forms with an old man going by the name of Plank.
I wasn't expecting to read this book in one sitting, but I just couldn't put it down. I loved the characters- particularly Plank's blunt way of communicating, and Trevor's engaging narrative. Both characters made an interesting pair, with an unlikely chemistry. It would be very easy to group this book with other YA works such as The Fault in Our Stars and Me, Earl and the Dying Girl. However, Trevor and Plank's relationship and the moral of the story are what stood out for me the most, rather than the theme of illness. The message of embracing life and living it to the full is powerful, and leaves you reflecting on your own outlook on life. I would have liked the book to be longer- but apart from that I found it an uplifting read and would highly recommend to YA readers.

🍂Plank's Law by Lesley Choyce 🍂

▪️The book is about a sixteen year old boy named Trevor who is diagnosed with huntington's disease. A hereditary, uncurable disease that can creep on him anytime, ending his life. Along comes Plank, a 90 year old man who introduces him to 'Plank's Law' which simply is to stop trying to figure out stuff and just live! Which motivates Trevor to start a bucket list of things he'd like to do before he dies.

▪️Plank's law is like a light and less painful version of A Fault in our Stars. Sadly, It was a very short book. It's a progression of Trevor's growth, discovering love and friendship along the way while overcoming fear of dying and finally living his life one day at a time instead of merely existing under the weight of his diagnosis. It will definitely make you question your outlook on life. I for one would try to complain less and count my blessings twice 🙏🏻

The story is told by Trevor, a sixteen year old boy who suffers from Huntington’s Disease and who has pretty much one year to live. His story begins when he’s standing on a cliff looking at the waves and thinking about… well, not jumping, but flying. There he meets Plank, an old man who lives close by and they kind of become friends. So far so good, but from the start I had some problems with the writing style. To me it sounds like a movie narration, and usually that’s not always a bad thing, but in here it just felt a lot like “i want the main character to have this too cool for school narration style, that didn’t match with the character’s personality

There’s a unexplainable insta-love - stalkerish, as well. The guys meets a girl in the hospital, the old man says: that’s her, go get her! He goes to the hospital every day for a week until they meet. And she thinks it’s adorable that he’s done that

It was really easy, really fast - the book has less than 200 pages and I think that was a mistake.
The author builds up this whole list of things Trevor wants to do before he dies, his love for penguins, how he’s a nice guy, his grandfather is in jail for manslaughter and their relationship is kind of unsure - and I have no idea why that was added to the story cause it has no relevancy whatsoever with the rest. I just wanted to see more things happening, unfortunately, it was not enjoyable, once I was done I felt like the author tried to create a new The Fault in Our Stars and it just ended being kind of a rip off that didn’t deliver.

I would love to see this story with 250-300 pages, developing the characters the way they should be developed, not just trying to fill up space.