On a fateful night, two opposites attract. Of course, it's against their will. This story shows the story from the angle of Jade, as well as the angle of Ethan. While a life-or-death situation arises, Jade and Ethan become a lot closer than they had wished for. Ethan is with Brianne. Yet Ethan has feelings for the ice-queen he was locked up with. Ethan and Brianne go to the same church, share an unfortunate similarity with their parents, and have been together for over two years. Jade's life is being tossed upside down in every way imaginable. Her father is dying of cancer, she is not sure what to do about college, and she has feelings for someone she thought she never would. Battling their own lives, both Ethan and Jade need to do what they want. They need to do what is best for themselves.

I would suggest this book to anyone that needs a reminder of what life is about. This book shows the ups, the downs, the bad, and the good of life. Christine helps point out that all the bad in the world has good to it. There is a lesson in this book that we sometimes forget.. There is always a silver light at the end of that black tunnel.

The only thing that I didn't love about this book was the lack of personality in some of the characters. I want to make sure everyone knows that they weren't flat characters. I just wish there was more to the characters. There are certain time frames that were cut out, which was a little upsetting. Although, I do believe Deriso did a good job with this work of art. It was a very smooth read. It was another book that I didn't want to set down. Especially in the beginning.

Boring, boring, boring. I could not even finish this book. It sounded intriguing but as it got on it became worse and worse. The storyline was a stretch and the characters dialogue was awful. Really bad acting!

fter a rocky and kind of judgemental start from me I ended up unexpectedly really enjoying this.
I am a very easily influenced reader, something I really need to find a way out of. Usually I just avoid any and all other opinions, this time however I accidently scrolled down and saw a kind of negative review and so I went into this being very nit picky.

The start of this wasnt great. I didn't enjoy the writing I found it quite juvenile and just a bunch of stuff happened quite fast. Jade came off as quite of a bitch just ripping apart Ethan's religion like that and Ethan came off as quite cheesy.

About 40% of the way through things started picking up for me and infact I read the last 60% in one sitting this afternoon.
I loved the development of both characters. I loved how much representation there is in this: Religion, a mixed race and blended family, alcoholic parents, high school drama, unhealthy relationships, a positive! stepparent/child relationship.
I couldn't get enough of this book!

This sweetly realistic romance skillfully tackles questions of friendship, faith, and family in a tale that will leave readers cheering for the not-as-opposite-as-they-think protagonists.

DNFed around 130 pages in and then almost facepalmed a wall bevause I made it that far. It started off quite interesting, I liked Jade as a character and thought she was amusing. Ethan was okay, but I didn’t realize religion was to play a huge part in the narrative. It was okay, but it wasn’t very appealing to read bevause it felt forced, and I tried to respect it, I really did, but I didn’t expect it to be what it is.
Mostly, the characters were flat and the story was just meh.

This was an okay read. I’m glad I got the opportunity to read it, but I think I was expecting just a little bit more. I really liked Jade’s storyline, and all the characters that went with it, but I had a really hard time with Ethan’s. Ethan as a character was okay, but he was infuriating at times. The parts with his whiny girlfriend made me want to throw the book across the room, and the pastor who is supposed to be a mentor to Ethan really irritated me that he pushed the relationship on Ethan when it was obviously toxic.
Overall, Things I’d Rather Do Than Die is very…dramatic. And angsty. There were definitely some real parts, particularly with Jade feeling that she doesn’t fit in because of her skin colour, and the struggles she is facing with her family, and that was really refreshing in a way. It made the book easier to read because I wanted to know what the outcome would be. The high school drama was a bit much though, and I probably would have preferred the book if Ethan was just a side character.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for a honest review.

This book started off so promising! Jade and Ethan get locked in a room together after a very scary event. I know a lot of people referred to this as being a Christian Book, but I think it was more faith based. It was though the same old story that I have always heard. (Can there be a YA book with at least one or two characters who have a normal home life that doesn't include addiction or some form of illness?)
I enjoyed the "faith" way of thinking that Ethan had and I liked that he did not push it on anyone.
All in all this was a decent read, but minus the Christianity, its a book I've read over and over.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book. I did not finish this book. As others have mentioned, the religious overtones in this book are just too much. I’ve read other YA novels with very religious characters, like The Names They Gave Us by Emery Lord and Little Do We Know by Tamara Ireland Stone and found them nuanced and intriguing. The problem with this one is that even just a few chapters in, I could already tell the characters were too flat and the writing too clunky for this to be an interesting examination of faith.

I am not big on young adult, not lend towards them a lot but I did like this book. It switches between the two main characters, which I am used to from reading Jodi Picoult books. The point of views continue on the story and not take two different views on the same scene.

SAVE THE DRAMA…for someone else’s Mama.

My biggest issue with this book was that it tried too hard. Every page was filled with trying to add more to the story when it was already brimmed to bursting with this and that thing happening.

When I took the story between Ethan and Jade for just their story, I thought it was cute. Maybe a bit rushed, but I could see the goodness of them.

The Christian aspects also felt very forced. While it started off as the beginning of their ‘relationship’ by discussing all things religious, from there it drifted in and out of the book at random times. As if to keep including it, but I didn’t think it played that big of a part in the story.

The book is written in a young style, but the addition of a lot of language takes that away. They’re a few kisses here and there, and no love scenes. Some violence in the beginning.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Flux, for the digital ARC!

A poignant coming-of-age story, this novel addresses themes of race identity, social classes, faith, terminal illness, and family. I found this to be a truly heart-warming story with likeable MCs and a sweet yet wistful ending.

I received a free ARC via NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Jade and Ethan run in completely different social circles. He's a football jock and she's an intellectual book nerd who just happens to have a job at the local gym. When the gym gets robbed one night while both Ethan and Jade are there, their orbits align for one terrifying experience and things are never quite the same afterwards. Beyond the pressures of senior year, both of them are slogging through some really painful family challenges and it's possible that life is just too complicated for them to have a story of their own.

I'm of two minds about this book. On the one hand, it's pretty predicable, there are some plot holes and I had to suspend my disbelief quite a bit. But, I also felt tender at the end, especially toward Jade and her family, so I did at least eventually care about her as a character. I liked that Jade is a strong, non-white character who is intelligent and has a close relationship with her father. As a religious person myself I liked that there is some legitimate wrestling with the idea of God and the role he can play in our lives. It felt like it came out of the blue, a bit, based on my initial take of the book, but it definitely is a book that deals with faith. For all it's Christian discussion, the language is strong and the romance never gets to a particularly sweet spot where I really was rooting for it. I'd bet older teens might appreciate it if they are okay with the religious piece.

Sadly, I felt as if the characters were unoriginal, the dialogue was flat, and the prose was old hat. The premise was so amazing and I was disappointed. DNF

This novel starts out with Jade working overtime when Ethan asks for 20 minutes of a workout, and they end up getting robbed and locked in a room together.

Of course that interested me right from the start because it seemed like a cool plot line. But alas, when they were rescued the story went south.

-The robbery really was an irrelevant event to happen besides allowing Jade and Ethan to meet. It seemed like that idea was thrown away after it happened but it definitely should have continued on for much longer.

-We didn't really learn much about any of the characters besides the two main. There would be times that a character would be like  "Oh yeah my mom's and alcoholic too" and it's kind of just like ?????

-I didn't like the portrayal of Ethan's parents. His mom was made up to seem very weak in my opinion and we didn't get more backstory on how bad Ethan's father is. Also, his grandma saying how his father is such a great guy but then having a scene where he is abusive and it just did not make sense to me.

-I hated Jade's best friend Gia. She just seemed like a little puppy dog that was annoying as heck

-It was quite boring I found myself skimming the book a lot because nothing really changed or excited me at all.

I can go on and on but I don't want to continue. I save my 1 stars for books I DNF so, that's why I am giving it 2.

What a great book that delves into the confusing and assuming world of teens, revealing religious assumptions and prejudices that can taint and tarnish the minds of the impressionable teens until they can figure out what is real and what is presumption. Add to this the undercurrent of false rumors and gossip and you have a great book.

I think this was one of the "half bad" books. Plot was gripping, it was a little bit cliche and a lot about Christianity, but after all, I enjoyed reading. Jade was definitely my favourite character. She's kinda badass, original (not like Mary Sue!). But I didn't like Ethan at all, he was just so undecided about everything. Sadly, plot reminds me a lot of similar stories like this and this is not the best of them.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for ARC!

Things I'd Rather Do Than Die
by Christine Hurley Deriso

Pub Date: 18 Sep 2018

Read courtesy of www.Netgalley.com

I recently reviewed Christine Hurley Deriso's All the Wrong Chords, which I loved. I really wanted to like Things I'd Rather Do Than Die as much, but alas, I give it 4 instead of 5 ⭐. I also read Deriso's Acknowledgment section of this novel, and I'm glad she took the advice of her editor; having the main characters tell their tale in alternating scenarios made this story more thoughtful than if it had been a one-sided story. Stereotypes of jocks, brains, Jesus freaks, popularity, race and ethnicity, financial status, family structures, and illnesses became something about which I wanted to contemplate rather than be swayed. I can picture my teen readers discussing this story.

However, it was those amount of topics Deriso tried to squeeze into this one novel that caused my rating to lose a potential star. Maybe teens with slightly shorter attention spans won't mind the topic hopping, but I found it a bit distracting. I think it will affect my ability to discuss and recommend the book to my students. Other than being able to remember the basic plot, it's the nuances that might be lost to what I usually try to relate with enthusiasm.

On the other hand, Deriso handled all of the sensitive topics well. She allowed the characters to present their different points-of-view just like 'real' teens would. Kudos to that!!

So I was a little unsure of this book after getting about 5% into it and realising that Christianity is mentioned quite a lot, only to then look at a few reviews and see other people had the same realisation as me. I also saw a lot of the reviewers DNF this book, which of course made me even more determined to finish it. Overall, I'm glad I did.

I found it quite hard to get into this book, but after a few chapters I managed to push aside my lack of faith and concentrate on the actual story. I like that Ethan never tried to push his faith on to anyone, and that he even had some doubts himself. He respected that Jade didn't completely share his faith and he never spoke badly of Gia who is very much an atheist.

I like how Jade and Ethan connect, but what I love is that it's not an instant teenage romance. They get to know each other and have an actual conversation, even though it was involuntary and I love that the contrast in their faith doesn't affect the friendship they build.

*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review*

I've seen a few reviews where people have stopped reading this book at the beginning due to some religious themes. I won't lie - I felt that way at first too as it almost seemed like the author was going to promote their religious beliefs, but seeing how I was only about 5% through I wanted to give it some more time. I'm glad I did! I'd give this novel an overall 3.5 stars. I wouldn't say I was immediately hooked, but overall I did enjoy the message it portrays.

This book follows the lives of Jade and Ethan. Jade and Ethan get locked in a gym together after being robbed at gun point. Never having really talked to each other prior to this event both characters have preconceived ideas regarding each other. Jade, a quiet girl with no real opinions in regards to faith, starts to bond with Ethan, popular football star whose faith plays a big role in his life. They challenge each other's ideas regarding faith and come to realize that everyone is not what they seem on the outside.

This novel is eye opening and heartwarming. I would describe this book as a pleasant read that makes you feel warm and happy at the end. In the beginning of reading this, I would say I was a lot like Jade. The second Ethan asks her to pray with him - I wanted to put it down. I don't want religion shoved down my throat and, also like Jade, I stuck it out and kept an open mind and learned some new things too.

I picked this book because of the cover and description but no where in the description did it say that this was a religious book faith forward. I don't know the author so I don't know if she always writes like this but it should have been in the synopsis that one the main characters is very very religious and the whole theme of this book is about that. Please don't fool readers with thinking that this is just another opposites attract I wonder what happened book.