I struggled with this one. I enjoyed the exploration of grief, yet wanted even deeper emotions at times. I also am not a fan of long chapters. I get way too bored. I think it’ll work for some, just not for me.

This one really gets you right in the feels. The author tackles real complex issues with such a soft touch. I connected with the main character in a way that made me feel like I knew them in real life. Would definitely recommend!

I have never experienced the kind of grief Dane Riley is living with - the loss of a parent - so I can't really comment on how well that is portrayed... but it feels real. All of the characters feel real - they have obvious flaws, but they are more than just their flaws. The over bearing parents have feelings of their own and struggles of their own. Even the asshole, while not at all sympathetic at any point, felt real. I knew kids like that in high school. One dimensional self important dick wads exist.

Dane's journey through grief and coming to terms with his mental health issues, or perhaps lack thereof, feel vulnerable and authentic. He reaches out at different times in different ways to the people in his life, seeking a connection that makes it all make sense, and it feels honest.

It was an easy book to put down, but an easy book to pick up. I had to be in the right headspace for reading it, but when I was it was easy to read.

Definitely recommend if you like a book that makes you think about relationships and the reasons we get up in the morning.

Overall, I felt kinda meh about this book. Not necessarily bad, but not particularly memorable either. Giving it 2.5/5 Stars.

The Tragedy of Dane Riley By Kat Spears deals with a teen who loses his father to cancer and him coming to terms on how to deal with it and move on.

This book deals with family, mental health, grief, friendship and loss. I felt Dane's grief. I could understand why he felt the way he felt and did the things he did. While his mom is moving on with her life he feels like he is being left behind. This was a very emotional book.

Thank you Netgalley, st martins press and Wednesday Books for an ARC of this book I'm exchange for an honest review.

I decided to pick this book up on a whim, and sadly I didn't enjoy it. Dane is struggling with the loss of his father while also having many other changes in his life. My biggest struggle with this book was the structure, breaking it into acts made the sections so long that I would constantly get bored. Something I would suggest to fix this and keep the acts is by breaking them into scenes because otherwise natural stopping points like chapter headers in the typical books will cause people to get bored and want to DNF. We have all at one point in our lives had to cope after losing a loved one and depending on the bond that you shared with the individual and the cause of death could make the loss harder for some. For Dane his father tried hiding his illness from him until it was too late and he wasn't able to spend as much time with him that he could.

Book: The Tragedy of Dane Riley
Author: Kat Spears
Rating: 4 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Wednesday Books, for sending me an ARC.

This book was a very difficult read. No, I don’t mean it was a bad book by any means. The subject matter of this is pretty heavy and that carries throughout the book. Our main character, Dane, is dealing with his father’s death. He is depressed and grieving. We get to see him try to make sense of what is happening and seeing everyone around him move on-making him feel like his father is being replaced. The book deals with a lot of Dane’s inner thoughts. There are times that we really don’t know what is going on, because Dane doesn’t. Everything that we experience in the story is through Dane’s eyes only. There is one scene in here that jumps to mind. We think everything is okay while we are reading that scene and then we find out something different. I really can’t go into that much more detail because of spoilers, but you will see it whenever you pick this book up.

With that being said, this book is more about the characters than the plot. While there is a plot, the in-depth look we get into Dane is what the focus of the book is. We get to experience the world through Dane’s eyes as he tries to make sense of a really complicated situation. Yes, everything is very one sided, but you can’t help but to feel somewhat sorry for Dane. He sees the world as a very ugly place and that no one understands. This is something that we all can relate to in some point in our lives. We have a character at his lowest and we see him struggle to rebuild.

Dane also asks some very difficult questions and trying to hold it together through it all. We see how he views his mother, which isn’t good, trying to deal with death, and really wondering if life is even worth it. I did like the role of his mother. We see Dane’s point of view, but in the dialogue we get to see what his mother is going through as well. We see both sides of grief and how they are both struggling to hold it together-though Dane thinks she is trying to forget about his father. While she does take Dane to counseling, she does seem rather aloof to what he is going through. Again, this is all told from Dane’s point of view, but in the dialogue we can see what she is dealing with.

If you can’t tell by now, this book does deal with some pretty heavy themes. We have depression, lack of parental guidance, grief, romance, and so much more. There is a mixture of humour woven in as well. So, it’s not all gloom and doom. The way that it is all presented though shows us just how very isolating mental illness can be and trying to make people under is very difficult. We see Dane feel very lonely and isolated, which puts him into his darkness of times. Only when he finds someone who can see more to him does he start to recover, but it’s not a full recovery. The effects are still there and they may never go away.
For all of those reasons, I do think this is a must read. It bring mental illness to the forefront and shows what it is like though the eyes of someone going through it. A lot of books are told from the eyes of a family member of someone with mental illness. The fact that the roles are reversed makes this a must read.

The only reason I gave it a four star was I felt the ending was a little rushed. I would have liked to see that fleshed out a little bit more.

Anyway, this book comes out on June 22, 2021.

Youtube: https://youtu.be/tVL1DE_Wq8M

This character driven story was full of first love and acceptance. It was wonderfully done but I wished that the plot of the story would have been more developed. A lot of the emotions that the main character was feeling felt like they could be deeper. And parts of the story just didn't work for me at all. I feel like this just needed to be more thought out in part.

This book hurt me so much, but it was so honest in its heartbreak. It was so real and raw and painful and vulnerable and so sorely needed. I’m grateful to have been given the chance to review it. I truly did enjoy this and think everyone should give it a chance. I have no words to express how much I needed this.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

This book is heartbreaking, but so real. Dane is dealing with the death of his dad and feels that his mom has moved on too quickly. He is dealing with his depression, his meds, going to a therapist and just trying to get by. There is talk about suicide and suicide attempts, but I think this is something that needs to be addressed and Kat Spears does it well. "The Tragedy of Dane Riley" will break your heart.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

This is a very weighty topic & may be hard for some to read, but I think it's a necessary novel in today's time. Teenagers are dealing with heavy stuff after Covid & this might help them feel seen or maybe help someone to think twice & check on the teenagers in their lives. The book reminded me a little of Dear Evan Hansen in the mood of it. I recommend this book if your looking for a deeper glimpse into a young adult's psyche after dealing with a major loss.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review

*Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub date: June 22, 2021

Trigger warning: parental death, suicide, eating disorders, depression, anxiety, underage drinking, smoking, and drug use, unprotected sex, abortion (and that was just in Act I!)

A heartbreaking and sometimes uncomfortable look into the mind of a teenager today. Dealing with grief, coming of age, and trying to figure out the meaning of life in today’s world. Our main character is sarcastic and surprisingly witty for his age and much like the speech at the end—it’s about all the moments, not just the happy endings.

This is a powerful novel that deals honestly with grief and mental illness. Dane Riley is mourning the loss of his father and can't seem to move on. His mother doesn't seem to care. She has a new boyfriend who Dane hates. He moves in with Dane and his mother bringing his bully of a son. He may have a relationship with his neighbor Ophelia, but friend or romantic is still up in the air. This was a good book about dealing with grief and growing up. Teens will embrace Dane Riley and hopefully gain some insight or hope from reading it. Literature fans will enjoy the many parallels with Hamlet. Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read the advanced copy.

This book is the perfect blend of grief, growing up, acceptance, and struggle. This book goes through all of the struggles of being a teenager and all the heavy topics that comes along with it. The only thing that I didn't particularly enjoy was the romance part of the book with Ophelia. That being said some teenage relationships make no sense so this is kind of a good representation. Other than Dane's relationship with Ophelia I loved the book. It was beautiful, heartfelt and realistic.

Dane has lost his father due to cancer, his mom has begun to date his father's best friend, and he's in love with the girl next door but doesn't know how to tell her. After being at boarding school, Dane is back in his empty house without his dad and going to a school where he doesn't know anyone.

Reading the synopsis of this book I wasn't sure if I wanted to read a "downer" but I am so glad that I read this. Dane is a sarcastic, sensitive, and realistic version of a teen boy and I really loved his character. Yes, there's a lot of talk of drinking and drugs throughout this book but I think that is very realistic of how a lot of teens interact with each other socially. Kat Spears did an excellent job of discussing mental health and therapy throughout the book and how one might deal with grief as well as portraying a teen boy as emotional and sensitive. I would recommend this to students at my library! I would recommend this for mature teens because of the subject matter.

It was nice to read a book that really dug into the mind of a person with strong feelings, who really allowed themselves to feel them all. I think it’s in important thing to explore and is very much needed.

I enjoyed watching the main character grow and evolve and process his thoughts and feelings after using father’s death.

Sadly, for me personally, it just fell short. While the character arc was amazing, and I fully loved how honest and real Dane’s mental health journey was, the plot in the story was lacking. I feel that this book really could have been an amazing piece of literature to help bring up more conversation about mental health, but the lack of a real plot and closure held back how powerful this really could be.

All that to say, I still believe this would be good to read to help people know that deeply feeling things is ok and could bring about some necessary conversations about mental health that we need in our world today.

As someone who enjoys Shakespeare I was looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of this book. Hamlet is also one of my favorite plays too. When it came to a retelling standpoint, I liked where the author went with it. It’s always interesting to see how someone takes something old and makes it new, especially when it comes to the contemporary genre. My issue lies with the characters and why this book ended up being okay for me.

Dane is dealing with grief when it comes to the loss of his father. It’s understandable why he made the choices he made. Even though I understand that teens smoke, whether its vaping/smoking or weed, it’s just not something I could or can relate to. I never did those things as a teen and I’m just not a fan of seeing teens in books doing those things or even drinking. He also looked at all of the flaws of Eric but it didn’t seem like he noticed his own. Since the point-of-view comes from a male there were things talked about that also weren’t relatable.

I did like the plot does start with the rocky relationship he has with his mother. It shows how grief is dealt with differently depending on the person. There is a happy ending between them so that was nice to see.

Overall, this was okay but ultimately not a book for me and that most likely has to do with my age.

Thank you, St Martin's Press, Wednesday books and Netgalley, for the chance to read this book.

TW: parent's death, depression, suicide attempt (past)

Dane is struggling after his father's death. He doesn't like his mother's new boyfriend and his son, who likes to torment him. He misses the person who made him feel like himself and now he's lost. He isn't able to define his relationship with the girl next door, so his life is messy and complicated.

In this book the author tackles important issues like mental health, loss and grief, depression, in a painful and heart-wrenching story told by a teenager confronting his life changes and to face the pain and move on, finding the strength. I found this book really skillfully written and Dane was a wonderful main character. Absolutely relatable in his pain and rage and attitude. Reading his story and journey was so moving and well written. It was hard and heart-wrenching and so so beautiful.

A modern look at Hamlet through the perspective of a teen dealing with grief, love, and family. Dane Riley is still reeling from the death of his father after returning home from boarding school, it doesn’t help that his mother is now dating his father’s best friend. Dane is dealing with so much grief and after his failed suicide attempt has started seeing therapists. He is angry and sad, angry at his mother, angry at the people who have moved into his house, and missing his father. Then there is Ophelia, the girl who lives next door who Dane has been madly in love with yet he can’t seem to ask her out. The story follows Dane as he struggles through his new family dynamic and all the anger and grief that is bottled up inside of him as well as the budding romance. It was such an interesting take on Hamlet and definitely a fresh one. The story deals with mental health, grief, and the aches and pains of growing up. Dane was a relatable character in that, I understood where he was coming from, I was there. Now that I’m in my 20′s I can still remember being a teen and feeling all that sadness and anger but also questioning everything and trying to find some point about where my life was going next. Dane’s fears and anger and struggles are relatable and reading from his perspective was great. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*