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

genre: young adult contemporary
disclosure: thanks to Netgalley for a free copy to 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.