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Jan 12, 2017FleetwoodTeenBookReviewProject rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
The overall book was a bit depressing it sort of got better at the end of the book. this book is about a Sharky (JC) who had just lost his friend The King to death ( he also has a strange thing for sharks, hence the name Sharky), his mother thought it would be a good idea for Sharky to see his father for the summer just to get away from his life back home. On the island Sharky meets a girl named Kelby who teaches Sharky "how to live again." likes-> i liked that kelby was able to revive sharky dislikes -> the story was very depressing and I really didn't want to pick the book up the plot was a bit hard to follow. there was not that much description in the book. i would give this to people who are in to the amazing worlds of sharks and people who like realistic stories. generally recommended - Submitted by A.P (teen from Fleetwood Library). ________________________________________________________________________________________ I started reading Before We Go Extinct by Karen Rivers with rather high expectations. Unfortunately, those expectations were not met. JC, known as “Sharky”, has stopped speaking ever since he saw his best friend fall (or possibly jump) to his death right in front of his eyes. Sharky’s mother, busy for the summer, decides that a visit to his dad in Canada may be what’s needed to help Sharky move forward past his grief. Despite being a rather short book, Before We Go Extinct seemed to drag on, due to it being very slow paced. While it is understandable that a book about grief would naturally be a character driven story, I found the characters in this story to be rather weak, lackluster, and difficult to connect with. I also strongly disliked the “romance” in this book and felt that it was too forced and lacked any real emotional connection to make it a convincing love story. I also didn’t like that almost all of Sharky’s problems began to disappear within literal minutes of him meeting his love interest. While I did enjoy the letter at the end of the novel, it was not enough to make up for what I thought was a rather weak story. As I read, I couldn’t help but feel as though this book had not lived up to its full potential. I loved the premise and even enjoyed a few poignant lines, however this was not enough for me to enjoy Before We Go Extinct. I would recommend to those who are thinking of reading this book to instead read We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson. Overall rating: 2/5