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Five Minutes More (2009)

by Darlene Ryan(Favorite Author)

3.29 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1554690064 (ISBN13: 9781554690060)

languge

English

genre

Young Adult Fiction

publisher

Orca Book Publishers

review 1: D'Arcy's life used to be normal. She had a mom, a dad, a step-sister she didn't get along with, a boyfriend named Brendan and a best friend named Marissa. Then her father's car goes into the river and D'Arcy's life is never "normal" again. D'Arcy really wants for it to have been an accident, but the evidence suggests otherwise. D'Arcy's grief over her father's death causes her to spiral out of control to the point where she shuts out everyone around her. Except Seth. Seth is the peer tutor in her math class and is the only one who can truly understand what D'Arcy is going through. D'Arcy's friendship with Seth is the only thing keeping her together, and she discovers that almost anything is bearable for "five minutes more". But D'Arcy is so focused on herself she nearly mi... moresses the signs that things aren't right with Seth until it's too late. This novel by Darlene Ryan focuses heavily on suicide and the effects it can have on those close to the one who has died. I found most of D'Arcy's actions to be believable for one suffering from the loss of a father, but in some cases I found her actions to be a bit extreme. The author did a good job of weaving in the five stages of grief with D'Arcy's character, starting with denial ("It's not supposed to be like this") and ending with acceptance ("I hate what he did, but I don't hate him"). I liked the inclusion of the "five minutes more" game that D'Arcy had played with her father as a child. Adding that into the story made for a realistic way for D'Arcy to cope with the difficult situations that came up after the suicide of her father. The story was a little predictable when it came to Seth's story and actions, and I felt the ending was a little rushed, but overall I thought it was a well-written, although sad, story. I would recommend it to girls who aren't afraid of an emotionally charged book.
review 2: Five minutes more is about a young girl named Darcy, who loses her father to suicide, and is greatly affected by it. She is very headstrong, and she does not want to listen when people tell her that father killed himself. She desperately wants it to have been an accident. But when she finds out that her father had ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), or Lou Gehrig's disease- a disease that attacks the nerve cells in the brain and can't make you function properly- she starts seeking out more information about it, only making things worse, because she felt that her father didn't love her enough to stick through it.She meets a guy named Seth, who she's known for some time, but they haven't really spoken until recently. He's kind to her, and doesn't act like he's scared of her, the way everyone else does. He understands her, but she doesn't know how.Everyone in her life is trying to reach out to her- her teachers, friends, mother, guidance councilor- but she feels like no one will understand. She grows closer to Seth, but realizes a bit too late that he was carrying signs of his depression after the one year anniversary of the death of his brother. When she learns that Seth had taken the same path as her father one day, her entire world comes crashing down at her feet. She doesn't feel like she's even alive anymore. This book was interesting in most ways. The idea behind the story could have been very affective, if only there was more detail to the events in the story. If you like the kind of books with short sentences, and ones that get straight to the point, leaving out a few things out along the way, then you'll enjoy this.I didn't quite have the urge to read this book like I do with many other books I read. I'm not saying that it's a bad book, because it is not, but I would have liked to read a bit more about the characters and their feelings toward the events that took place. There was a lot to take in with everything that happened, and it felt a bit rushed.I give this book a 3.2. All in all, it was an interesting read, and I did enjoy it for the most part. less

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