Denton Little

Denton Little’s Deathdate by Lance Rubin

Summary from Goodreads:

Denton Little’s Deathdate takes place in a world exactly like our own except that everyone knows the day on which they will die. For Denton, that’s in just two days—the day of his senior prom.
 
Despite his early deathdate, Denton has always wanted to live a normal life, but his final days are filled with dramatic firsts. First hangover. First sex. First love triangle—as the first sex seems to have happened not with his adoring girlfriend, but with his best friend’s hostile sister. (Though he’s not totally sure—see, first hangover.) His anxiety builds when he discovers a strange purple rash making its way up his body. Is this what will kill him? And then a strange man shows up at his funeral, claiming to have known Denton’s long-deceased mother, and warning him to beware of suspicious government characters. . . . Suddenly Denton’s life is filled with mysterious questions and precious little time to find the answers.

Denton Little’s Still Not Dead

Publication date is February 7, 2017

Summary from NetGalley:

You only live once—unless you’re Denton Little!
 
Denton Little lives in a world exactly like our own except that everyone knows the day on which they will die. The good news: Denton has lived through his deathdate. Yay! The bad news: He’s being chased by the DIA (Death Investigation Agency), he can never see his family again, and he may now die anytime. Huh. Cheating death isn’t quite as awesome as Denton would have thought. . . .
 
Lance Rubin’s debut novel, Denton Little’s Deathdate, showed readers just how funny and poignant imminent death could be. Now in this sequel, he takes on the big questions about life. How do we cope, knowing we could die at any time? Would you save someone from dying even if they were a horrible person? Is it wrong to kiss the girl your best friend is crushing on if she’s really into you instead? What if she’s wearing bacon lip gloss?

Confession:

My apologies to anyone that hasn’t read the first book, as the title of the second book gives away the ending.  But I had to talk about both of these books at the same time.  The premise of this story is a little odd, that there is a test you are given at birth that somehow tells you the exact date of your death, not the time or the how and why, but a day none of the less.  My brain had a hard time accepting this premise, because what happens if you are in accident before your deathdate?  Do you live regardless of how bad the accident is?  Just so many questions came up for me.  But once I just beat my brain into submission after yelling at it to just go with it, I really enjoyed these books.

The first book is hilarious.  Everything that could go wrong does.  Denton is just a typical teen, who wants to go to prom, have sex, get drunk all in the last few days before his deathdate that happens to fall on his high school prom night.  The purple rash was particularly funny as it spreads across his body in odd ways.  Denton is adorable and sweet and I kept hoping that things would get better, but they only got worse and more mysterious as the day leading up to his deathdate went on.  It was hard watching him say goodbye to everyone he knew but then have the action pick up as he misses his death time and time again.

The second book is a little more serious, as Denton tries to figure out his life, now that he is on the run from the government.  All of his friends from the first book show up and at times it makes the story feel like an ordinary teen comedy with some romance.  But the questions of his role as a deathday survivor gets kind of murky.  I kept expecting for there to be more of a sinister plot between the government and the pharmaceutical company that developed the deathdate kits, but it never is fully explained.  I’m also not sure that the ending fully worked for me. Perhaps there will be a third book with more intrigue behind the deathdates and the government.

Even with the flaws of the plot, I still recommend these books as they are a fun read with lots of action and a little romance.

Book two was reviewed from a copy received from Netgalley