- There was a party.
- There was a fight.
- The next morning, his best friend, Hayden, was dead.
All Hayden left 15-year-old Sam was a playlist of 27 songs and a suicide note that read: For Sam – listen and you’ll understand.
Part mystery, part love story, and part coming-of-age tale, Playlist for the Dead is an honest novel about loss, rage and the struggle of growing up. But above all, it’s about finding hope when hope seems like the hardest thing to find.
Each chapter is named after a song on Hayden’s playlist, giving you an idea of what its overall mood will be. The topic of suicide is obviously a very serious and very heavy one, but something that is relevant to teenagers today, considering the increased coverage given to the issue of mental health in recent times.
Playlist of the Dead is a gripping story, with a mysterious plot that keeps you turning the pages. Inviting comparisons to Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower, this could be a great help to a teen dealing with the issue of suicide, either by a friend, family member or schoolmate.
However, despite its main storyline, the novel would also be suited to any teenager moving schools or losing a friend, as one of its main themes is dealing with the aftermath of a friendship ending and the struggle to discover who you are without that person.
Playlist of the Dead is Michelle Falkoff’s debut novel.
