Book Review #1: Forget Me Not by Carolee Dean

     After Ally has jumped off the top of the school building, she enters a hallway only to find out she can either stay there for forever or go back to the top of the building and try to get her life back. Carolee Deans's Forget Me Not had me on my toes wanting to know what's going to happen to Ally next.

     The summary on the inside of the book was what instantly drew me in. I enjoy reading books about other peoples struggles and what they go through. When I started reading this book, I began to be a little doubtful because it was written in verses. I am not the biggest poetry fan, but the way this book was written made me enjoy poetry. Carolee Dean definitely had a creative way of writing this book.

     In Carolee's book, there are two main characters named Ally and Elijah. They both are two very different people with a lot in common. Ally is a very naive girl who doesn't really seem to know who her real friends are until it's too late. Ally is a just a bit arrogant and nasty. Elijah is the complete opposite. He doesn't care what anyone thinks of him. He cares too much about other people and is just a sweet guy. What makes them the same? They both tried to kill themselves and ended up in the "hallway", the place where people go when they have decided to finish their job or try to give life one more chance. Elijah has been to the hallway before, but he didn't give up. Now, it happens to be Ally's turn to decide whether the pain is worth it or if death could be the better option. The time Ally spends in the hallway makes her reconsider her whole life and she starts to realize that maybe she has no one to blame for her situation but herself.

     While this story is a bit gloomy, it never is too heavy. There were parts in the story where I just felt sad because of all the bad things that were happening not only to Ally and Elijah, but the rest of the characters, including the ghosts that were in the hallway. Things were never quite what they seemed on the surface and Carolee Dean really did explore how even some of the people that can seem the happiest can also be hiding something really big.

     Overall, Forget Me Not is a book that should not be missed. After have read this one, I will most likey check out more of Carolee Dean's other books. I would and do reccomend this book. I personally think this book is worth reading.