Review of A Life Worth Dying For

[Kathleen Wilcock]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A Life Worth Dying For" by Michele Collins.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Val Mein never felt like she belonged in her own body. When she came out as transgender, her parents refused to accept her for the girl she was. Even after years have passed, she still feels lonely and like no one truly understands her. One day, however, her coworker asks her on a date. Life seems to be looking up for Val. But the next thing Val knows, a man from her past kidnaps and tortures her. The cops are racing against the clock to find Val before it is too late, and Val must race to accept herself before her life ends for good.

Michele Collins's A Life Worth Dying For does a good job of raising awareness of the feelings of transgender and abused people. The characters are very introspective, and the reader is told exactly how other characters’ actions affect fragile mentalities. The author does not shy away from violence or tough conversations. Instead, this novel does a good job of forcing the reader to understand how others may be battling pain and loneliness.

While I applaud the author for taking on such an important topic in the novel, I feel like it could have been better executed. The narrator tells feelings instead of showing them. This made it so that the reader understood what the author was trying to communicate, but the reader did not actually feel what the characters were feeling. I could easily empathize with the terror and loneliness that Val felt, but I could not actually feel the depths of the emotions she was feeling. It is one thing to be told that she was excluded and mocked. It is an entirely different feeling being inside the head of a character as they are being mocked and shunned. The text was also riddled with grammatical errors. Because of this, any time I would start becoming immersed in the story, I would be jarred back to reality. There were both run-on and fragment sentences, which should have been easily avoidable with proofreading.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. While I do believe this book has great potential and that it is important to give transgender people a voice, the errors in the text made this book a painful read.

I would recommend this book to an older audience. While I think the message that it contains is good for all ages, the book describes violent and gruesome scenes which might be too disturbing for a younger audience.

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A Life Worth Dying For
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[Blessing Odii]

It's difficult to interact with people when you're born different. Great book.

[Pauline Parnell]

This is a very interesting topic. I commend the author for her courage. I do hope that Val escapes her kidnapper and gets the help she craves. Thanks for your review.

[Mbenma Esther 080]

This is another book I would love to keep reading. Awesome review.

[Aisha Yakub]

Intriguing storyline. I'm definitely looking forward to reading this. Great review.