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Whatever Doesn't Kill You
Jenna Cooper was only a few days old when her father was murdered and her family was shattered. Now fifteen, she daydreams of a picture-perfect sitcom family as she struggles with the gritty realities of her life. When Jenna finds out that Travis Bingham, the man who shot her father, has been released from prison, she becomes obsessed with tracking him down and confronting him. But her search reveals that there may be more to her father's murder than she has been led to believe―and will her relationships with her family and friends survive her obsession?
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
6 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Wennick
2 booksThe second of two children, Elizabeth was born September 2, 1972, in Ottawa, but her bio looks like a travelogue. "Because I'm an army brat, I moved around a lot when I was younger. My father was in the armed forces, and he retired when I was seven. Though I was born in Ottawa, I have no memories of it at all except from pictures. When I was a baby, we moved to Lahr, West Germany, where I spent my early childhood. I was six or seven when we moved to London, Ontario, where my father spent his last year or so in the service. After he retired, we settled in Burlington, where I've been since I was about eight. So that's the boring early childhood part. The late childhood and teenage stuff is pretty typical as well - boring suburban angst and all that. As a young teenager, I was a bit of a 'bad-ass' - tough kid, into lots of things I shouldn't have been. I shaped up a little when I was around 16, although I'm still kind of a rebel. I don't like rules very much."
While Elizabeth was growing up, she considered a variety of career paths. "I wanted to be everything under the sun. Like most young children, I wanted to be a veterinarian. (Bad idea. Too much blood, too many sick animals. I'm way too big a sap to do that.) Besides writing, the thing I wanted most was to be an actor. Actually, I still do in some small way. Every once in a while I'll hop up on stage for something or other, and it's so fulfilling. Those were the 'biggies' growing up. Oh, when I was about 11 or 12, I wanted to be a singer, too, but God did not choose to gift me with a voice that anyone else in the world wants to hear, so I think in the back of my mind I knew that wasn't going to happen."
"I don't know where I got the idea I wanted to work with kids. Somehow I just kept stumbling into things that involved them. When I was 15, a friend invited me to work at a camp his mother directed. I kept going back, and that experience got me a job working with intellectually challenged kids during the school year. Then came a job teaching crafts at Bolton Camp, which led to me running an after-school centre for two years. I went to school in Brampton for a year when I was 19. At the time, I thought I wanted to be a correctional worker, and so I did the first year of a program, then ran out of money for second year. I was planning to take a year and go back, but, by the time I got the money, I didn't want to do it anymore. Then I came to my senses and went back to Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, for journalism. Oh, did I mention my other jobs? Dishwasher, newspaper carrier, waitress, grocery store cashier, lumber store clerk, sales clerk at Hallmark Cards, substitute day care teacher, photo lab technician, video store supervisor. It's all a part of my never-ending quest to become a poster child for Generation X."
Graduating from Sheridan in 1995, Elizabeth "worked for newspapers in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Haldimand-Norfolk. Niagara Falls was a miserable experience. The paper folded after about a month of my being there. But the city fascinated me. It's such a bizarre mixture of elements - ultra-rich high rollers at the casino, tacky trailer-park dwellers up from New York State on their honeymoons, Japanese and German tourists everywhere you look - the city's tourist bureau must spend half its advertising budget in those two countries alone - and neon everywhere. And in among all this, people are actually living and existing and having ordinary lives."
"St. Catharines was also a short-lived experience. THAT paper folded after three months. I spent the longest winter of my life shivering in a grungy little basement apartment, wondering if my next paycheck was going to clear at the bank (sometimes it didn't) and spending 80 hours a week trying to keep a floundering weekly tabloid afloat. I was in Haldimand-Norfolk for a year before St. Catharines. It's a picturesque little chunk of Ontario, although nobody's ever heard of it. It's ac
While Elizabeth was growing up, she considered a variety of career paths. "I wanted to be everything under the sun. Like most young children, I wanted to be a veterinarian. (Bad idea. Too much blood, too many sick animals. I'm way too big a sap to do that.) Besides writing, the thing I wanted most was to be an actor. Actually, I still do in some small way. Every once in a while I'll hop up on stage for something or other, and it's so fulfilling. Those were the 'biggies' growing up. Oh, when I was about 11 or 12, I wanted to be a singer, too, but God did not choose to gift me with a voice that anyone else in the world wants to hear, so I think in the back of my mind I knew that wasn't going to happen."
"I don't know where I got the idea I wanted to work with kids. Somehow I just kept stumbling into things that involved them. When I was 15, a friend invited me to work at a camp his mother directed. I kept going back, and that experience got me a job working with intellectually challenged kids during the school year. Then came a job teaching crafts at Bolton Camp, which led to me running an after-school centre for two years. I went to school in Brampton for a year when I was 19. At the time, I thought I wanted to be a correctional worker, and so I did the first year of a program, then ran out of money for second year. I was planning to take a year and go back, but, by the time I got the money, I didn't want to do it anymore. Then I came to my senses and went back to Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, for journalism. Oh, did I mention my other jobs? Dishwasher, newspaper carrier, waitress, grocery store cashier, lumber store clerk, sales clerk at Hallmark Cards, substitute day care teacher, photo lab technician, video store supervisor. It's all a part of my never-ending quest to become a poster child for Generation X."
Graduating from Sheridan in 1995, Elizabeth "worked for newspapers in St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Haldimand-Norfolk. Niagara Falls was a miserable experience. The paper folded after about a month of my being there. But the city fascinated me. It's such a bizarre mixture of elements - ultra-rich high rollers at the casino, tacky trailer-park dwellers up from New York State on their honeymoons, Japanese and German tourists everywhere you look - the city's tourist bureau must spend half its advertising budget in those two countries alone - and neon everywhere. And in among all this, people are actually living and existing and having ordinary lives."
"St. Catharines was also a short-lived experience. THAT paper folded after three months. I spent the longest winter of my life shivering in a grungy little basement apartment, wondering if my next paycheck was going to clear at the bank (sometimes it didn't) and spending 80 hours a week trying to keep a floundering weekly tabloid afloat. I was in Haldimand-Norfolk for a year before St. Catharines. It's a picturesque little chunk of Ontario, although nobody's ever heard of it. It's ac
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
June 7, 2013
Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.
Honestly, Whatever Doesn't Kill You just wasn't a book for me. I probably knew this in the first chapter, but I read on, because I had started it; and I just have a hard time not finishing books that I start. So, as I did that, I learned many things.
I learned that I don't connect with Jenna as a person. She felt very flat to me, and I didn't understand 98% of her problems, because I haven't come from a home like hers. In general, I have problems believing most books about people who are teased, their dad's dead and they can't let it go when it happened at six days old.
You see, that just seems a little far-fetched to me. Chances are that Jenna would've never even had the chance of "meeting" her father's murder.
Not only that, but I hate that Jenna blames all of her problems on one pivotal moment that happened when she was six days old. Oh, Travis Bingham killed my dad and that's why I'm teased. Oh, Travis Bingham killed my dad and that's why my sister's on drugs. Oh, Travis Bingham killed my dad, and that's why my mom is in a nursing home and my brother is stuck in a dead end job.
Do you see what I mean? She just goes on and on blaming him for everything that has ever gone wrong in her life. I don't understand that mentality, to be honest with you. Nobody is responsible for anything that happens to you except you. Sometimes situations are different, but most of the time it's all you.
I liked the mystery of why Travis killed her dad, but it was resolved in such an anticlimatic way-- I didn't feel like we really got the whole story there. I was very surprised about what he had to say, though.
All in all, Whatever Doesn't Kill You just wasn't a book for me. I think that maybe you should give it a shot, though!
May 23, 2013
Originally posted at http://canlitforlittlecanadians.blogs...
Most of us know the old saying, "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger." But, youngCanLit author Kari-Lynn Winters (Gift Days, 2012; Jeffrey and Sloth, 2008) was quoted at the Blue Spruce 10th Year anniversary exhibit at the Canadian National Exhibition in 2012 declaring that, "What doesn't kill you makes a good story." In Elizabeth Wennick's Whatever Doesn't Kill You, both maxims are equally accurate.
The only life Jenna, now almost 16, can truly remember began several days after her birth, with the murder of her father at his convenience store. Everything that would become her life is dependent on that moment. It changes her mother, her older brother Simon (now 32), and her older sister Emily (now 23). How things might have turned out if her father had not been murdered is left to Jenna's imagination. But when she learns that the man who murdered him, Travis Bingham, has been released from prison and is currently in a half-way house, she is determined to know why her father had to die and to let Travis Bingham know what he has done to her family.
Jenna's family certainly does not resemble the families she enjoys watching in the old sitcoms like The Cosby Show and Family Ties. Jenna's mom is in a nursing home, after years of odd behaviour that culminated in a near suicide. She doesn't even recognize all her children when they visit. Simon had to return home to take care of them and now manages the crummy apartment building in which they live. Emily flits from boyfriend to boyfriend, having had a son when in her teens, still rarely keeping a job and doing drugs. And Jenna considers herself one of the "sore thumbs" that make up her group of overweight friend Katie, French vampire girl Marie-Claire and Griffin.
But when Jenna feels unsupported by her friends in her need to continue focusing on her dad's murder, she finds herself keeping company with Ashley, popular girl on the outs with the in-crowd. Bringing Ashley into her world allows Jenna to see her family in a different light, even asking some questions she never thought to ask before. With a change in perspective and a little investigative work stemming from old yearbooks, plus her climactic visit with Travis Bingham, Jenna learns a lot more about Whatever Doesn't Kill You.
Though the title and cover may suggest a violent story, Whatever Doesn't Kill You is best described as haunting. The ghosts that are around, though, are the virtual ones of guilt, fear, and the unknown. Elizabeth Wennick does not need to create paranormal circumstances to instill a sense of foreboding or darkness; real life is generally dark enough, especially for a family plagued by tragedy. Although the reader will appreciate the outlook at story's ending, Elizabeth Wennick never goes for the easy route of tying up all storylines and going for the happily-ever-after. She keeps things real. And the reality of Whatever Doesn't Kill You is that we sometimes construct the lives we think we deserve, punishing ourselves for the lives we don't have.
Most of us know the old saying, "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger." But, youngCanLit author Kari-Lynn Winters (Gift Days, 2012; Jeffrey and Sloth, 2008) was quoted at the Blue Spruce 10th Year anniversary exhibit at the Canadian National Exhibition in 2012 declaring that, "What doesn't kill you makes a good story." In Elizabeth Wennick's Whatever Doesn't Kill You, both maxims are equally accurate.
The only life Jenna, now almost 16, can truly remember began several days after her birth, with the murder of her father at his convenience store. Everything that would become her life is dependent on that moment. It changes her mother, her older brother Simon (now 32), and her older sister Emily (now 23). How things might have turned out if her father had not been murdered is left to Jenna's imagination. But when she learns that the man who murdered him, Travis Bingham, has been released from prison and is currently in a half-way house, she is determined to know why her father had to die and to let Travis Bingham know what he has done to her family.
Jenna's family certainly does not resemble the families she enjoys watching in the old sitcoms like The Cosby Show and Family Ties. Jenna's mom is in a nursing home, after years of odd behaviour that culminated in a near suicide. She doesn't even recognize all her children when they visit. Simon had to return home to take care of them and now manages the crummy apartment building in which they live. Emily flits from boyfriend to boyfriend, having had a son when in her teens, still rarely keeping a job and doing drugs. And Jenna considers herself one of the "sore thumbs" that make up her group of overweight friend Katie, French vampire girl Marie-Claire and Griffin.
But when Jenna feels unsupported by her friends in her need to continue focusing on her dad's murder, she finds herself keeping company with Ashley, popular girl on the outs with the in-crowd. Bringing Ashley into her world allows Jenna to see her family in a different light, even asking some questions she never thought to ask before. With a change in perspective and a little investigative work stemming from old yearbooks, plus her climactic visit with Travis Bingham, Jenna learns a lot more about Whatever Doesn't Kill You.
Though the title and cover may suggest a violent story, Whatever Doesn't Kill You is best described as haunting. The ghosts that are around, though, are the virtual ones of guilt, fear, and the unknown. Elizabeth Wennick does not need to create paranormal circumstances to instill a sense of foreboding or darkness; real life is generally dark enough, especially for a family plagued by tragedy. Although the reader will appreciate the outlook at story's ending, Elizabeth Wennick never goes for the easy route of tying up all storylines and going for the happily-ever-after. She keeps things real. And the reality of Whatever Doesn't Kill You is that we sometimes construct the lives we think we deserve, punishing ourselves for the lives we don't have.
July 16, 2016
Another book set in Hamilton (I am reading all the books I can find set in Hamilton) - this one, like many others, focuses on a somewhat seedy image of Hamilton. It is written for a Young Adult readership. Not a bad storyline, not as thoroughly developed as I might have liked, but great for a quick summer read.
November 6, 2019
It had a very good plot but it was a little too easy to read
November 25, 2023
Good book but slow at the start with a great plot twist
January 28, 2013
Jenna Cooper’s life has never been a bed of roses. She was only 6 days old when her father was murdered and her family started to fall apart. Her mother has been institutionalized for a mental disorder and her sister is a wreck but at least she has her older brother who’s taken care of her through the years. Now 15, Jenna has a few friends who provide a support system. These friends are a ragtag group of outsiders – the ones who are the butt of jokes at school.
Jenna is somewhat reminiscent of Sarah Dessen’s Ruby in Lock and Key. Her older brother is her salvation, much like Ruby’s older sister. However, Jenna’s brother may be hiding secrets from her about the death of their father. Now that the killer has been released from prison, Jenna begins to dig for the truth and learns things may not have been as she was lead to believe.
The dialog rings true and the writing style flows easily. The characters are the typical outsiders – geeky, poor, overweight, smart, and strangely dressed. The secret about Jenna’s father’s death holds the reader’s interest as Jenna plots to confront the murderer.
If the book fails in any way, it might be the ease with which the characters change according to their circumstances. Travis, the murderer, makes a smooth transition upon his release from prison. The change of heart of one of the girls who has bullied Jenna and her outcast friends is also a little too convenient as is the turnaround of Jenna’s older sister. The friends seem to be one-dimensional and not fully fleshed out.
As a whole, teens should enjoy the story and Jenna’s determination. Her slightly crude barbs traded with her brother sound like real sibling taunts. The book moves quickly and should not disappoint.
Jenna is somewhat reminiscent of Sarah Dessen’s Ruby in Lock and Key. Her older brother is her salvation, much like Ruby’s older sister. However, Jenna’s brother may be hiding secrets from her about the death of their father. Now that the killer has been released from prison, Jenna begins to dig for the truth and learns things may not have been as she was lead to believe.
The dialog rings true and the writing style flows easily. The characters are the typical outsiders – geeky, poor, overweight, smart, and strangely dressed. The secret about Jenna’s father’s death holds the reader’s interest as Jenna plots to confront the murderer.
If the book fails in any way, it might be the ease with which the characters change according to their circumstances. Travis, the murderer, makes a smooth transition upon his release from prison. The change of heart of one of the girls who has bullied Jenna and her outcast friends is also a little too convenient as is the turnaround of Jenna’s older sister. The friends seem to be one-dimensional and not fully fleshed out.
As a whole, teens should enjoy the story and Jenna’s determination. Her slightly crude barbs traded with her brother sound like real sibling taunts. The book moves quickly and should not disappoint.
March 26, 2017
" Wow! No wonder you're so screwed up. No offense."
- Elizabeth Wennick, Whatever Doesn't Kill You
I really didn't care for this book at all. I will say that it had all the ingredients to be a great mystery but the author just never took the time to take her book to the level that it could have been. What I received instead was nothing more than high-school drama and a weak ending.
The main character was rude to everyone she came in contact with from adults to friends. She not only refers to herself as a 'loser' but her friends as well and that bothered me.
Another uneasy feeling came when she constantly described her best friends as 'fattie' and 'vampire' throughout the book. Why couldn't she use different words to describe the two girls who's families always make sure she is looked after and who treat her so well?
She came across as selfish and rude. Almost as if she thought she deserved special treatment because of her family's situation.
Had this book not been a short read I would have given up by page 28 but I made it until the end. I wouldn't recommend this book and found it to be unsettling in the worst way possible!
◆◆◆ ◆◆◆ ◆◆◆ ◆◆◆ ◆◆◆ ◆◆◆ ◆◆◆ ◆◆◆
When Jenna was just 6 days old her dad is murdered and the man found guilty of the crime is getting out of prison. Not being able to let go of the past and the father she never got to know she sets out to confront the man that destroyed her life.
Because of this man she lives with her older brother and sister while her mother sits in a hospital after a botched suicide attempt. The question is... will this man give her the answers she needs to find healing or will she find healing within herself?
- Elizabeth Wennick, Whatever Doesn't Kill You
I really didn't care for this book at all. I will say that it had all the ingredients to be a great mystery but the author just never took the time to take her book to the level that it could have been. What I received instead was nothing more than high-school drama and a weak ending.
The main character was rude to everyone she came in contact with from adults to friends. She not only refers to herself as a 'loser' but her friends as well and that bothered me.
Another uneasy feeling came when she constantly described her best friends as 'fattie' and 'vampire' throughout the book. Why couldn't she use different words to describe the two girls who's families always make sure she is looked after and who treat her so well?
She came across as selfish and rude. Almost as if she thought she deserved special treatment because of her family's situation.
Had this book not been a short read I would have given up by page 28 but I made it until the end. I wouldn't recommend this book and found it to be unsettling in the worst way possible!
◆◆◆ ◆◆◆ ◆◆◆ ◆◆◆ ◆◆◆ ◆◆◆ ◆◆◆ ◆◆◆
When Jenna was just 6 days old her dad is murdered and the man found guilty of the crime is getting out of prison. Not being able to let go of the past and the father she never got to know she sets out to confront the man that destroyed her life.
Because of this man she lives with her older brother and sister while her mother sits in a hospital after a botched suicide attempt. The question is... will this man give her the answers she needs to find healing or will she find healing within herself?
June 9, 2013
I figured out pretty quickly that this book was just not for me. There were many points where I was tempted to give up on it, but once I start a book, I feel like I need to finish it.
The summary of Whatever Doesn't Kill You sounded promising: a girl tracks down her father's killer and confronts him about it. However, this confrontation didn’t happen until 3/4 of the way through the book. The reasons that Travis Bingham had for murdering Jenna’s father were surprising, though the fairly easy way with which she accepted this information led to an anticlimactic ending.
When it comes to writing, I’m of the opinion that characterization is more important than the actual plot. You can have an interesting premise, but if your characters fall flat, it’s (most likely) going to be a dull read. Such was the case with Whatever Doesn’t Kill You. Try as I might, I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters. There was only one character that I actually liked – Henry, a five year old boy who was by no means a main character and only made a few appearances throughout the book.
Overall, this book was just not my cup of tea. That being said, everyone has different reading tastes, so don’t let that discourage you from giving it a shot.
This review can also be found at The In-Between Place.
The summary of Whatever Doesn't Kill You sounded promising: a girl tracks down her father's killer and confronts him about it. However, this confrontation didn’t happen until 3/4 of the way through the book. The reasons that Travis Bingham had for murdering Jenna’s father were surprising, though the fairly easy way with which she accepted this information led to an anticlimactic ending.
When it comes to writing, I’m of the opinion that characterization is more important than the actual plot. You can have an interesting premise, but if your characters fall flat, it’s (most likely) going to be a dull read. Such was the case with Whatever Doesn’t Kill You. Try as I might, I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters. There was only one character that I actually liked – Henry, a five year old boy who was by no means a main character and only made a few appearances throughout the book.
Overall, this book was just not my cup of tea. That being said, everyone has different reading tastes, so don’t let that discourage you from giving it a shot.
This review can also be found at The In-Between Place.
July 6, 2013
I won this book via the Early Reviewers program on LibraryThing.
Both the title and blurb of this novel piqued my curiosity. Jenna Cooper lost her father when she was only days old. The murderer, Travis Bingham, has been released after serving his time. Much to the chagrin of her friends and family,Jenna is consumed with finding and confronting him. She needs to know exactly what happened because nobody else will tell her. Her older brother and sister think she should let bygones be bygones and move on. Her mother, who resides in a treatment facility, is mentally disabled.
The story is narrated by Jenna, now 15. I found the writing style to be very readable. The language and voice is true to the protagonist's age.
Overall, although the topic matter is serious, I found this to be an easy read. The plot progresses well and is not predictable. The characters are realistic, each with his/her own strengths and weaknesses. The descriptions are just detailed enough. The ending is satisfying yet not sappy.
June 10, 2013
I enjoyed Whatever Doesn't Kill You by Elizabeth Wennick- I don't think that this book will blow anyone's socks off, but I found it to be a nice- fun- quick mystery. I would recommend to anyone looking for a light read in the summer that is clean and fun. I see some pretty low ratings have been given to this book and I don't think that it was that bad at all. This book does have a great twist in the end and packs a strong message. Although most may not be able to relate to the daily life of the main character- this does not mean it is far fetched- Some may relate. For the most part the writing was great and fast paced and few times I felt their were some paragraphs that could have been left out. I would highly recommend to a younger teen looking for a clean mystery. The message in this book was fantastic and is useful to anyone. I won a copy of Whatever Doesn't Kill You in a giveaway for free in hopes of an honest review's online. Thanks! Reesa***
http://reesasbookblog.blogspot.com/20...
http://reesasbookblog.blogspot.com/20...
August 27, 2016
I read this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program. This is an Orca book, a publishing house known for producing books for reluctant readers. In Whatever Doesn't Kill You, Jenna's father died when she was an infant in a robbery gone wrong. 15 years later, her father's killer has been released from prison, and Jenna feels the need to confront him in order to move on from the past. Although this was in many ways an "issue" book (as many of Orca's books are, to my understanding) and the improvement of Jenna's life by the end of the book doesn't feel at all realistic, I also feel that teens could learn from the book's message. I would feel very comfortable recommending this book to reluctant teen readers.
And my one petty gripe: I had Kelly Clarkson's Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) in my head every time I saw the book cover. That was a little annoying, but this could have been a purposeful association on behalf of the publishers.
And my one petty gripe: I had Kelly Clarkson's Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) in my head every time I saw the book cover. That was a little annoying, but this could have been a purposeful association on behalf of the publishers.
September 20, 2014
Let me get right to what I didn't like about the story. Get this out of the way like pulling off a bandage, as painless as possible. I hate how the author made the setting look. I happen to be from Hamilton, the city in the story, and specifically from some of the main areas pointed out in the story, and was slightly wounded to be referred as a neighborhood of drunks and crackheads. Granted they are around. Realistically though, they are everywhere. Not just in Hamilton either. It was just the picture painted of my hometown throughout the book making it look like a shithole. Actually, that exact reference was used.
With that said, I somehow still liked the story. It was a story a lot of people will relate to. Not the murder thing, but somehow they will connect to the girl, Jenna. I can't explain it without giving things away, so you will have to read it to find out what I mean.
3.5/5
With that said, I somehow still liked the story. It was a story a lot of people will relate to. Not the murder thing, but somehow they will connect to the girl, Jenna. I can't explain it without giving things away, so you will have to read it to find out what I mean.
3.5/5
April 8, 2015
Jenna has decided to investigate the past once her father's killer is released from prison. But what she finds may be nothing like what she thought really happened that fateful night. More problems seem to come up as Jenna spends more time obsessing with the past, including distancing herself from her friends and becoming less and less reliable than she always was before. How is it that as soon as her father's killer is released, Jenna's whole world seems to fall apart? Is it him or her own doing?
This is a good murder mystery for junior high on up. I felt at times that the characters were a little flat so I don't know that I really felt a major connection to them but I did like to storyline and the twists that came with unraveling the mystery. This book is good for all readers and was one of the cleanest books I have read in quite some time. A good edition to any library collection.
This is a good murder mystery for junior high on up. I felt at times that the characters were a little flat so I don't know that I really felt a major connection to them but I did like to storyline and the twists that came with unraveling the mystery. This book is good for all readers and was one of the cleanest books I have read in quite some time. A good edition to any library collection.
August 2, 2013
All her life, teen Jenna Cooper has felt she's missed out on a good life. Days after she was born, Travis Bingham shot and killed her father while he was robbing the family store. Less than a year later, her mom attempts suicide and is now rotting away in a nursing home where she does not always recognize her children. Jenna's older brother has taken on the role of parent to Jenna, Jenna's older sister and her sister's son. They are all scraping to get by. Jenna wonders what her life could have been if Travis hadn't taken it all away the day he killed her father. When Jenna reads in the newspaper that Travis has been released from prison after 15 years, she has to decide if she's ready to confront this cold-blooded killer. Little does Jenna know that the truth does not always set you free.
January 4, 2014
Good book. Quite short, but well written and unusual. I haven't read many teen novels where the main character lives in a slummy apartment with her older brother & looks after her druggie older sister's boy, as well as minding the children of various other no-hopers in the building. Maybe I'm reading the wrong kinds of books but I feel like most YA protagonists are usually kind of privileged.
Jenna was a great character, I loved her. One of those people who are comfortable being themselves, even if it's not cool. She said what she thought without trying to pretend anything, and didn't take any crap.
Jenna was a great character, I loved her. One of those people who are comfortable being themselves, even if it's not cool. She said what she thought without trying to pretend anything, and didn't take any crap.
February 27, 2013
The characters are well developed in this novel. The descriptions of her apartment and family situation are very vivid. I liked that a friendship develops between girls from two seemly disparate groups. It may not be an entirely realistic friendship, but it is good for teens to read about the universality of human experience. We all feel loss and long for friendship. The twist in the story behind her father’s murder is interesting and it also teaches readers that there is always more to a story.
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June 13, 2013Jenna Cooper never knew her Dad. He was murdered a few days after she was born, during a convenience store robbery. Now fifteen, Jenna blames his murderer, Travis Bingham for her family's problems: poverty, inner-city life and mom's mental illness. When Jenna discovers that Travis has been released from prison, she becomes obsessed with meeting him. When they finally meet, Jenna is unprepared for what she learns; that there is more to the murder than what she was led to believe.
May 11, 2013
I enjoyed this book. The story was a nice realistic YA fiction with a bit of mystery tossed in. I felt like Jenna was actually a believable teenage girl, most books I've read with characters this age aren't realistic. With most you can tell it's an adult writing about a teenager, this book you can't really tell.
September 1, 2013
Aside from the cliché title, this is a decent little short story. I wouldn't really call it a mystery, but rather that the unraveling of the truth of the narrator's life is different than the stories she had been told. This is her journey to find that truth and make sense of how her past impacted her current life.
January 10, 2015
"Whatever Doesn't Kill You" is a well-written, interesting YA book. In the midst of dealing with regular teenage social struggles, fifteen year old Jenna is determined to uncover the truth about her father's murder and the far-reaching impact of his death. She finds the answers, but they weren't what she (or the reader) was expecting.
Short-listed for the 2015 MYRCA.
Stars:3.5/5
Short-listed for the 2015 MYRCA.
Stars:3.5/5
April 20, 2013
This story wasn't so bad, but it was totally unsurprising. I read the entire story in 2 hours and thought it was a light read for a Saturday morning. You won't hate it, but not enough story for me to love.
April 29, 2013
Fast paced read with an unusual twist. Not a 'deep think' read, but enjoyable!
November 2, 2013
A Canadian coming of age novel set in Hamilton, ON. A decent easy read that had a bit of a twist at the end.
January 17, 2014
Loved it! Had to rate it for the stellar book award and I loved every twist and turn the story of Jenna's mystery took!!!
February 5, 2015
Would have liked to give it a higher rating, but was diappointed in one character's use of the R-word, and no mention by anyone else of it being innapropriate.
April 25, 2015
I like this book although I found there was too much drama in it.
I felt like there could've been more mystery, and there could've been less about the living conditions the family was in.
I felt like there could've been more mystery, and there could've been less about the living conditions the family was in.
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