The Boy Who Couldn't Die

by William Sleator

When seventeen-year-old Ken's best friend Roger dies in a plane crash, Ken suddenly realizes that he too could die at any moment. Terrified, he seeks out a plump, middle-aged psychic named Cherie Buttercup, who grants him invulnerability from death in exchange for his soul. Eager to test his new powers, Ken talks his family into a vacation in the Caribbean, where he can swim with sharks. There he is entranced with Sabine, a young scuba instructor, and shares his story with her.

When Ken begins to have vivid dreams of secret murders, he and Sabine realize that Cherie Buttercup is using his soul as a zombie to do her will. But the dreams also give clues as to where his soul is hidden--so the pair set out to retrieve it.

- Patty Campbell (Amazon.com review)

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Fantasy, Fiction, Zombies, Supernatural, Paranormal

161 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

About the author

William Warner Sleator III was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland on February 13, 1945, and moved to St. Louis, MO when he was three. He graduated from University City High School in 1963, from Harvard in 1967 with BAs in music and English.

For more than thirty years, William Sleator thrilled readers with his inventive books. His House of Stairs was named one of the best novels of the twentieth century by the Young Adult Library Services Association.

William Sleator died in early August 2011 at his home in Thailand.

Reviews

[The Local Spooky Hermit · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. confusing, with no logic at points at fucking all..
stupid spoiled teen's bestfriend dies decides to remove his soul from his body to become immortal. goes to psychics and craps on them "peh they thought i wanna talk to my friend I can't do that hes dead." OKAY BUT YOU TRUST SOME CRAIGSLIST LADY TO REMOVE YOUR SOUL AND NOT TELL YOU WHERE SHES GONNA PUT IT?? BC THATS POSSIBLE AND NOT DUMB TO DO.
wow $50 to take my soul and not tell me where you're putting it? Here take my money!!
Anyways he gets a girlfriend (who he at first said was ugly???) I still don't even get why they are dating or why he loves her after(oh yeah. Plot) a week or something trip (that his parents let him plan and set up and then bullies his mom bc she thinks its dangerous for her son to dive in open ocean bc -plot- HES 16!! to a tropical island so he can go there to get chewed on by a shark to prove after already doing so twice before that he can't get hurt. (I'm sure there's other closer to home not stupid ways to prove it.. again)
He goes home after the trip and guess what? The totally legit lady is making his soul go around killing ppl as he sleeps. (Look I don't get it either but he buys a plane ticket to bring his gf from a tropical island country to New York to help him for... bc the plot demands it. (His soul shows up on the plane with a grenade but then Her flight went fine though??? but his soul did show up with a grenade???? So?????? Anyways moving on?? We aren't told how the hell that works out) And so in this super urgent time they need him to run away from home to (location of soul). BUT HOLD UP IM GONNA GET US A LIMO BABY BC IM RICH AND GOT A CREDIT CARD. Aaaaaand on to the floor the book goes.
Also spoiled teen had a dream that his bestfriends body is dug up and is now a henchman zombie.. but thats forgot real fast bc "oh no poor me wah" and she's a zombie too.. skipped to the end saw that. Blegh. Goodbye
Read some more.. why is he using the tank of air on the way to get his soul back if he does not need it while invulnerable?? Like.. SAVE THAT SHIT YOU MIGHT NEED IT. And when you are on your way to get his soul how about just telling spoiled boy "hey im invulnerable too so like don't waste money on food or worry ill be hurt too." LIKE WTF WORK TOGETHER USE YOUR BRAINS!!! The further I read the less it makes sense. a house that was warm and food was cooked, in a car with all the shit they dragged around and ppl. Where all also zombied? Like its winter and a road that WAS PLOWED IS NOT REALLY PLOWED. I. DONT. UNDERSTAND. THEY JUST DROVE THERE IN SNOW. ATE FOOD FOR 2 DAYS IN THAT HOUSE AND GOT WARM. WTF IS THIS THIS MAKES NO SENSE. WHY AM I STILL READING THIS.

[Jena · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boy Who Couldn't Die was honestly the best book I have ever read. The action started right on the first page and when some people hear a book about zombies they think it's going to be stupid, but deffinetly not this book. I borrowed it from the library and finished it in a week, its a great, short book. I'm already going out to buy it for myself. But anyways, the action started right away. I highly recommend this book. Once you get to the 9th or 10th chapter you can't put the book down. It will calm down but then you'll be back on your toes. The ending was great, I didn't expect that to happen! But anywho, Get this book immediatly its seriously great and to be honest I dont like reading too much but I'd pick this book up again anytime. It was a really great book.

[Celestasaurus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horribly boring book.  Painful to read. I can't believe I read it.

Here's what it's about:
After his friend died, Ken grows paranoid about death.  At least, he does until he finds the "perfect" solution - invulnerability.  It turns out, though, that the girl that turned him invulnerable (for a small sum of $50) took his soul and is now controlling him as a zombie.  Oh, and at the end, he finds out that his "girlfriend" is a zombie too.

I know--zombies, right? I thought it would be great. (You're reading a zombie movie lover ranting here.) But it was just . . . off.

[Jayla]

The Book that I chose is The Boy Who Couldn’t Die by William Sleator. This story takes place in modern day. The setting is in NY City, in the USA. In this book William Sleator tells a very dark and intriguing tale about a boy named Ken. Ken is very upset after his good friend Roger dies. In an effort to rid himself from the pain of this loss, Ken resorts to selling his soul to Cheri Buttercup, a voodoo priestess, for $50. At first, everything is great. Ken finds that not only is the pain gone, but he is now invulnerable. No one can hurt him and he is very strong and powerful. Shortly after this, things start to go bad. Ken starts to have nightmares and evil things begin to happen. Evil things that appear to involve Ken, but he can’t remember doing any of these things. What Ken doesn’t know is that he has become a zombie. On a trip to the Caribbean Islands, Ken meets Sabine. Sabine, a girl who is a zombie like Ken, helps Ken to realize the truth of what is happening to him. Ken realizes that the only solution to his problem to go and get his soul back. When Ken tries to do this, Cheri has raised the price. She now wants $50,000 in exchange for Ken’s soul. Ken doesn’t have the money. Sabine helps Ken by telling him how to go about searching for a way to defeat Cheri, which Ken successfully does and receives his soul back, although it was a difficult challenge. Ken learns that what he thought was a small price to pay for immortality was actually much more than what he had bargained for.

The novel addresses many themes. Avoidance of pain is one theme that I think contributes to the book because Ken, the main character is trying to avoid pain of death. Another is running away from your problems, Ken is trying to run away from death and run away from the bullies. Taking the easy way out is Ken trying to not end up like his friend Roger and does anything to avoid that situation. Darkness and death are just minor themes that are addressed in this story.

I would recommend this story to all of my friends. I absolutely love this book! Every time you read it, each chapter leaves you wanting to know more. It is a story that never has a boring moment. I give this book 5 star!

[Joseph Renicker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Have you ever wished that you were immortal? In William Sleator’s The Boy Who Couldn’t Die the main character Ken finds himself asking this question. The conflicts found in this book definitely could not happen in real life. The story revolves around a boy named Ken whose friend recently died. The death of his friend had Ken very upset. One day when Ken was looking for psychics to that would allow him to talk to his friend he found a rather peculiar ad.
When Ken was searching in a magazine for a psychic he saw an ad for a woman named Cherri Buttercup. He went to her house in Queens and Explained his situation, he wanted to be safe from death. She told him in order to be safe from death he must first die, when he gets up to walk away she says “Death is part of the ritual… I can’t hide your soul unless I take it first. He ends up agreeing and letting her take his soul, Later in the story he is beat up and doesn't feel the pain, he is seen as a social outcast and decides he wants a normal life again. When he tries to get his soul back he is met with difficulty from Cherri Buttercup who says it will cost him $50,000 to get his soul back so he and a girl he met while on vacation in St Calao go and get it back themselves.
This was the first book i have read in awhile that i didn’t like. The writing was bad, and honestly very boring. Overall I give this book a 1 out of 5 stars, There were many reasons i didn’t like the book i can’t really state all of them but this is definitely one of, if not the least favorite book i've ever read.

[Sammy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know, there were only 50 pages left... but it would have been 50 pages of torture! I feel bad saying this... but this book was horrible. I thought it was going to be okay because the first chapter was decent but... meh... just... meh.

The writing was horrible, the characters were horrible, the plot points were horrible... BLARGH! The horribleness of this book is seeping into my review. The author did not give the reader benefit of the doubt... practically spelling and explaining everything out for them, sometimes repeating information over and over again. This wasn't really mystery or suspense because it was all taken out. Hopefully the author can revise a lot before the book comes out because it needs a lot of revising. The dialogue and relationships are fake and not believeable. Things happen too fast and most of the stuff that does happen I'm not able to see happening. Not the stealing of the soul or anything, I can make myself believe that, but the freedom this kid has and his ability to do so much, it's just inconceivable.

But really what killed me was the writing... just... ugh... I can't say anything except noises of frustration and disgust. The writing was basic... there we go. Every action had to be explained and repeated and over analyzed, which I hate in a book. I mean, some things need to be explained, but the author needs to trust that the reader will get it. And apparently this author doesn't trust his reader.

Trust: The Anti-drug bad book.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

After 17-year-old Ken's best friend, Roger, dies in a plane crash, Ken becomes obsessed with death and is constantly afraid of dying. This finally leads him to Cherie Buttercup, a creepily sweet old psychic who promises him that she can store his soul for him, thus rendering him invulnerable. At first Ken is thrilled with his new power, but as one might expect, it turns out that the price is more than he bargained for.

This is an enjoyably creepy YA thriller from a master of the genre. What's funny is that I could have sworn I saw this book on the shelf when I was a kid, but according to the copyright information, it was only published a few years ago, so I'm probably thinking of a different Sleator novel or something. Anyway, it's good fun.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is FUN to read,it captivates your attention and it has lots of details so that you wont be wondering "How did he do that!" or "What is that zombie thing?" I guess all i can say is that for me this book is a must-read because its so creepy yet fun to read.

[Meghan Delesky · Rating 4 out of 5]

An edge of your seat thrill ride. Never wanting to put it down. It's a great story to keep you up at night wondering what is to come next.

[oli ! · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

This book was a quick read, but it was good, nothing too special though, which is why it isn’t rated higher. Creepy at some points, especially the dreams, and it kept me interested throughout.

It wrapped up quick, and I thought the ending, of I guess like the “main plot line”, was good. However, literally within the last two pages, a pretty big secret is revealed. This threw the whole thing off for me. The book was quick-paced, yes, but this was too far. I suppose it did explain a couple things though, but they didn’t warrant that big of a twist. I would’ve preferred if the knowledge she had was just attributed to living on the island, or maybe a relative dealing with something similar.

Overall, it was a fairly good book. Probably wouldn’t reread it, but would definitely recommend it, especially to those trying to get out of a reading slump.

[Donna Munro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Boy Who Couldn't Die is an edgy transitional MG/YA book about a boy who gives his soul to a voodun priestess. Though the magic is a bit mushy, the relationship that develops between the boy and his friend from the Caribbean is interesting. it's a fast read with some good scares. This is not meant to be deep or a lasting literary read. It's fast horror and would be perfect for reluctant boy readers. Sometimes you just need a good MG scare. There is a pretty effective twist that I wanted to see more of... That's not so much a critique as it is a nod.

[sel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in 8th grade, changed my whole life trajectory.

[Jenna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Creative and interesting concept, very poor execution. Ken was set up to be a complex character with powerful and unorthodox motivations: He never wants to die because he's experienced the death of his best friend, and now death terrifies him. But he's immediately unlikable and grows more so as the story goes on. He tries to steal a guy's girlfriend just to prove he can, though he considers her only to be "hot," dumb, and boring; he is a complete idiot about his invulnerability, showing it off without ever having a decent plan for how to explain it to others; he notices Sabine's "hot body" but initially doesn't even want her to sit next to him because her face is "so homely," though he does later come to see her as beautiful once he gets to know her (one of the few things about him I found relatable). But I could have put up with his superficiality if he'd held onto his initial motivation or showed a believable character arc. He doesn't. As soon as Sabine reveals what his soul is doing, he is 100% ready to give up his immortality. Should he have wanted to do that when he found out his soul was killing people? Yes. Should he have done so without great angst over the idea of being subject to death again? Emphatically no. The concept that brought me to the book in the first place was dropped without explanation before the halfway point and never explored again. The rest of the book is just zombie-soul hunting and romance, though at this point I was so done with Ken I honestly didn't care. And those little hints that Sabine might know more than she's telling? Oh, yeah, she's a zombie, too. Cool. Don't expect any explanation for why, or how, or who made her one, or why she's such a hypocrite that she would make Ken get his soul back without doing the same to hers. Why not? Superficial Ken loves her anyway, so he doesn't care. Neither does the author, though this book is so short that there was definitely room to develop that plotline. Neither should you, in spite of all the nonsense you've put up with to get to this point in the story. Nope. Just "I guess I'm in love with a zombie" and the end. Good riddance.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had worried that all Sleator's best work was behind him in the 70's or 80's, even though Parasite Pig turned out pretty good after all. This one is quite good, bumped to four stars after a slight twist at the end worthy of a Twilight Zone or Tales From the Crypt episode. It would have been four all along except it suffers from a slight weakness in common with Parasite Pig.

I often say that a good story with a central mystery pivots so that what the main character originally thought was the mystery turns out to be something very different, as long as it's convincing. Brandon Sanderson's work suffers because his characters focus on the big Aha right from the start and then he has to drag it out as long as possible before revealing it at the end. The Boy Who Couldn't Die is a good example of the better way to do it: have the main character make progress on the problem for a while and then realize the problem is different than originally suspected. Now the main character has to work toward solving a different problem, but the book gets more interesting and draws in the reader with even more curiosity.

So it's very hard to say much about the plot in order not to spoil it for you, but I'll just say what the book ends up being about it just as interesting as a simple exploration of how your life would be if you couldn't die. The only problem is that the beginning has the main character repeatedly mentioning feeling a little weird for no reason, a clumsy foreshadow of the actual problem. It's similar to the main character in Parasite Pig being so intent on making clearly bad decisions, which makes sense later but really doesn't mean enough when it's written.

There were also some references in here that I thought I might get if only I were a little better read (a place called "Dunwich" which is supposed to be in upstate New York but doesn't exist in real life, for example). I was horrified I couldn't fully appreciate them!

[Brendan Bectel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creepy! Creepy is one of the only words that I can use to describe this book. A few others would be interesting and addictive. William Sleator has created a book the will make you loose sleep replaying the unforgettable plot-twists and moments in this book. The Boy Who Couldn't Die follows the story of a 16 year old named Ken from NYC who struggles with death in many ways.

Ken's best friend has just died in a plane crash so Ken makes a very tough decision. He decides to make himself invulnerable. He goes to meet a weird woman who claims she can do this for only the price of $50. He obliges without fully understanding the consequences. Being invulnerable isn't all good. Ken isn't fully in control of his soul. When Ken dreams, he imagines himself doing horrible things that actually happen. Ken during this book meets a girl who helps him understand what has actually happened to him. She helps him understand him form of invulnerability. They go on a very important life altering journey to help Ken find himself , and they also grow a strong bond with each other along the way.

Anyone who has felt that the didn't fell like themselves will love The Boy Who Couldn't Die . Sleator shows us that death is inevitable and that we shouldn't fight it and never take the gift of life for granted. If you are looking for a fast read with enjoy The Boy Who Couldn't Die . The characters, although there aren't too many, are very interesting and unique. To conclude, the book is very interesting and was like nothing I have ever read and made me appreciate the life I have and it also didn't take too long to get trough.

[Lexie Stoneking · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started off really good and interesting. A different plot line, well written, but things went south after the first couple of chapters. The writing style was terrible. If I wouldn't have known any better I would have guessed that it was written by a middle school student. The plot line became twisted and didn't make much sense. Nothing connected anymore and it was all very disjunct. It was like Sleator was trying to make the book intersting and throw in some surprises, but it was too much different information going on. The general idea of the book was good and it was written better than I think the book would be a favorite of many, but the amateur writing style really killed all hope for the book.

[natercopia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was abit creepy despite it's intriguing content about zombies and black magic. No, not the usual zombies they portray in movies and comic books. I like the characters in the story and the struggles they had to go through together. Subtle romance in it which I find it quite delightful to read. Found myself taking less break and I finished it in 2 days. Previously, I read Sleator's House Of Stairs and didn't really enjoy that book as much as I did for this one. This one is a short read and it gets creepier every time when you think about it too much. I know because I did.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have benefited from like 200 extra pages. It was v fast paced and focused only on plot, and if we had gotten more character development and exposition, I think that could've given the book a lot more tension and bumped it up a star rating.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved really this book. Although this was a bit easy to read, it had a great storyline and excitable adventures. With a cliffhanger on almost every chapter, it made me not want to put the book down.

[Jumayar Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's really great book and i like the end because there have some interesting think.

[katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

it’s so bad, don’t read it. at first i kept reading because it was funny how bad it is, but then it was super boring so i stopped reading it about halfway through.

[Mikey Picard]

SPOILER
The book I have chosen to read is The Boy Who Couldn’t Die, by William Sleator. This book takes place in the current time period and the area it takes place is both the Caribbean Sea and New York City. I overall thought this was a very good book, one of the biggest reasons behind this being it was very unique and the plot involved a concept that I had never previously thought of before. Other reasons are the personalities of the characters, the structure of the novel, and how the plot developed and flowed throughout the course of the story. I believe that others who are interested in fantasy, science fiction concepts would enjoy reading this book.
The main character is a high school student named Ken. In the very beginning, we learn that Ken is still mourning over the death of his best friend, Roger. Ken’s parents are very supportive of him in his mourning and recovery from the loss, but Ken is now struggling with the idea of death and desperately tries to find a way to avoid it altogether. Ken does this by seeing several different people in search of a way to not be able to die. Eventually, Ken comes across an ad in the paper that says that for the small price of fifty dollars invincibility will be possible. Ken’s family has a large amount of money and lives in a very nice area, so this money is not a problem. Ken sneakily visits this mysterious woman named Cheri Buttercup and after talking with her, he agrees to give up his soul and allows her to perform her procedure to make him invulnerable. Ken leaves after a scary and odd experience with tons of doubt in his mind that the procedure actually worked. His doubts are proven wrong when he accidentally touches a burning hot stove and surprises both of his parents when he has no reaction. Impressed, but also skeptical, Ken wants to truly test his invulnerability and plans a trip for his family to go to the Caribbean Sea so he can scuba dive with sharks.
While at the Caribbean, Ken began to realize that he was having trouble having some of the emotions that he used to have. He is now unable to experience happiness, sadness, or anger. The only thing that gauges his interest is swimming with sharks, and eventually, the scuba diving instructor named Sabine that becomes Ken's girlfriend. After finishing training to become scuba diving certified, Ken escapes from the group on his first dive in search of a shark. Once he finds one, he gets the shark to try and take a bite of his leg and watches as the shark’s teeth can’t handle it and swim away quickly. Sabine, who witnessed this, seems to understand some of what has happened to Ken and convinced him that he needs to get his soul back in order to get back to normal as soon as possible.
The rest of this book consists of thrilling moments involving Sabine and Ken trying their best to retrieve Ken’s soul without having to give Cheri Buttercup the fifty thousand dollars that she is asking for in order to make it happen. Sabine and Ken are able to work very well together especially in their email chain to communicate with each other effectively even though they are far apart from each other. I enjoyed the suspense in this book and the idea of not knowing what was going to happen next. This book was very unpredictable and the story of Ken trying to find his soul is very enjoyable to read. The author does a great job controlling the mood in this story. He begins the story with a very dark and sad mood and that slowly develops into something that is more interesting but still dark and gloomy. Slowly but surely, the mood in the story increases to something that is happier. The mood significantly picks up when Ken meets Sabine, and she plays a significant role for the remainder of the novel.
I would personally recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the science fiction or fantasy genre of books. William Sleator presents a unique idea for readers to think about and digest throughout the novel and there is a perfect amount of simplicity in the book to make it easy to develop a picture in the reader's head of what is happening in the book at that moment. I found this book appealing to me because I enjoy reading books that offer these new concepts that I have not ever thought of before. I am hoping to read more books that are by this author in the future. I would also recommend to my friends to do the same if they seemed interested by my review.

[Bambi Bunni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a long time ago and then I read it recently after I started dating a guy from the West Indies. My parents are also from the Caribbean and so just want all you who did or didn’t like the book to know that the main event in this book is actually real. This kid sells his soul for a mere $50 just to end up a slave to a priestess because that is what she is. In some Caribbean countries she is what you call a witch doctor or a wanga (which also means the practice of voodoo) at his is something that is actually done in real life. A family member or a friend can also accomplish selling your soul to a Wanga but for a much heftier price. This priestess can also be hired to get rid of people for you.
Society has fictionalized zombies as characters that eat people or brains and can be contagious. These are not the types of zombies a wanga creates. They use real people. 99% of the time these people are alive simply because a living body is the best vessel for the soul.
There is only one type of person a wanga cannot eliminate and those are people who have a very close and very REAL relationship with God or simply Godly favor. I would say the reason is obvious but just to spell it out: The Devil and/or his cohorts must have permission to attack/use a soul, by way of the actual person or permission from God.. And a soul belonging to God cannot be assaulted under his protection. If anyone reads the story of Job in the Bible they will understand what this means. I will give you the shortest version of that story. Job is a true believer and worshiper of God. God and Satan makes a “bet” for lack of a better term, that if God takes away all his blessings, Job will abandon his faith. God tells Satan than he has permission to attack all that Job owns and cherishes even his children. However he states One condition: he cannot take his life. Killing Job would destroy the Job’s vessel.
I say all this to let people know know that even fiction is sometimes based on reality. It is not coincidental that this kid visits the Caribbean where he “happens” to find someone who can explain and assist him with his condition. Many of you will continue to be skeptical, however this is coming from someone who knows these things are real. Some of you are right: the book over explains some things and it’s also written simplistically but I give it it’s score based on authenticity. Thats why I gave this book 5 stars.

[Ashmita Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book titled "The Boy Who Couldn't die" by William Sleator is about a boy named Kan so the story goes like this that his best friend Roger dies in a plane crash and now Kan is really scared to lose himself so plans to keep himself alive all the time, so he decides to meet someone who knows how to keep souls which basically means to hide the soul. Kan found a lot of people but no one wanted to help him because he was too young for and some of then even agreed to this but then were charging a lot of money which couldn't afford. He was then reading a newspaper and found this ad about a woman Named Cherry buttercup he actually went there and told what he wanted from then she asked there must be a reason that you are here, Kan mentioned his friend Roger who died. Cherry decided to help him she only charged fifty dollars from him Kan was finding this weird but then he thought about his fiend so he bought confidence from that and lied on the bad and let Cherry do everything. She went inside her room and bought some kind of ashes and rubbed on his chest, her long pink nails felt on Man's body, he was scared but he didn't wanted to die. He returned home from this ritual and his mom made some soup hat she took out from the oven she actually warned Kan to be away from this hot soup but Kan wanted to test himself if he can get burned or not. This thing actually worked even the big kids in his school used to tease him and threatened him now Kan can beat then up. this all changed and the truth finally came out that Cherry Buttercup was doing this for herself because she was evil, Sabine met Kan in the islands of Caribbean when Kan went out on the vacation with him parents. Sabine told everything to him, now what he wanted his soul back he went to Cherry Buttercup and guess what she changed her mind on this she asked for fifty thousand. Kan than decided to get by himself and Sabine wanted to help him. They both went to Dunwich underwater and found his soul trapped in Calvine Klein perfume bottle. He and Sabine had few minutes of air left to be in the water but Sabijne managed to swam fater and on the top as well as Kan they both survived and Kan even got his soul back but it was the terrible experience for them.

[Kaylin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this book was short - only 161 pages - I still didn't want to put it down. I knew I wouldn't finish it in one sitting, I had stared it at 11 pm so I had to finish it this morning. This book was suspenseful and different from what I usually pick up. About halfway through Ken's story - the main character - I had predicted a similar ending to his story.
As a warning, this book does end on a kind-of cliffhanger. It seems like the story could have continued, but alas, that was not a decision the author made.
The story seemed farfetched from the beginning. A 16 year old boy pays a measly $50 to become invincible? Sure, it's crazy but I still read it for a bit of a thrill. I only felt an inch of the thrill I was looking for when Ken and Sabine dove under the ice and into the cave that contained the dozens of souls this crazy lady tricked out of innocent people. Also, using Roger as a guard their first dive? It was expected, but that doesn't mean I wasn't a little surprised - especially the way Sleator described his zombified body (it was a bit graphic).
The writing style was obviously reaching for an audience that was under 15 years old, as well as diction and syntax. This 16 year old, never-had-to-go-without-anything-ever child was definitely spoiled out of his mind and throughout the story, especially after meeting Sabine, he learned to be thankful for everything he had.
The story itself didn't seem too developed. It seemed like something a new Wattpad author would write for their first story - and a few months later would become "bored" of and never finish. Again, I think this book deserved a better ending - an extension. I do have to keep in mind, this book was only 161 pages and it's difficult to fit a developed story in that little amount of pages.
In my opinion, this book would be perfect for a preteen looking for a quick read about an adventure. It wouldn't be the best for a teen or adult, just because of the writing style. Now, saying this, this book was a good book but it wasn't my favorite - hence the 2 stars I give it right now. I may pick this book up again, and my rating may change. As of now, it's a 2 star book for me.

[Enzo Caronna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book The Boy Who Couldn’t Die by William Sleator is a fiction story which takes place in NY City. This book which is categorized as a horror tells a very gloomy story about the main character. His name is Ken. Early in the book the main character faces the death of a friend named Roger. Ken is very hurt by the recent event and cannot find a way to cope or deal with this horrible tragedy. The young boy decides to sell his soul to Cheri Butter. He sold his soul to the priestess for a fine. Throughout the beginning the book Ken believes everything is good like it was before but he immune to all pain physically and emotionally. Very bad things began to happen to Ken from selling his soul. “ I just had another dream. I killed somebody-i cut his throat. I hope it didn’t really happen, but I’m afraid it did.” This quote explains how Kens was having demonic dreams about a event that did not even occur. Ken has later turned into a zombie-like creature but it does appear to others that he is. Farther in the book Ken meets a woman name Sabine who committed the same act of selling her soul to the priestess. Ken had to pay a big price to get his soul back and in the end he gets its back thanks his friend Sabine he met during the story. I personally would recommend this book to anyone who would like to read a interesting horror story. The ending of the book is good and there would be no need to change it because it is one readers would be satisfied with ending.

[Daltonblihovde · Rating 5 out of 5]

The boy who couldn’t die is about a kid that is 17 years old that loses his best friend in an accident and finds someone in New York where he lives that can do some sort of ritual that can hide your soul so that you cannot die so then he first test it by asking out of the hottest girls school so her boyfriend will be a month then he wants to go get bit by a shark so any ghosts the world Caribbean island and when is school driving he meets a girl and in that island they do all the rituals of the girls warmed him about black magic which she thinks that’s what happened to them so that she tries to help him get his soul back so he doesn’t turn into a zombie that can controlled by anyone that has control over the Salt Lake it’s hidden in some sort of artifact They find the soul based on hints that he gets from dreams where his soul goes off and does terrible things like killing a guy and slitting another guys throat so they find I would that his artifact is in some random town on an island underwater. I thought this book was really good there’s a lot of detail and it’s not a terrible story it’s a pretty quick read.

[Carol Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ken should have asked more questions before he let Cheri Buttercup take his soul in exchange for making him "invulnerable"; that is, unable to die, like his best friend, Roger, just did. Ken's family has lots of money, and Ken is our spoiled, self-centered narrator. He isn't very likeable, which makes it hard to develop any empathy for him, as a reader. We only get to know Ken superficially. He doesn't seem to have deep thoughts or emotions. After becoming invulnerable (it seems like invincible would be a better word, but I'm not the writer), Ken really wants to encounter a shark, so he makes all the reservations for his family to go to a shark-infested Carribean island (unknown to his family). Among the scuba instructors is Sabine, who is his age (about 16). She figures out what Ken is up to, because she seems to be an expert on voodoo and zombies. Eventually, she flies to New York City to help Ken on his dangerous quest to get his soul back. The story ends with a question about Sabine, that leaves room for a sequel. I don't think there is one.

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

SLIGHT SPOILERS

I had such a hard time finishing this book. It was so fast paced, everything was happening at once. I felt like Ken’s motives were so stupid. Your friend dies so you put all your trust in some woman who you just met??

The whole vacation thing made no sense. Your telling me his parents did no research on their vacation spot before going? No sane parents leave all of the planning for a vacation to a kid.

I wasn’t into the romance either. First of all, Ken ends up with a girl who he called ugly at first. Am I supposed to find this cute? There relationship was so rushed. They started dating after a couple conversations. Like, damn, give it time. Also why was so much of this book focused on romance? If I wanted that I would’ve picked up a romance book.

The only reason I’m giving this book 2 stars rather than 1 is because I found the ending enjoyable.

[Catie Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

SO ! *deep breath* I hated this book and loved it all in one. It was hard to get into at first. It started really quickly. But I have this weird thing where I strive to write reviews on all the books I read. So as much as I thought I would hate the book. I LOVED IT. Although, I hated the abrupt ending. It was a fun read, and I don't want to give any spoilers. But Its definitely a great read and an edge of the seat kind of book. Take the time to get into. But don't hate me since I warned you of the ending. Happy Reading. definitely a "good read"

*** 4 stars because I'm petty and in my feelings at the moment about the ending.