Review also available on my blog.
Thought provoking and great discussion starter.
After Kayla dies from a heroin overdose, her friends, boyfriend, and entire community wonder how that could happen to an intelligent, athletic, popular girl.
With an abrupt start, we instantly wonder what happened to Kayla. While I appreciate not wasting too much time with backstories right at the beginning of a novel, in this case, I would have preferred more context than we got. At various points in the story, I kept coming back to this idea of "we need more," particularly, there is an English teacher that I don't even know if she has a name because she was often referred to only as "the English teacher." While this might be an issue when reading the story, it does not impede with the message of the novel itself.
While having too little context at times did not get in the way of the message, the formatting did. For starters, there are long paragraphs that, in my kindle, were more than a page long. They were quick to read, however at first glance, I doubted whether I wanted to keep reading or switch books. Another instance where formatting is an issue is when Sarah is talking to that English teacher. Throughout their conversation, it wasn't clear to me who was speaking, as it only included the names at the beginning of the conversation. Also, the dialogue was quite long, and it often said "she said," (though it wasn't clear to me who "she" was), making me go back pages to try to figure out who was talking (and often failing).
Now, let's talk about the characters. We follow four teenagers during this time of grief, Cass, Sarah, Paul, and Danny, and the different ways they are dealing with Kayla's death. I thought it was a great way to demonstrate different ways of healing (and not) as well. Sarah, for instance, had the absolute support from her father, and she accepted it. Paul, on the other hand, isolated himself. Like I said, it was a great way to demonstrate various perspectives following the death of a loved one, and in fact, that's all I see the characters as. They never felt like "real people" to me, and at times it seemed like they were used to show any grown readers how to deal with teenagers that are grieving.
If you are not one of those that get too hung up on how clear the reading experience is, and you often read books for their message, I would definitely recommend this to you.
That Night was successful in making me think. In one particular scene and probably one of my favourites, there is a discussion about addicts and one time users. I won't spoil anything, but it basically brings up the question of "If Kayla was an addict, would people still be praising her?" and how we, as a society, often shame addicts just because they are addicts, and don't stop to think why they're addicts.
I also appreciated the Author's Note and how it encourages discussion further about drug use and supporting people suffering in general. Really, really loved and respected this.
It might sound like I didn't like this book, but I really did. It is a short, fast paced read that I wished people would read and talk.