Another cliche was the lip-licking, salivating pedophile who is moving furniture into the house next to hers. Maddie not talking to her crush was another cliche, but shy teens are also a thing. Trying not to be spoilery, but a cliche happened around that, I thought was well-placed. I figured immediately that they'd die in a car accident or something and felt bad. (Getting together with family and stuff, I mean) I thought it was also -super- interesting how originally, two douchebags at her school are best friends whose death dates are the same. That was actually a sweet thing upon my second time reading this. One character's actions were positive ones, 'like she knew' she was going to die. The cliches that annoyed me so much until one infuriated me enough to never want to read the book again: I pardoned some because it's YA, not for adults, and others were about how different deaths were portrayed. Anyway, the author can write teenagers really well. I totally forgot where I was going with that.

I will point out I do think most decisions Stubby and Maddie made -were- the actions of stubborn teenagers who tend towards impulsivity in times of strong emotion. Every interaction in the book, I'd figure 'My mom likely went through that.' Maddie's best friend, Stubby, is put into jail due to him being suspected of murdering a girl because he's stalking her anyway, and Maddie -smiles- at his behavior. She never talks about her mom, who died from severe cirrhosis. I thought of my mom every time this showed up. Real-world issues are major themes of this book: her mom is an alcoholic, and my heart broke at how it was portrayed. What a fascinating premise! What a great idea to have this take place when she's sixteen and still navigating the world, not yet an adult who's been changed a little by life experiences or more jaded. She's been able to do this since a young age.

This is a YA thriller about a protagonist, Maddie, who can see the dates of peoples' deaths on their foreheads. The second time, I picked up the book -remembering- them, -preparing- myself for them.and finding out this book's cliches were no longer the actions of a bitey puppy, but a well-trained dog who could do amazing tricks. The first time, I was hugely let down by cliches that kept nipping at me until one finally bit me on the inside of my arm. Did I really only rate this book now? Wow.

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