Book Talk: Life By Committee by Corey Ann Haydu

Want an “at a glance” look at what I thought? Check out my Review On A Post-It or my “Final Thought”

Tabitha has been ditched by her friends who think she’s suddenly changed just because she’s gotten bigger boobs and become a bit of a beauty. She’s dealing with mean rumors at school. Her parents are having a baby. And the boy she thinks she is in love with (whom she’s sure shares the same feelings)  and has been secretly hooking up with? He has a girlfriend. It’s almost serendipitous that she finds this online community called Life By Committee to share her secret relationship with. The rules? If you share a secret, you will be given an assignment to compete within  a certain amount of time that ensures YOUR secret is kept safe. The assignments give Tab a chance to do things, related to her secrets, that she would never do on her own — a chance to take risks and be bold — until they assignments toe the line of causing absolute havoc in her life and the lives around her.

HOLY SHIT. *sends frantic g-chat to April saying,  “LIFE BY COMMITTEE. Read that shit!”

WOW. This book. It was as addictive as it was powerful and thought-provoking. I’m going to have a hard time talking about this one. You should know it made my top ten books of 2014 so far…that’s how much I loved it!

Here’s what you need to know:

1. I FREAKING LOVED EVERY MOMENT OF IT. Everything about this book was just flawless for me and MAN Corey Ann Haydu can WRITE. The things I need for a book to really stand out were in this book. It was complex, beautifully written, gripping and thought-provoking. Honestly I’m really frustrated because I don’t have the words to explain what an EXPERIENCE this book was.

2. The story nor the characters are of the “neat and tidy bow” variety: The main character, Tabitha, is not always someone you like and you are going to cringe often because of her though, actually at her core, I really LIKED her. We would be friends despite me not liking her actions sometimes. I mean, there is cheating and Tabitha KNOWS the guy  has a girlfriend and she does it anyway. Some of the decisions made because of the Committee are going to infuriate you. The story is not always black and white and Tabitha is just trying to figure it all out because life is not so simple always. I could feel myself wanting to SHOUT about things but, in my heart, I could UNDERSTAND things — the way Tabitha is acting because of how she’s been treated at school, how alone she felt in not yielding to what people wanted her to be, etc.  But it was such a raw portrait of how we as humans deal with the mistakes we’ve made in life. It’s messy and complicated and imperfect and I LOVED IT. And it just isn’t Tabitha that but also some of the secondary characters…and they just were all such so ALIVE and complex..just the way I like it. Lots of learning and picking up the pieces to the messes you’ve made — not just for Tabitha but for other characters.

3. The concept was TOTALLY original! Secret online society? HELL YEAH: I was fascinated by the idea of this online community from the initial idea of it — a community that would keep your deepest secrets, but in return for telling a secret, you would get an assignment related to that secret and HAD to complete what they told you to do or all your secrets would be shared. I totally felt how exhilarating this new community was as someone who has gotten sucked into MANY online communities. There’s that camaraderie. That obsessive logging in and just being OBSESSED WITH IT. I was always dying to know what assignment would be given next. I could totally understand Tabitha’s interest in being bold and DOING things which is what the assignment’s were supposed to do — push the limits with whatever situation you were dealing with. It was exciting and I think, at the core, it was supposed to be super empowering. But then you see what happens when other people start dictating your life for you and how maybe that isn’t a good thing especially as some of the assignments get a little bit out of hand and could have some really lasting effects.

4. Seriously, this book was addictive and unpredictable in the best way possible. You’ll be reading faster and faster because you want to know what is going to happen next with Tabitha’s missions and then a point came where something happens and it was VERY MUCH an “OMG” moment for me because I sat STRAIGHT up from my lounging position (to which Will laughed and said, “Shit must have gotten REAL in your book.” and I was FRANTICALLY flipping back through the whole book to see THINGS.

+ writing, plot, characterization, addictive factor…really it has it ALL.
– NADA

Re-readability: I already want to read it again!!
Would I buy a copy for my collection? Absolutely!

people who don’t mind characters who make big mistakes and are super unlikeable at times, contemporary YA lovers who like messy & complicated stories, people who like smart & thought-provoking books

Corey Ann Haydu’s Life by Committee is one of my favorite books I’ve read so far this year. It’s addictive, well-written and the way in which it constructs and deconstructs these characters just drives home the fact that PEOPLE and interactions are complex and life is messy. There are a lot of really thought-provoking themes that kept me up late at night that are woven together brilliantly with the page-turning plot that never became predictable. Highly recommend!

* Have you read this one? What did you think? Similar or different from me? I would LOVE to hear regardless!
* If you haven’t read it, is it something on your radar or that you think you will read?
* Did you find yourself sympathizing with Tabitha or no?
* Did you kind of LOVE the idea of this online community at first and then were like OH NO NO STOP?
* Were you SHOCKED by THE THING?