The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die a Great and Exciting Book

WHS Lions Pride Original Story:

by Darryl Warren

What if you forgot who were? Would the thought of mysterious men planning your death was eating at you like cancer? Before you prepare yourself for what you’re about to experience, picture yourself as a shell of yourself. Imagine if you had one chance to save life, because that’s Cady had to do.

This book entitled The Girl Who Was Supposed to Die may sound generic and simple, but the graphic details that lie within the pages are anything but that. A young teenager girl has woken up in a cabin, not knowing who she is, where she’s at or how she got there.  The only thing she can remotely understand is a picture that lies in her pocket. While she tries to get a grasp on what’s going on, she over hears men saying things such as “Finish her off” and “Take care of her.” Immediately, I was hooked.

One of the men rush out one of the cabin rooms and ties her up in a chair. After struggling for a few minutes, she manages to escape and untie herself from the chair. As I’m reading this, I can picture the violent confrontation going through my head. In the beginning, it’s a little hard to understand what’s going on due the author April Henry’s heavy description of the scenery. Although this was a bit of a distraction, I felt she did this as a way to build the climax of the story. After the struggle, the girl manages to escape to a security office near a local resort. She begins having a panic attack while trying to explain to Officer Dillow about her recent events.

As Officer Dillow tries to call the police department, the young girl receives a phone call on the phone she stole from her attacker. The entourage from the cabin eventually tracks her down and explains to Officer Dillow she is a patient from a mental hospital that has escaped. The young girl, terrified and confused insists that she doesn’t even know her own name. This moment felt almost theatrical in sense where the reader, or audience, can’t tell who is the protagonist or antagonist. It’s almost like putting yourself in her situation.

Still confused who she is, the girl manages to escape to a near-by McDonalds. This time she’s armed with a gun. A young man named Ty finds her armed with a gun in the men’s restroom; in fear of his life and probably her life, he pleads that she explains what’s going on. The girl goes into grave detail about her attacks and her attempted murder and begs for Ty’s assistance. Out of fear that they might both die as a result of his negligence, he hides her in a trash can as he sees the van that her attackers were in approach the restaurant.

Still scared out of her wits, Ty finds it within his heart to take her home with him. This turning point felt crazy and risky, picking up a random girl from the streets to save her from murderers. Risky, but well executed. As the two get acquainted, we see that there’s a bit of a spark between the two. Later on the next day, they find out that her name is Cady and her family is missing. Ty comes up with the idea that if she disguises herself as a guy, it will be harder to find her. Cady cuts her hair, grabs a skateboard from Ty, borrows some of his clothes and adopts the name Michael. So far the plan is going as followed, but things are about to get gruesome.

The duo makes their way to the library to find out that Officer Dillow has been murdered. Not only that, there is an Amber Alert in effect due to the lack of Cady’s whereabouts. The guilt that begins to ravage Cady’s body like a hacksaw. At this point in the book, Cady and Ty begin to take more desperate measures. After receiving a message from her estranged aunt, Cady and Ty go to a local gym and steal a car to head to this unknown location.

When they get there, they are greeted by a woman that Cady has never heard of. That’s because she is a part of a scandal gone horribly wrong. She reveals that she has Cady’s family held hostage and she is about to receive a swift punishment. Apparently, Cady’s parents were scientific researchers who came up with a vaccine for a rare disease that was spreading throughout their town. She explains that they wanted to use the vaccine as a marketing scheme, meaning they wanted to charge patients a heavy price to get vaccinated. Both Cady and Ty are held at gunpoint when the original entourage from earlier bursts through the hotel room doors.

The whole time I was reading this book, I kept repeating to myself “Why hasn’t this been made into a movie yet?” You can almost feel the pain Cady is going through; something similar to a witness testimony. The chemistry that the character shared between one another makes it hard to believe that this book is non-fiction. Although the ages of the characters and the graphic contents are emphasized a lot, this book can be enjoyed by anyone. For a final rating, I give this book a 10/10.