Early Departures

By: Justin A. Reynolds

Narrated by: A.J Beckles, Preston Butler III

Like Adam Silvera’s They Both Die at the End and Colleen Hoover’s It Ends with Us, Early Departures by Justin A. Reynolds, author of Opposite of Always, is a powerful and deeply moving YA contemporary novel with a speculative twist about love, death, grief, and friendship.

What if you could bring your best friend back to life—but only for a short time?

Jamal’s best friend, Q, doesn’t know that he died, and that he’s about to die . . . again. He doesn’t know that Jamal tried to save him. And that the reason they haven’t been friends for two years is because Jamal blames Q for the accident that killed his parents.

But what if Jamal could have a second chance? A new technology allows Q to be reanimated for a few weeks before he dies . . . permanently. And Q’s mom is not about to let anyone ruin this miracle by telling Q about his impending death. So how can Jamal fix everything if he can’t tell Q the truth?

Early Departures weaves together loss, grief, friendship, and love to form a wholly unique homage to the bonds that bring people together for life—and beyond.

Wow! Life changing!

Really makes you rethink life! I'd love to have to opportunity Q's mom and friend's had.

The performance was good but did not match

The performer who did the reading had a really nice voice that was easy to listen to. The only problem was that his voice was too smooth to voice the characters. The tone and writing that was used was very different from that of the performer.

However, that’s my only complaint with this.

This was the BEST book I’ve ever listened too!!

This book, wow. I loved the story line, the characters, how they were played out, and how the readers emphasized their personalities. I read this book for an english class for an independent study and I am so glad I chose this. It was new so I thought to give it a go. Best book ever. It gave me so much perspective on life and that we really only live once. Please consider reading/listening to this sometime soon!!

Wow!

This was a great concept and execution. The author does a good job with bringing up touchy topics like depression, grief, and forgiveness It really makes you think of how one would live their lives if they knew they only had a few days to live. Overall, I really enjoyed this one.