Here's what I wrote in 2011 about this read: "WOW. What a punch this packs. Totally modern (example, the teens text videos) and broadsweeping. Skippy dies; who contributed and who (all) ignored the signs? Lori and Ruprecht survive and will carry on." A bit surprisingy, I can't recall a thing about it here in 2023. ( )

This was a fantastic book, probably my favourite book this year. So many different characters and pieces falling in and out of the story. Brilliant, funny, sad, exhausting, I loved every bit of it. ( )

Must be a guy thing. Couldn't get through it. ( )

Made it to about page 40, and it wasn't engaging me, which is odd, because I usually love coming of age/boarding school stories. Didn't care for the style; didn't care about the characters, and more promising things arrived from the library...may go back to it sometime.

Set in a Catholic boys school in modern day Ireland, Skippy Dies follows the intertwined, tragic lives of three students (including Skippy), a girl at the sister school, a history teacher, and the principal. Skippy dies in the very first pages of the book, and the book goes on to tell the backstory and aftermath of his death.

There were some things about this book that I really, really liked. A lot happens to these characters, and you do find yourself reading frantically to find out what and why. The writing style is engaging and definitely keeps you reading. I enjoyed the revealing of the how these lives intertwined.

Unfortunately, I felt as though the author just tried too hard. The teenage characters struggled with a lot of angst, and the depth of that angst was well written, but all four of them took it to such an extreme that I felt it wasn't quite realistic. I can't really get into the specifics without revealing spoilers, but if there is something bad that a teen could do to themselves and others - - they did it, or dealt with it. All in one book. Yet, I didn't quite care. And for me, that's where the problem really arose. The characters didn't quite come to life for me. It should have been very emotional reading, and it just wasn't for me.

The book did remind me of others - - Prep, I am Charlotte Simmons, and yes, Infinite Jest. With Infinite Jest, the high points are a LOT higher, and Skippy Dies is certainly more coherent, but there are elements that are "out there" as well. Unfortunately, those elements really didn't add to the story for me, and I found them to be a bit dull when they appeared. Clearly, the author was trying to make some kind of statement by incorporating these elements (having to do with space, the beginning of the universe, and string theory) . . .maybe I just wasn't smart enough to "get it".

Ultimately, I enjoyed the book while I was reading it, but it just left me unsatisfied at the end.
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