Book Review - The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud

The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud by Ben Sherwood

With the movie being released in a few days I decided I should finally post a review up of the book. I'll follow it up with the movie review which i'm headed to see on Saturday.

I've already seen some discrepancies between the trailers and the book, but who knows.

I don't want to give too much away for people who may read this book or see the movie. You can always Wikipedia it if you want spoilers.

The story focuses on Charlie, who is 15 at the onset of the book, but includes Charlie's brother Sam, 12 years old, and later Tess, Charlie's love interest. An accident occurs and Sam is killed... though it sounds sad and final, that's just the beginning of the story. Hence the word "death" before the word "life" in the books title.

As the book unfolds you see Charlies love for his family and the insane desire he has to take care of those around him. I loved the character of Charlie. He's so kind, patient, protective and nostalgic. He strives to keep everything the same, as much as possible.

Long story short - Charlies love for his family and the compassion he shows towards people who were consumed by events beyond his control is amazing. If you've ever lost someone, physically or emotionally, from your life you will understand every single moment of this book. I cried within 10 pages and basically never stopped crying the whole way through.

This is a story of tragedy, loss and unfathomable courage and devotion.

Read it.

It's now holds a place in my Top 10 books. In fact, it's only a few notches below #1, but #1 is a story for another day.