The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried
Written by Shaun David Hutchinson
Narrated by Candace Thaxton and Timothy Andrés Pabon
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
“Simultaneously hilarious and moving, weird and wonderful.” —Jeff Zentner, Morris Award–winning author of The Serpent King
Six Feet Under meets Pushing Daisies in this quirky, heartfelt story about two teens who are granted extra time to resolve what was left unfinished after one of them suddenly dies.
A good friend will bury your body, a best friend will dig you back up.
Dino doesn’t mind spending time with the dead. His parents own a funeral home, and death is literally the family business. He’s just not used to them talking back. Until Dino’s ex-best friend July dies suddenly—and then comes back to life. Except not exactly. Somehow July is not quite alive, and not quite dead.
As Dino and July attempt to figure out what’s happening, they must also confront why and how their friendship ended so badly, and what they have left to understand about themselves, each other, and all those grand mysteries of life.
Critically acclaimed author Shaun Hutchinson delivers another wholly unique novel blending the real and surreal while reminding all of us what it is to love someone through and around our faults.
Shaun David Hutchinson
Shaun David Hutchinson is the author of numerous books for young adults, including The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried, The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza, At the Edge of the Universe, and We Are the Ants. He also edited the anthologies Violent Ends and Feral Youth and wrote the memoir Brave Face, which chronicles his struggles with depression and coming out during his teenage years. He lives in Seattle, where he enjoys drinking coffee, yelling at the TV, and eating cake. Visit him at ShaunDavidHutchinson.com or on Twitter @ShaunieDarko.
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Reviews for The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried
249 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I really loved the sense of humor and the character personalities. This book reminded me a little bit of a favorite book of mine, “Undead Girl Gang”
2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book got better as it went along and it ended really well. The characters were realistically flawed and it was easy to relate to their plights. The characters were diverse, the plot was original, and the writing was witty and well composed.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/53.5 stars for me. Both protagonists are annoying so maybe this one should’ve been second person to save us their thoughts. Also I think second person would’ve been better for me to visualize the characters. I didn’t know July was plump until it talked about how she was to be Hairspray.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I liked the book. Quick read and am interesting story line. Definitely a feel good read. It was easily predictable, but I liked the character development enough to excuse it. I would recommend and probably read again.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Interesting ideas.... It's a slow roll of a story really.
Basically a guy hasn't spoken to his best friend for about a year when she suddenly dies of an aneurysm at 17. Only she's not fully dead.... Even though there's been an autopsy?
Basically they spend the book arguing until they finally make up and she does for real. - Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5DNF at 68 pages. Hutchinson's characterisation of high school teens is just... not for me. This is my second attempt at one of his books and, about the same number of pages in as the last book, I'm calling it. Both of these main characters are obnoxious and whiney, but in different ways. The undead girl is hopelessly cruel and impatient making me want to throttle her and just EXPLAIN what she means instead of becoming automatically on the defensive and back-talking to her friend trying to help her. It's immediately obvious to me why these two are no longer friends and I put the blame almost solely on her. These are the types of teens I loathe. I'm just too old for this.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5teen fiction w/undead ex-best friend and LGBTQA interest (main character is gay; his boyfriend is trans), touches on mental health/depression/suicide.
The conversation about having control over one's own feelings (as opposed to being able to control other peoples' feelings) could've been handled a little more sensitively, considering that one of the minor characters had an eating disorder and another, unnamed minor character was clinically depressed and suicidal--there can be chemical imbalances and other reasons why a person cannot just "get over" their mental health issues. I don't think the author meant it that way, I've just become more aware of how we talk about these things lately. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Dino works in the family business, that is, a funeral home so he doesn't mind being around dead bodies.But this body prep is special: it's his best friend, July, who died suddenly of a brain aneurysm. Imagine his shock then when July suddenly wakes up! She's not alive but she's not dead and she's not a zombie, either (no brain-eating in this book). In this limbo state July and Dino argue, cry, drive around, hide out, go to a (weird) party and generally try to figure out their relationship and what is going on. July's decomposing body makes for some colorful scenes (not for the squeamish) and unintended humor. There are some important 'lessons' about loving yourself and allowing yourself to be loved but this reader could never get beyond July's narcissistic actions and words. Others may quibble about the suspension of belief needed to continue reading this story; July's casual lying and cruelty were far more disturbing than any weird nondead stuff.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two great young characters in Dino and July, and told in their two separate points of view. This is a story about friendship, but also about bereavement. It's a humorous told book, yet touching in all the right ways.