This is a novel for young people about a 17 year old girl, Sloane, whose older sister Talley dies by suicide. After the death, Sloane finds a mysterious list that her sister made, and the plot involves her trying to work out what the list means. They live in Minnesota but Sloane eventually takes a trip to the West coast and meets people who had known Talley. She eventually uncovers some family secrets and gets a better understanding of her sister’s life.

The early chapters of the novel tell of the day before Talley died, introducing us to Sloane and their father, and Sloane’s best friend Juno. We never find out much about why Talley was suicidal except that she was depressed. We find out about what a charismatic person she was and how brilliant she was, yet she refused to go to college. While Talley meets people who knew her, it seems that Talley was quite secretive and sometimes misled people about what was going on in her life. So there’s no great revelation about “the answer” and Talley remains rather mysterious even by the end of the book.

So the story is more about Sloane’s grief process, her feelings of guilt, and her need to get closer to her dead sister. Sloane is not very close with her father, and she feels that she has no one to turn to, which is why she goes on a trip. By the end of the book she has met people who become important to her and she has gone through significant growth.

The Survival List is an engaging story, and is performed well by Sarah Mollo-Christensen in the unabridged audiobook. It remains surprisingly low-key most of the time, and is naturally dark in its tone. While there isn’t a great story here, the book is educational about both suicide and grief.

http://www.courtneysheinmel.com/

© 2019 Christian Perring

Christian Perring teaches in NYC.