Five More Minutes by Darlene Ryan

Summary:

“I play the Five Minutes More game. Five minutes. I can stand anything for five minutes. Even my father being dead.”

D’Arcy’s desperately wants her father’s death to have been an accident. Then she learns the truth. Why would her father choose suicide? Why didn’t she see the signs? How will she manage alone? Then D’Arcy becomes friends with Seth. Now will things get back to normal or will she have to call on strengths she didn’t know she had to make a new kind of normal, five minutes at a time?

Review:

I remember seeing this at Thao's blog a while back and going " That book looks great!" So, when the chance came up to review this I immediately agreed. Unfortunately, Five More Minutes wasn't as good as I had hoped it would be.

First off, I felt that the plot was extremely over dramatized. Everything had to have a bang to it, leaving it to come out in an unrealistic way. Such as, when D'Arcy decided that her half sister, Clara, didn't deserve their Father's watch, she tipped over one of Clara's boxes full of irreplaceable china. Come on, what 16 or 17 year old would do that? I get that she was mad, but it was blown out of proportion, I personally thought.

Though, I did come to love the characters. Each had a layer to them filled with regret and sadness over the situation that made you relate to them in someway or another. D'Arcy was my personal favorite, even if she did sometimes bring messes upon herself. I felt sorry for her for loosing her dad and how her mom didn't want to be a "real" family anymore. Also, Seth, another main character, was a great add to the story

One of my absolute favorite parts of the story was how Darlene Ryan included the game "Five More Minutes." It fit into the story perfectly. Also, it made you come to a conclusion, that even though D'Arcy's dad left his family, he was still a wonderful father. Lastly, a lot of people can relate to this, since when hasn't there been a time, when you went "Just five more minutes."

My only other problem, was that the ending was rushed and felt like just a two page summary. Since, instead of showing what had happened, Darlene just told what had happened, in a quick way. Plus, some of the added detail was once again over dramatized.

Overall, Five More Minutes is the perfect book for a rainy day. Since, it moves in a fast pace and always has you on your toes with the drama.

Grade: C+

Five More Minutes is now out in paperback. Also, be sure to check out Darelene's website.

* Much thanks goes to Darlene and the people at Orca for helping me get a copy. :)