Review: The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried

Title: The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried

Author: Shaun David Hutchinson

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Publication Date: February 19, 2019

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Summary

Since Dino’s parents own a funeral home, he doesn’t really mind spending time around dead bodies. It’s just a normal fact of life. But when his ex-best friend, July, comes back to life as he’s prepping her body for her funeral, things start to get a little weird. She’s not really dead, but she’s not really alive, and it’s having an effect on death everywhere else.

As they start working on the mystery of July’s current state, July and Dino have to figure out why their friendship really ended. But doing so means exploring some pretty painful things of the past, and realizing that neither of them really had the whole picture.

Review

I received an advanced copy of this book from Net Galley and Simon Pulse in exchange for my honest review. I was so, so happy to get an advanced copy of this book! Shaun David Hutchinson has probably become one of my favorite authors, and so far, my favorite book of his is The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza. The Past and Other Things that Should Stay Buried hasn’t surpassed it to become my favorite, but it was still a masterpiece of its own accord.

One of the things that I love most Hutchinson’s works is the way that they often examine friendships. This book in particular did this best, as July and Dino try to figure out why they stopped being friends. The reality is that it took July’s death in order for them to make amends, which is something that happens all too often in real life. We get the good, the bad, and the ugly of teenage friendships, and everything about July and Dino’s relationship feels real. Well, except for the fact that July is not-dead.

The emotions are also a strong aspect of this book. We feel Dino’s love for Rafi; we feel his anxiety about not being good enough, we feel his frustration with July. And through July’s chapters, we’re able to get the other side of the story. We feel July’s frustration with Dino; her struggles with accepting that she’s died; her sadness at not getting to do the things she wants to do. The emotions are what carry you through the story, and their not emotions that are unique to just teens; they’re emotions that everyone can relate to.

While I related to the emotions in the story, the main reason this wasn’t pushed ahead of Elena Mendoza is because I related to her a bit more. The Past and Other Things That Should Stay Buried is a bit more subdued than that, but still 100% enjoyable.

Hutchinson’s book will take you on a weird, wild ride that you won’t want to put down until it’s done. And even then, you’ll probably want to go back and read it again.

4.5/5 stars