5. Thirteen Reason Why by Jay Asher
Told through cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker to explain why she committed suicide. There seem to be quite a few YA books that feature death as a character or narrator, but this one is one of the most popular (also see Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver).
Deadliest line:
I hope you're ready, because I'm about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended. And if you're listening to these tapes, you're one of the reasons why. (Chapter 3)
4. Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
A collection of short poems in the form of epitaphs, all of the 200+ poems tell of the lives and deaths of the residents of Spoon River.
Deadliest line comes to us courtesy of 'Knowlt Hoheimer':
I was the first fruits of the battle of Missionary Ridge.
When I felt the bullet enter my heart
I wished I had staid home and gone to jail.
For stealing the hogs of Curl Trenary,
Instead of running away and joining the army,
Rather a thousand times the country jail
Than to lie under this marble figure with wings,
And this granite pedestal
Bearing the words, "Pro Patria."
What do they mean, anyway?
3. Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Narrated by zombie R as he navigates the world feasting on flesh (when he has to) and hanging out in the airport. His "life" is altered when he meets Julie, a girl who looks delicious but he won't eat her. Why? She makes him almost...feel something...which is not a familiar sensation to a zombie.
Deadliest line:
I am dead, but it's not so bad. I've learned to live with it. (Chapter 1)
2. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
This book is narrated by Susie Salmon, a girl kidnapped and murdered, while she watching from heaven. How did she die? Could she have prevented her death? How is her family handling her death? These are all questions that Susie Salmon has and the audience learns the answers as she does.
Deadliest line:
He had put me in a waxy cloth sack and thrown in the shaving cream and razor from the mud ledge his book of sonnets, and finally the bloody knife...tumbled together with my knees, fingers (Chapter 4)
1. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Deadliest line:
...at some point in time I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder, I will carry you gently away. (Chapter 1)
