Putting Makeup on Dead People by Jen Violi

Putting Makeup on Dead People by Jen Violi

Disney Hyperion, May 2011

336 pages

Book Source: This was an ARC copy provided free by and downloaded from NetGalley.com.

In the spring of her senior year, Donna Parisi finds new life in an unexpected place: a coffin.

Since her father’s death four years ago, Donna has gone through the motions of living: her friendships are empty, she’s clueless about what to do after high school graduation, and her grief keeps her isolated, cut off even from the one parent she has left. That is until she’s standing in front of the dead body of a classmate at Brighton Brothers’ Funeral Home. At that moment, Donna realizes what might just give her life purpose is comforting others in death. That maybe who she really wants to be is a mortician.

This discovery sets in motion a life Donna never imagined was possible. She befriends a charismatic new student, Liz, notices a boy, Charlie, and realizes that maybe he's been noticing her, too, and finds herself trying things she hadn’t dreamed of trying before. By taking risks, Donna comes into her own, diving into her mortuary studies with a passion and skill she didn’t know she had in her. And she finally understands that moving forward doesn’t mean forgetting someone you love.

Jen Violi’s heartfelt and funny debut novel is a story of transformation—how one girl learns to grieve and say goodbye, turn loss into a gift, and let herself be exceptional...at loving, applying lipstick to corpses, and finding life in the wake of death. 

--Summary from GoodReads.com

Judging by the cover...: Upside down dead chick? Alright, you got me there. I may not be 100% in love with it, but it brings out the goth girl I hide deep down. It has a certain Six Feet Under appeal, except with no Michael C. Hall.

Favorite Elements:

• Serious Creep Factor - We're not talking the kind of creepiness involving supernatural monsters, but about the monsters within us all. Ooooh, very philosophical! Death, the fate that no one escapes from, brings out the weirdness in all of us. 
• Big Family - It's not often that main characters have a big family. They always seem to be the only-child, almost-orphan type of families where day-to-day events escape the present-in-body parent's attention. It's nice to see a character interact with her siblings and ca-razy extended relatives.
• Patty - Don't hate. I secretly think she's awesome, thought I can't put my finger on it. She's got attitude, she's abrasive, and she isn't afraid to let her opinion be known (even if it is mean). We all deserve to be loved, don't we?

Overall: B-

Donna has some serious issues since her dad died. Who wouldn't? Everyone in her family is dealing with it in a different way, and it's easy to see how she got left behind. Lucky for her, she found something to throw herself into - dead people. The book could have gone in so many directions, and I was expecting it to be slightly flippant, but was relieved when I realized just how deep and introspective Donna becomes. Congratulations to Violi for tackling the hard issues without the preaching that could have resulted. Donna's voice comes across as authentic as any girl in her position would, and the decisions she makes are natural and almost (but not quite) adult.

My one issue with the plot was that certain elements seemed too convenient. Befriending Liz, encountering J.B., the decision to go to mortuary school. These events happened fast, almost too fast, but each has an important impact on the story.

Recommendation: Yes! Read it! Even if you only read it for the creepy-but-not funeral home scenes (I swear I'm not usually this obsessed), it's still a beautiful coming of age story. Older teens, girls mostly, will enjoy reading about Donna, and not-quite-young adults will root for Donna and her mom.