Name: The Tragedy Paper
ISBN: 9780375870408

Elizabeth LaBan

While preparing for the most dreaded assignment at the prestigious Irving School, the Tragedy Paper, Duncan gets wrapped up in the tragic tale of Tim Macbeth, a former student who had a clandestine relationship with the wrong girl, and his own ill-fated romance with Daisy.

The Tragedy Paper

Angela Guilherme

*I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

This book is directed at a younger public, being of the young-adult genre, but even though I'm not really a young adult anymore, I still related with the characters. After all, I also went through many of the things they go through. Not all of them, thankfully...

In my opinion, the title is just perfect because, all through the story there is the sensation of iminent tragedy. The book has two main characters, Tim and Duncan. Duncan was a junior the year Tim was a senior and we know Tim's story through the tapes he left for Duncan.

Tim is a 17 year old albino kid who never really fitted in his school or with the other kids his age, and that is going to attend the prestigious Irving School on his last semester before College. He ends up meeting and falling for a collegue, Vanessa, a pretty girl who, surprisingly, seems to like him too. But Vanessa is dating the most popular boy in school which means their meetings have to be held in secrecy.

As a proper prestigious private school should have, Irving School has a few traditions. One is the Tragedy Paper, a paper that all seniors are required to submit and whose theme is, well, tragedy. Another is the Game, played by the seniors, and organized by a comission whose members were picked the previous year, when they were juniors and were invited to attend it.

Duncan was one of those students and it's up to him to organize the Game. But it's soon clear that something (a tragedy?) happened the previous year making Duncan not very anxious to repeat the experience... It's also evident that, whatever happened, Duncan feels guilty.

This is a story of tragedy, of how bad choices and bad decisions can change our life forever. But it's also a story of hope and redemption. I liked it and I especially liked the way it is told. A good coming of age story.

Cameron Austin

Tanner Evans

This book has been on my shelf for quite some time now, and as I haven't been reading a lot of Teen Fiction lately, I thought I would switch it up a little and finally knock out some of the books I have piled up. For me, it was only a two-star read because I was never really connected with the characters (I liked Tim the most) and I found myself only reading it just to get through it. I really just wanted to see what this big accident was that haunted Duncan and changed all of these people's lives forever. Honestly, it was kind of a let down. 
You find out what happened within the last few chapters and it doesn't even seem like that big of a deal. I don't mean to sound insensitive about accidents of that nature, because they can be deadly or have serious consequences, but with the way everything turned out, it was kind of hyped up I think. I was also kind of surprised at Vanessa's reaction to everything, especially with how she acted towards Tim throughout the novel. I imagined she would've had more sympathy towards Tim and the whole situation, but we actually don't find out much of the aftermath. Maybe that would've changed my opinion a bit. 
Overall, Mr. Simon and Tim were the saving graces of this novel. They were the two characters that I really liked, but the other characters are forgettable. It's not a bad read if you want something quick with a lot of tension and build up.

Every year at an exclusive private boarding school in New York state, the graduating students uphold an old tradition - they must swear an oath of secrecy and leave behind a "treasure" for each incoming senior. When Duncan Meade inherits the room and secrets of Tim Macbeth, he uncovers evidence of a clandestine romance, and unravels the truth behind one of the biggest mysteries in the school's history. How far would you go to keep a secret?

Allyson Marrs

I enjoyed this book, mostly because the narrator is likeable. The story moves along at a quick pace, and I liked Tim's development. It wasn't perfect, though. Specifically, I felt that Duncan was a bit flat until the end. I also didn't much care for the ending. I know the author wanted to leave it open-ended, but it was kind of flapping around in the breeze. Nonetheless, this is a sweet YA story, and interesting enough to offer an escape.

Elad Schulman

4.5 

I seriously loved this book. It was suspenseful and it had an interesting perspective to it. I loved all the characters, and the plot was extremely enjoyable. The romance included didn't hurt either.

The Tragedy Paper

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