In Ashley Ream's poignant, engaging debut novel, Losing Clementine, clinically depressed Los Angeles artist Clementine Pritchard has allotted herself 30 days to live. With this decision, she sets out to tie up all loose ends, from hitting the obnoxious parked car that is always in her way to finding a new home for her cat. She encounters a handful of characters from her past along the way--people she must make amends with before she goes--but no meeting is more painful or comforting than Clementine's reunion with the father who abandoned her family when she was barely old enough to remember him. During this journey, she becomes aware of a truth she had locked away carefully inside herself--a truth that explains her need to end her life but, ironically, may give her the will to start over again.
Ream peppers her moody story with Clementine's biting wit and an unconventional take on what is left of her life that will, at times, have the reader laughing out loud. She balances Clementine's humorous qualities with more thoughtful, reflective passages looking back to the circumstances that have led her to make such a drastic decision. Vague recollections of a dark and painful past come to life as emotional, colorful paint splashes through the author's vivid imagery. Ream's candid, conversational writing style holds the reader rapt, and although the story unfolds at a relatively relaxed pace, the reader will find herself counting down through the days with Clementine, eager to see whether she goes through with her plan. Fans of dark humor have found a new favorite. --Sarah Borders, librarian at Houston Public Library