Say Not What If by Andrew Friedman

Title: Say Not What If
Author: Andrew Friedman
Publisher: Createspace
ISBN: 978-1463627317
Pages: 52
Series: N/A
Type: Adult Poetry
Source: Purchased
Goodreads

Say Not What If is the story of a man who is so committed to his career he doesn't realise what he's about to lose until it's gone. He sacrifices his marriage and life outside of work to advance in his career. Comprehension of what he's done comes too late and he makes a terrible choice. All choices have consequences and his are harsh, sending him to death row and allowing the author to explore the morality of the death penalty.

This is outside of my comfort zone in both its style and subject matter. Written as a 10,000 word rhyming poem, I was worried about whether it would be difficult to read but I found it was easy to read with an accessible style. At 51 pages this is a short read, but has excellent pacing and flow and manages to be realistic without being overly graphic. This book is also unexpectedly humourous at times, especially when discussing lawyers (ironically the author himself is an attorney).

The subject matter is very thought provoking and it presents different viewpoints fairly, allowing the reader to see both sides of the argument and explore their own views. Whatever your personal opinion on the use of the death penalty this book does a great job of discussing the various arguments for and against it. There is also a good message that time is the one thing we can't get more of and so we should seize the day. The line "there is no promise of tomorrow" is repeated several times and is a good message for the story to promote.

One thing that did bother me was the handful of typos spread throughout the book. They are mostly homophones (their instead of they're and due instead of do) so would have been missed by a spellchecker, but it's still jarring to stumble across them and it did affect my enjoyment of the book. I was also a little disappointed by the plainness of the cover, although it does fit with the book.

All in all, this is a clever thought provoking read.

Plot: 9/10
Characters: 8/10
Ending: 9/10
Enjoyment: 9/10
Cover: 8/10

Overall: 43/50