Last Night I Sang to the Monster, by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

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Zach is eighteen. He is bright and articulate. He's also an alcoholic and in rehab instead of high school, but he doesn't remember how he got there. He's not sure he wants to remember. Something bad must have happened. Something really, really bad. Remembering sucks and being alive - well, what's up with that?

I have it in my head that when we're born, God writes things down on our hearts. See, on some people's hearts he writes Happy and on some people's hearts he writes Sad and on some people's hearts he writes Crazy on some people's hearts he writes Genius and on some people's hearts he writes Angry and on some people's hearts he writes Winner and on some people's hearts he writes Loser. It's all like a game to him. Him.God. And it's all pretty much random. He takes out his pen and starts writing on our blank hearts. When it came to my turn, he wrote Sad. I don't like God very much. Apparently he doesn't like me very much either.


This was a Goodreads-recommended book, based off of my Favorites list. I liked it, but I was expecting something more along the lines of Ellen Hopkins or Laurie Halse Anderson. Which is completely unfair to Sáenz; I should be rating this book based on its own merits, not against other authors' works.

That being said, I did like this addiction/recovery book. It was a quick read, full of intrigue and YA angst (my own addiction), and was full of characters I could relate to.