The story of a teenage girl who is determined to meet her father's murderer (recently released from prison), this novel is full of intrigue. A quick and easy read, it kept me turning the pages. Jenna's father was killed when she was only a few days old. She is now fifteen, and her world is rocked when she sees a picture of her father's killer in the local newspaper. Over the course of the week, she finds out there is more to the story of her father's death than she's been told all of her life. As a result, she learns how to deal with the revelation, then accept and appreciate her not-so-perfect family.

It's a realistic portrayal of modern teenagers and families. I enjoyed reading it & look forward to sharing the book with my students this fall. ( )

Both the title and blurb of this novel piqued my curiosity. Jenna Cooper lost her father when she was only days old. The murderer, Travis Bingham, has been released after serving his time. Much to the chagrin of her friends and family,Jenna is consumed with finding and confronting him. She needs to know exactly what happened because nobody else will tell her. Her older brother and sister think she should let bygones be bygones and move on. Her mother, who resides in a treatment facility, is mentally disabled.

The story is narrated by Jenna, now 15. I found the writing style to be very readable. The language and voice is true to the protagonist's age.

Overall, although the topic matter is serious, I found this to be an easy read. The plot progresses well and is not predictable. The characters are realistic, each with his/her own strengths and weaknesses. The descriptions are just detailed enough. The ending is satisfying yet not sappy. ( )

I read this book as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program. This is an Orca book, a publishing house known for producing books for reluctant readers. In Whatever Doesn't Kill You, Jenna's father died when she was an infant in a robbery gone wrong. 15 years later, her father's killer has been released from prison, and Jenna feels the need to confront him in order to move on from the past. Although this was in many ways an "issue" book (as many of Orca's books are, to my understanding) and the improvement of Jenna's life by the end of the book doesn't feel at all realistic, I also feel that teens could learn from the book's message. I would feel very comfortable recommending this book to reluctant teen readers.

And my one petty gripe: I had Kelly Clarkson's Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) in my head every time I saw the book cover. That was a little annoying, but this could have been a purposeful association on behalf of the publishers. ( )

I enjoyed Whatever Doesn't Kill You by Elizabeth Wennick- I don't think that this book will blow anyone's socks off, but I found it to be a nice- fun- quick mystery. I would recommend to anyone looking for a light read in the summer that is clean and fun. I see some pretty low ratings have been given to this book and I don't think that it was that bad at all. This book does have a great twist in the end and packs a strong message. Although most may not be able to relate to the daily life of the main character- this does not mean it is far fetched- Some may relate. For the most part the writing was great and fast paced and few times I felt their were some paragraphs that could have been left out. I would highly recommend to a younger teen looking for a clean mystery. The message in this book was fantastic and is useful to anyone. I won a copy of Whatever Doesn't Kill You in a giveaway for free in hopes of an honest review's online. Thanks! Reesa***
http://reesasbookblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/review-whatever-doesnt-kill-you-by.ht... ( )

Due to copy and paste, formatting has been lost.

Honestly, Whatever Doesn't Kill You just wasn't a book for me. I probably knew this in the first chapter, but I read on, because I had started it; and I just have a hard time not finishing books that I start. So, as I did that, I learned many things.

I learned that I don't connect with Jenna as a person. She felt very flat to me, and I didn't understand 98% of her problems, because I haven't come from a home like hers. In general, I have problems believing most books about people who are teased, their dad's dead and they can't let it go when it happened at six days old.

You see, that just seems a little far-fetched to me. Chances are that Jenna would've never even had the chance of "meeting" her father's murder.

Not only that, but I hate that Jenna blames all of her problems on one pivotal moment that happened when she was six days old. Oh, Travis Bingham killed my dad and that's why I'm teased. Oh, Travis Bingham killed my dad and that's why my sister's on drugs. Oh, Travis Bingham killed my dad, and that's why my mom is in a nursing home and my brother is stuck in a dead end job.

Do you see what I mean? She just goes on and on blaming him for everything that has ever gone wrong in her life. I don't understand that mentality, to be honest with you. Nobody is responsible for anything that happens to you except you. Sometimes situations are different, but most of the time it's all you.

I liked the mystery of why Travis killed her dad, but it was resolved in such an anticlimatic way-- I didn't feel like we really got the whole story there. I was very surprised about what he had to say, though.

All in all, Whatever Doesn't Kill You just wasn't a book for me. I think that maybe you should give it a shot, though! ( )