Teach Me How to Die opens with a quiet but striking premise. A small group of strangers gather in a New York rehearsal studio to attend a master class on writing suicide notes. Their teacher, Professor Scott Mirrormord, runs the class with a mix of dry humor, unsettling calm, and sudden flashes of emotion. Each character carries a private storm. The Violinist trembles under his own sensitivity, the Hunter bristles at the world that has rejected him, the Accountant clings to order like a life raft, the Poet aches for beauty, the Loser sinks under the weight of lifelong disappointment, and the Philosopher hovers above them all with cool detachment. Across several sessions, their stories unravel in ways that feel surreal, funny, raw, and sometimes painfully honest. The novella blends this unusual setup with short stories that explore gender identity, empathy, loneliness, and the strange ways people hold themselves together when the world feels inverted.

The writing feels theatrical in the best sense. Scenes move with quick beats, like spotlights snapping on and off, and the dialogue carries a rhythm that made me imagine the characters speaking just inches away. Sometimes the tone shifts fast. One moment I laughed at Scott’s odd habits. The next I felt a sharp ache when the Poet revealed the quiet desperation behind her romantic bravado. The emotions hit hard because author Lisa Monde does not overcomplicate them. She keeps them human. There were times I wanted the prose to hurry because the tension between characters felt so tight it made me restless. Still, that uneven pulse worked. It mirrored the way real people think when they are standing at the edge of something dark and trying to talk themselves back toward the light.

The book treats suicide with seriousness and compassion. It does not glamorize it. It does not trivialize it. Instead, it asks why a person might arrive at such a thought and what might pull them away from it. The Poet’s loneliness shook me the hardest. She sees beauty everywhere, yet cannot see herself reflected in anyone else. I also found myself oddly moved by the Accountant, who tries so hard to appear composed while cracking open from the inside. Even the humor carries weight. It softens the darkness without hiding it. The stories that follow the novella expand the book’s themes in unexpected directions. Some felt warm. Some felt strange. All of them carried a heartbeat that stayed with me after I closed the pages.

Teach Me How to Die would be a meaningful read for anyone who enjoys character-driven stories that ask real questions about why people suffer and how they heal. It is also a good fit for readers who appreciate theater and intimate ensemble pieces. For readers willing to sit with tough emotions and still look for hope, this book will land with force.

Pages: 216 | ASIN : B0FXNNRLR3