Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Somebody Up There Hates You
    Somebody Up There Hates You
    Somebody Up There Hates You
    Audiobook6 hours

    Somebody Up There Hates You

    Written by Hollis Seamon

    Narrated by Noah Galvin

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Smart-mouthed, funny, and sometimes crude, Richard Casey is in most ways a typical seventeen-year-old boy. Except Ritchie has cancer, and he's spending his final days in a hospice unit. His mother, his doctors, and the hospice staff are determined to keep Ritchie alive as long as possible. But in this place where people go to die, Richie has plans to make the most of the life he has left.Fifteen-year-old Sylvie, the only other hospice inmate under sixty, has plans of her own. What begins as camaraderie soon blossoms into love, and the star-crossed pair determine together to live life on their own terms in whatever time they have.Hollis Season has created one of the most original voices in young adult literature, narrating a story that is unflinching, graphic, heart-breaking, funny, and above all, life-affirming.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateSep 3, 2013
    ISBN9781622312115
    Somebody Up There Hates You

    Related to Somebody Up There Hates You

    Related audiobooks

    YA Family For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Elliot Page

      Mar 19, 2021

      Elliot Page
      13 min read

    • Article

      The Idiots

      Feb 26, 2021

      The Idiots
      18 min read

    • Article

      Caught Out

      Oct 2, 2022

      Caught Out
      9 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems

      Jul 1, 2018

      Three Poems
      4 min read

    • Article

      Speedboat

      Mar 24, 2022

      Nobody died that year. Nobody prospered. There were no births or marriages. Seventeen reverent satires were written – disrupting a cliché and, presumably, creating a genre. That was a dream, of course, but many of the most important things, I fi nd,

      14 min read

    • Article

      The Man I Should Have Married

      Dec 29, 2019

      The Man I Should Have Married
      11 min read

    • Article

      Shame Is Ever-Present When You’re Sitting in a Cell

      Oct 23, 2020

      Between a strained relationship with my family and the death of a good friend, I’ve struggled to feel like I’m worth something.

      5 min read

    • Article

      Book Extract

      Jan 20, 2020

      My year off was also interesting, in that I didn’t feel any less loved, or cherished, or wanted. Why? Because my life is already rich with soulmates, and I got the chance to behold that. You don’t have to shag someone for them to be a soulmate. We do

      7 min read

    • Article

      Nik Rabinowitz

      Nov 26, 2018

      Nik Rabinowitz
      3 min read

    • Article

      SHORT STORY by MARGARET ATWOOD

      Mar 22, 2023

      SHORT STORY by MARGARET ATWOOD
      7 min read

    • Article

      Dawn Neesom Mind Of My Own

      Oct 24, 2023

      My generation are a bunch of tossers. Seriously. Because flipping a coin in the air to decide something depending on the heads or tails result was something we just did. In today’s increasingly cashless society, tossing a coin is dying out, aside fro

      4 min read

    • Article

      Chris Erskine: Like the Rose Bowl, but Much Goofier

      Jan 2, 2018

      So there we are, playing touch football with a world-class assortment of misfits and malcontents, achieving a level of snarkiness rarely seen outside of big-city taverns and newsrooms. Naturally, it was Christmas Eve. Don't judge, because it was earl

      3 min read

    • Article

      SHORT STORY by MARGARET ATWOOD

      Mar 22, 2023

      SHORT STORY by MARGARET ATWOOD
      7 min read

    • Article

      Memo To Self: Don't Tell Bernard Manning Gags

      Nov 15, 2023

      ‘Do you reckon,’ I enquired on a visit to my wife in bucolic Dorset, ‘that this is an early sign of frontal-lobe dementia?’ Rebecca, who underscored her high intelligence and flawless judgement by vacating the marital home 13 years ago, pondered this

      3 min read

    • Article

      Four Of A Kind

      May 3, 2023

      Four Of A Kind
      4 min read

    • Article

      Carrie Fountain

      Mar 1, 2020

      Outside Dublin, Texas the radio stationsdisappear and I’m left alone with the faintvoice of a call-in psychologist talkingto a man in Cleveland about the voiceof the self, the narratives that voicetells, how they can be sharp and wrongand cut to the

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Abortions I Have Known

      Mar 17, 2019

      The Abortions I Have Known
      10 min read

    • Article

      Nothing To Fear

      Jan 26, 2021

      Nothing To Fear
      8 min read

    • Article

      All Words Fly

      Aug 21, 2018

      All Words Fly
      10 min read

    • Article

      Dancing on My Own

      Apr 11, 2020

      I’D BEEN SEQUESTERED WITH MY 10-YEAR-OLD FOR six days, and my mood was souring. I was worried about my parents, my kid, my job, the health care workers and delivery people, and about how fragile every single fucking thing is. I missed my boyfriend, w

      2 min read

    • Article

      Don't Forget To Remember

      Jul 14, 2023

      Don't Forget To Remember
      3 min read

    • Article

      J. Jezewska Stevens

      Dec 15, 2017

      The party was a failure. I can’t even tell you what a failure it was. There are no words. Only a great pain in my chest when I wake up. On the veranda. It’s better when I sit in the chair. Oh, but then I can see around. The gauzy curtains, pushed by

      15 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Somebody Up There Hates You

    4/5

    42 ratings9 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      Richie was such a fun character to read. Even though he knew he was dying, he still lived everyday to the fullest. So did Sylvie.

      At first, I had thought that this book seemed so much like The Fault In Our Stars. Two teenagers, suffering with cancer fall in love.

      But it's not. Because Richie and Sylvie already know they're going to die. That's why they're in the hospice. And yet they fall in love.

      My favorite part though, was the ending. Because the author did not tell us whether they die or not. In a way, they're both still alive. And that's a happy ending, isn't it?

      Oh and I also loved how the author didn't go into the technical (medical?) details of their illness. I'm glad Richie thought it'd be too boring for us to read, because he was absolutely right.

      I picked this book up on a whim, but I'm glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this.
    • 5/5
      I have read over 80 books this year and this book moved me the most. This story talks of Richard and Sylvie, teenagers, who have "Somebody Up There Hates You" syndrome. They are kids with cancer and in a hospice. What is different from them and other hospice residents is that they are still teenagers and despite their angst behave for the most part like teenagers. The book is poignant and funny at the same time and even raunchy but I, could not complain about the raunchiness because it was totally in keeping with the characters. There is a lot of drama at the end and I would have to say a real tearjerker but don't let that deter you. Whether you are a boy or girl or an adult this book is a must read.
    • 3/5
      For more reviews, Cover Snark and more, visit A Reader of Fictions.I’ve got to admit that I started this book laughing for totally childish reasons. Apparently this author’s last name is pronounced “semen” and I’ve got the humor of a preteen in the first health class that gets into sex. Still, Hollis Seamon’s name sort of sets a nice stage for the audiobook of Somebody Up There Hates You, because there’s a whole lot of humor of that sort, juxtaposed with the seriousness of dying young.Likely following in the trend of The Fault in Our Stars, Somebody Up There Hates You is about a romance between two teens in hospice. In case, like me, you didn’t actually know what a hospice is, I’ve learned that it’s where people are sent when they have less than a month to live. The main character is a seventeen-year-old boy named Richard Casey. He’s obviously not too happy with his life, since he’s dying of cancer. Still, he’s got a pretty good sense of humor in the face of his impending demise.Also in hospice is Sylvie, younger than him at fifteen, but more popular than he ever was. The two strike up a romance rather quickly. Frankly, it’s a bit instalovey, but that really didn’t bother me, because, were I going to be dying immediately for sure, I would probably try to eke out as much life in what time remained to me. I honestly didn’t feel the connection between them, but I was sympathetic to their need for that attachment.The best part of Somebody Up There Hates You is the dark humor. For example, the title refers to what Richard likes to tell people he’s dying of: SUTHY disease. What other reason is there for a teen to die of cancer? The humor’s definitely off-the-wall. The narrator Noah Galvin does a really good job capturing Ritchie’s voice, which really helped me enjoy Somebody Up There Hates You.While Seamon does get into the uncomfortable realities of hospice life (the assisted showers, the weakness, not eating), Somebody Up There Hates You still feels way too wish fulfillment-y. Like, I get the whole carpe diem element, but I did not expect a dying teen in hospice to get so much action View Spoiler ». Plus, I feel like he got away with a lot more stuff then would ever be allowed in an actually hospice. I don’t really know, but it didn’t strike me as particularly believable.Somebody Up There Hates You was an entertaining listen, but its similarity to The Fault in Our Stars and Cold Hands, Warm Heart kept it from being particularly impressed.
    • 3/5
      Richard Casey is dying of cancer but he is determined to make the most of his lat days. With the help of a crazy uncle and an amorous fellow patient, he has a wild and crazy Halloween, his first sexual experiences, and more. This reader was underwhelmed with the story, however. The voice seemed false, the sex actually gratuitous (no prude here but lots of penis stuff) and the characters half-baked. It's no The Fault in Our Stars.
    • 3/5
      Richie is terminally ill with cancer and is living in hospice. So is Sylvie. And so. The book is a little funny and a little sad but there are other similar books out there that deal with such things that are better reads.
    • 4/5
      This book made me both cry and laugh out loud. Great cast of well fleshed out, believable characters. Realist plot, great pacing kept me turning the pages.
    • 4/5
      Let’s acknowledge right away that there are some similarities to The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. Two spunky teenagers dying of cancer are in love, and want to live out the rest of their days in a validation of their existences. But there are differences enough to justify reading this book as well as the wonderful book by John Green.This story takes place in a hospice. As the 17-year old narrator Rich Casey explains, “you only get into hospice if your prognosis is under a month.” He continues, “You arrive and thirty days later, you either go home or Go Home.”The story begins on Halloween, a holiday that used to be Rich's favorite; when he was little, he loved to dress like a werewolf. Richie explains that three years earlier “the real monsters” marched into his life: “Surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, all those guys with knives and poisons and lethal rays.”And yet, as Richie wryly notes, somehow, suddenly, he has girls actually competing for his sexual favors! In spite of this “hot-guy heaven” however, he doesn’t forget that he also has “the SUTHY Syndrome”:"...six years of chemo, radiation, a zillion surgeries, loss of a couple major organs, watching your mom age twenty years in twenty months - if that’s not some kind of mistake, if that’s part of the Big Dude’s plan, well, then, it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?” In other words, Somebody Up There Hates You.Nevertheless, Richie is still a teenager, and there’s the matter of the pretty 15-year-old girl down the hall, Sylvie, with whom he falls in love. Richie not only likes the way she looks (hairless and all), but also admires her sophistication, her honesty and her fierceness. In his effort to have some solitary time with Sylvie (not easy in a hospice with crying family members constantly about), he enlists the help of the staff. He is so focused on his own needs though, he forgets that those who take care of him night and day are people too. After a number of episodes in which he causes a lot of trouble and pain, his favorite nurse Edward loses patience with him:"Everybody’s got troubles, you know that? The world’s a universally sad and fucked-up place. People hurt, all of them. You beginning to get that? Or do you still think it’s just you, man? Only you that suffers? Like you’ve been singled out?”Edward tells Richie to grow up, and he agrees he ought to try, but he’s only got a month in which to do it.Evaluation: This is a good book and an excellent depiction of what life is like in a hospice both for those who are confined there and those who work there. Yes, it can be heartbreaking from a philosophical standpoint, but the story itself is funny and enlightening.
    • 5/5
      Richard Casey has terminal cancer. He’s living in hospice, but one thing sets him apart from the other patients there. He’s only seventeen. Somebody Up There Hates You could have turned into the typical heart-breaking tale of a dying boy, but it didn’t. Richard was the comic relief as a main character. He is determined to live every day to the fullest even as his health deteriorates. Somebody Up There Hates You takes you through Richard losing his virginity, getting drunk for the first time, and growing up in a place where no kid should have to grow up. Richard focuses on falling in love, making memories with his family, and being a normal teenager. I really enjoyed reading Somebody Up There Hates You. It was heart-warming and yes, sad, but not so sad that I needed to lay in my bed and cry all day. This novel was a great story of overcoming your problems and staying positive even in the worst of situations. Seamon created a very original story out of a topic that has been written about time and time again. I think that shows real talent as a writer.
    • 4/5
      Coming on the heels of John Green’s THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, it is hard not to feel like this is a “me too” book. Richie has cancer, he’s only 17, and he’s probably going to die. Soon. In the hospital, he meets Sylvie (slightly younger) who is also dying, and more quickly. The two become friends, indulge in some in and out of the hospital hijinks, and then must decide if and how they want to both experience sex before they go. Sometimes funny, sometimes tender, sometimes sad, sad, sad, this is a good book, but I don’t recommend reading it (or recommending it) right on the heels of John Green’s book. It deserves to be read and savored on its own (sometimes a bit crude) terms and not as another book about two dying kids in love. (ART NOTE TO THE BOOK DESIGNER: what are you thinking putting clouds on the cover, and black clouds at the chapter heading? This seems like blatantly copying the artistic style of the John Green book. I have a review copy, so perhaps the final art will change, but surely there is some image other than clouds you can use to represent the story.)