the story of tessa a young teenage girl who has only months to live a brilliantly crafted novel heartbreaking yet lifeaffirmingtessa has just months to live fighting back against hospital visits endless tests drugs with excruciating sideeffects tessa compiles a list its her to do before i die list and number one is sex released from the constraints of normal life tessa tastes new experiences to make her feel alive while her failing body struggles to keep up tessas feelings her relationships with her father and brother her estranged mother her best friend and her new boyfriend all are painfully crystallised in the precious weeks before tessas time finally runs out