Suicide Notes in The Under-Hyped Readathon!

Apr 03, 2012 Megan rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, realistic-fiction, lgbtqa, 2014

(review can also be read at my blog https://pterodactylmegan.wordpress.co...)

Okay so first of all I think I need to mention that this book made me laugh so hard a few tears were shed. And I think that might be a first because it wasn't even a small, barely audible laugh. No, this was "I need to stop people are trying to sleep" kind of laughter.

Which is somewhat strange considering this book follows fifteen year-old Jeff during his 45 day stay in an adolescent psychiatric ward after he tried to (review can also be read at my blog https://pterodactylmegan.wordpress.co...)

Okay so first of all I think I need to mention that this book made me laugh so hard a few tears were shed. And I think that might be a first because it wasn't even a small, barely audible laugh. No, this was "I need to stop people are trying to sleep" kind of laughter.

Which is somewhat strange considering this book follows fifteen year-old Jeff during his 45 day stay in an adolescent psychiatric ward after he tried to kill himself. Pretty heavy stuff. But Jeff is very much adamant that he is not crazy like the rest of the patients, that he doesn't need to be there, and because of this outlook he's very sarcastic and witty and self-deprecating - his sense of humour was great.

So yes. This is a very funny book that is about very not funny subjects. And I appreciate that so much because I love depressing, deep, heavy books a lot, but I also love a dark sense of humour, things that are maybe a bit inappropriate or morbid and Suicide Notes delivered that perfectly.

The other characters were all interesting. They had an array of issues (suicide attempts, substance abuse, depression etc) and distinct personalities. I didn't really connect with any of them much, bar Martha who I loved, but I still liked them and how slowly but surely Jeff stops viewing them as the crazy people and begins to view them as people who are troubled, like him. His growth as a character had a lot to do with the side characters which was nice.

There's also an lgbtqa theme in this book. But to really go into would spoil stuff, so I'll just say that it's very raw and real and the few sex scenes are somewhat disturbing and aren't always fully consensual. (On that last comment, those scenes are supposed to be like that. It isn't as though the author wrote a sex scene that had issues and then pretended like it was fine; the nature of those scenes is explored and discussed, which I was relieved about.) When the truth about Jeff and why he did what he did etc is revealed, it's pretty heartbreaking and I could relate to his struggles and his feelings.

Overall, I highly enjoyed Suicide Notes. It was quick, funny, heartfelt and sad with an array of interesting characters. ...more

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