Although my read time for this book is a little longer than is usual for me, it was really just 3 days of actual reading. I fell into a temporary non-reading mood so I wasn’t reading everyday. Anyway, the books been read, I have an opinion on it, as I usually do about everything. (LOL) Let’s review.
Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford
- Category – YA Contemporary
- Length – 295 Pages
- Read Time – 16 Days
- GR Rating – 3 Stars
I’m not sure how to start this review because I wanted to rate this book lower than I ultimately ended up rating it, I’ll explain.
TRIGGER WARNING, SELF-HARM, ASSAULT/COERCION, ABUSE
The theme of this book/story is important, the topic is an important conversation to have for a lot of people & it’s unfortunate that it has to be this way because what the actual fuck difference does it make! However, we live in a society in which far too many people believe, people are not just people, for too many people people are 1 of 2 check lists & any person who doesn’t fit the check list assigned to them is an other to be other’d by society. I find that to be illogical & ridiculous so you can probably imagine how annoyed I was to come to the realization while reading the book that this is what “the issue” was in this story. But again, I know this topic continues to be a needed discussion because of the realities of the society we live in.
This is the story of Jeff, who’s POV we have throughout the book. Jeff wakes up in a psychiatric hospital, on a 45 day hold after attempting suicide New Years Eve/Day. It isn’t until the ending of the book that we discover the reason for this decision. Heavy topics are mentioned throughout this book, being in a psychiatric ward obviously Jeff is not the only one being deeply weighed down by troubles. As I stated above trigger warning if/when deciding to begin this book. I honestly don’t remember if I actually knew at some point the specifics of this story but this was another book on my tbb list for a long time that I bought & read without rediscovering what exactly the story was about. The addition of a new character (a new patient in the ward) some half-way through the book, Rankin *insert massive eye-roll* *mimes punching in throat*, propels the story forward quite quickly.
“I just felt like it”
That one line early on in the book sent actual chills down my spine, as a parent I felt actual fear course through my body.
As the story develops we come to find out that Jeff was internally battling his feelings for a boy, his best friend Allie’s boyfriend & what he was feeling that meant for him & his life. Turns out this is a story about self-acceptance & how harmful & dangerous it can be when one is fearful & unsure of self. Ultimately I rated this book 3 stars mostly because I liked the writing style & feel this is, as I mentioned above, unfortunately still an important topic to discuss. We get a happy ending, for Jeff at least, he accepts himself & comes out to his parents (a concept that annoys me because heterosexual people never have to declare anything) with the help of his therapist at the hospital. He leaves the hospital vowing to continue therapy & no longer thinking of ending his life. Some parts of the story got a little wild, I wasn’t ready for the shower room scene, but all in all an okay book.
Thank you for joining me for another review, I’d love to read your thoughts on my review & of course on the book too.
- Have you read this book?
- What was your favorite part? (The peek at the relationship between Jeff & his younger sister)
- What was your least favorite part? (Rankin’s existence. What the actual fuck?)
- How many stars do you rate this book?
Hasta la próxima – V
Chatting with V 
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