Review: Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten

Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten 

Publishing Date: July 7, 2015
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pages: 336 pages
Young Adult Contemporary/Mystery

The Premise: Delia and June used to be the best of friends, the kind where they were so close they sometimes did not even have to speak to convey what they wanted to say to one another. This however ends abruptly because of one night that changed everything. Time has passed and on returning to school, June hears from the school that Delia has passed away. The rumor is that Delia killed herself and burned herself to death in her father's shed. June does not believe this though because she is aware of Delia's big fear of fire. In this Gone Girl-esque narrative, the story follows June as she tries to unravel what really happened to Delia and the reader tries to figure out what really changed their friendship in the first place.

My overall thoughts and review: So the premise of this book really interested me. I LOVED Gone Girl, so hearing about it being compared to that instantly intrigued me. I was immediately drawn in by the mystery of Delia's death and also what was it that caused them to not be friends anymore. You follow the story from June's perspective and it was really interesting seeing her try to piece everything together. June is incredibly self-aware as a character which was good to have in a protagonist. Unfortunately, the story falls short for me in the second half of the novel. There is a big reveal of what ultimately happened, but it ended up moving incredibly fast that I felt a lot was left unanswered. I also think that the ideas surrounding, friendship, death, suicide, family, growing up and, identity were all themes that were touched upon in the book, but at certain moments, a lot of these ideas got lost and it came across a bit more confusing. I know the topic is quite dark and is not necessarily for everyone. I was not expecting it to be so raw for a young adult read. But I think that if you are a fan of YA mystery/thrillers, this is one you should check out.

My rating of the book: ✮✮✮ (3/5 stars) 

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Disclaimer: A copy of this book was sent to me by Simon and Schuster Canada for consideration/review. All opinions are my own.