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limthebean's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
mmajer's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book a lot. It's a very dark and depressing read, but there are also glimmers of hope and wonderful thought provoking insights. I teetered between giving this book a 4 or a 5, so I'm going with a 4.5. There were parts that were borderline preachy. But overall I found it to be a very imaginitive book, and I loved the tales of his friends, each with a very unique story and connection to Leonard. It's a very creative book.
Going back and thinking about it, one of the last lines/ ideas in the book is what really made me give this book a 5 instead of 4 (well 4.5 rounded up to 5). "And man the great light. Even when no one is looking." I mean reading that now sounds pretty great, but it has even more meaning if you've read the book and have then related it to your own life.
Going back and thinking about it, one of the last lines/ ideas in the book is what really made me give this book a 5 instead of 4 (well 4.5 rounded up to 5). "And man the great light. Even when no one is looking." I mean reading that now sounds pretty great, but it has even more meaning if you've read the book and have then related it to your own life.
daja57's review against another edition
A young adult story set in a high school in the USA about the first world problems of a privileged teenager. The narrator is Leonard Peacock; today is his eighteenth birthday. He plans to take a gun to school, shoot fellow student Asher Beal and then kill himself. But first he has to deliver a gift to each of four friends.
Obviously this is a great premise for a book. It was well-written and easy to read. But I found the necessary suspension of disbelief difficult to achieve. Leonard lives on his own because his fashion designer (and extraordinarily unmaternal) mother lives and works in New York and his one-hit wonder rock star father is in South America, on the run from the tax authorities. That's great for the plot but lousy for verisimilitude. Leonard has no financial problems, being able to spend $200 on a cab. Poor little rich kid? "I understand I am relatively privileged from a socio-economical viewpoint, but so was Hamlet" (Ch 15); OF COURSE he compares himself with Hamlet. One of his friends is a virtuoso violinist. He has a holocaust class at school. "There are no black people living in our town". As a result of these niggles, I never really felt any sense of empathy with the narrator and so I didn't really care about his problems.
I kept reading because I wanted to see how the story was resolved, clearly there were secrets about his relationship with Asher Beal which were key to Leonard's motivation. When they were revealed I wasn't surprised: I hadn't predicted the detail but the general outline of the issue was clear from early in the book.
There are repeated echoes of Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger but this is decidedly less edgy.
I enjoyed the extensive use of footnotes to provide a sometimes witty commentary upon the main narrative. I was less excited by the occasional use of unorthodox typography.
A canon 'gainst self-slaughter with an unlikeable protagonist in a unlikely environment.
Obviously this is a great premise for a book. It was well-written and easy to read. But I found the necessary suspension of disbelief difficult to achieve. Leonard lives on his own because his fashion designer (and extraordinarily unmaternal) mother lives and works in New York and his one-hit wonder rock star father is in South America, on the run from the tax authorities. That's great for the plot but lousy for verisimilitude. Leonard has no financial problems, being able to spend $200 on a cab. Poor little rich kid? "I understand I am relatively privileged from a socio-economical viewpoint, but so was Hamlet" (Ch 15); OF COURSE he compares himself with Hamlet. One of his friends is a virtuoso violinist. He has a holocaust class at school. "There are no black people living in our town". As a result of these niggles, I never really felt any sense of empathy with the narrator and so I didn't really care about his problems.
I kept reading because I wanted to see how the story was resolved, clearly there were secrets about his relationship with Asher Beal which were key to Leonard's motivation. When they were revealed I wasn't surprised: I hadn't predicted the detail but the general outline of the issue was clear from early in the book.
There are repeated echoes of Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger but this is decidedly less edgy.
I enjoyed the extensive use of footnotes to provide a sometimes witty commentary upon the main narrative. I was less excited by the occasional use of unorthodox typography.
A canon 'gainst self-slaughter with an unlikeable protagonist in a unlikely environment.
threegoodrats's review against another edition
5.0
scugerino's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
thisisthelion's review against another edition
4.0
Leonard Peacock is a good narrator, at least for me. Today, he is very glass-half-empty throw-the-glass-to-the-floor kind of guy. It's his eighteen birthday and he's decide it will be his last but first he wants to say goodbye to his four friends. While he goes along on his day doing so, we learn what has driven him to decide to kill himself. Matthew Quick wrote a character that felt real: Leonard feels hopeless and is tired of the same old crap. Some of you will probably hate the way he is portrayed but I found him extremely real. And I related because I used to feel a lot like Leonard. Leonard is a well-crafted character and he is compelling to read.
I was also very satisfied with the ending because it doesn't suddenly solves Leonard's problems. Life is not like that, things take time but sometime it feel like book forget that and just go to the easy happy ending.
The other people in the story were also really interesting and I also liked the letters from the future. It was a nice idea and I liked who they played into the story. And it's a good idea.
Teenagers out there who are tired of everybody and everything and can't find a propose in life, READ THIS. I think it would help. And write yourself letters from the future, even though it seems like total bullshit.
I was also very satisfied with the ending because it doesn't suddenly solves Leonard's problems. Life is not like that, things take time but sometime it feel like book forget that and just go to the easy happy ending.
The other people in the story were also really interesting and I also liked the letters from the future. It was a nice idea and I liked who they played into the story. And it's a good idea.
Teenagers out there who are tired of everybody and everything and can't find a propose in life, READ THIS. I think it would help. And write yourself letters from the future, even though it seems like total bullshit.
honeybee2002's review against another edition
It was very different not like anything I've ever read before.
reader4evr's review
2.0
Rating: 2.5
I honestly don't know what to think about this book. I feel like everybody loved this book but I still have mixed emotions about it because the other 2 books that I read, one I loved and the other I didn't like and I'm somewhere in between with this book.
This book was very graphic in parts and I wasn't sure how comfortable I would feel book talking this. I'm a pretty open person about certain content in books but I haven't made a decision about this.
Leonard went through a lot of crappy things in his life but I just couldn't sympathize with him. I did however like his World War II teacher a lot and was surprised by why he reviled to Leonard with why he didn't roll up his sleeves when he was at school.
I honestly don't know what to think about this book. I feel like everybody loved this book but I still have mixed emotions about it because the other 2 books that I read, one I loved and the other I didn't like and I'm somewhere in between with this book.
This book was very graphic in parts and I wasn't sure how comfortable I would feel book talking this. I'm a pretty open person about certain content in books but I haven't made a decision about this.
Leonard went through a lot of crappy things in his life but I just couldn't sympathize with him. I did however like his World War II teacher a lot and was surprised by why he reviled to Leonard with why he didn't roll up his sleeves when he was at school.