Friday, July 3, 2015

Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls ~ Lynn Weingarten (earc) review [@simonteen @lynnweingarten]

Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls
Simon Pulse
July 7, 2015
336 pages
add to Goodreads/buy from Book Depository/or Amazon

Gone Girl meets 13 Reasons Why in this stylish, sexy, and atmospheric story about friendship packed with twists and turns that will leave you breathless.

They say Delia burned herself to death in her stepfather's shed. They say it was suicide.

But June doesn't believe it.

June and Delia used to be closer than anything. Best friends in that way that comes before everyone else-before guys, before family. It was like being in love, but more. They had a billion secrets, tying them together like thin silk cords.

But one night a year ago, everything changed. June, Delia, and June's boyfriend Ryan were just having a little fun. Their good time got out of hand. And in the cold blue light of morning, June knew only this-things would never be the same again.

And now, a year later, Delia is dead. June is certain she was murdered. And she owes it to her to find out the truth...which is far more complicated than she ever could have imagined.

Sexy, dark, and atmospheric, Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls will keep you guessing until the very last page.
Well, that turned out to be a lot more 'packed with twists and turns' than I had expected.

After June hears that her former best friend has died, she can't believe it. When she hears how her best friend supposedly died, she really can't believe it. Even though they haven't been friends for more than a year, June knew Delia. This wasn't something Delia would do.

Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls brings us June's present day - as she struggles to understand that Delia is gone, to figure out if it was suicide like they all say - and flashbacks to their friendship together.

They were best friends for half a decade, from the time Delia first came to school. It was a friendship that made June feel a part of something and not so alone. It was a friendship - they were friends - who drew other people's attention.

Until they weren't friends anymore.

Just what happened that night is only one of the secrets surrounding June and Delia (and June's boyfriend Ryan). Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls is absolutely full to the brim with secrets. Secrets, half truths, possibilities, lies and uncertainties.

Even when it seems sure that things have finally come out in the open, unbelievable though they may seem, you know, somehow, that they whole truth is not out there yet.

The book description says it, 'will keep you guessing until the very last page' but that's only partially true. You will definitely still be guessing after the last page, as well. I loved trying to figure this one out (and actually, I still am).

We get to know June's character, slowly, through what happens and what she remembers, but I loved how who she was came together. And who Delia was.

It's hard to say too much without including some spoiler (which I don't want to do) but I loved how the a book that seems to start with a girl's former best friend committing suicide and her figuring out how to grieve her, becomes so much more. The book has a lot of twists, turns, false starts, and misdirections but comes together fantastically.

This is one story - along with its characters - that's going to be in my head for a while.







digital copy received from publisher, via Edelweiss, for review

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