HIgh School Pick: Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls

Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls
by Lynn Weingarten
Simon Pulse
2015
325 pages
ISBN: 9781481418539

Dark, disturbing, defiant, thrilling and taut, Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls will keep readers guessing until the very last page. The symbolism of the three burnt matches on the cover will catch the eyes of teen browsers,  but the story and the characters will keep them reading.

Best friends June and Delia drift away from each other, and nearly a year later June is saddened and horrified to learn of Delia's death. June knows it wasn't suicide and she will not stop until she has answers.

As June begins to investigate, she finds out deeply disturbing things about her "friend." Delia was not just keeping secrets, she was lying and doing much, much worse. Just who was this girl that June befriended? No one is who they seem to be in Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls and that's the darkness (in a  good way) of this book.

Delia is a case study in friendly sociopath. She manipulates, lies, cheats and controls without any shame. She has no conscience and no soul. She asks everything, forgives nothing, and walks away from trouble and even love. June is easily coerced allowing the vibrant Delia to lead the way. Delia is a white hot supernova that will soon burn out, and June is left with mere sparks of dying stardust.

I loved the premise of the story and the first part of the book really raced along. It gets weird in the middle and weirder still at the end. Love triangles and blackmail, deception, deceit and hatred cause all the characters to act with June being the likely loser.

This is one book not for middle school. Profanity, gender identity, sex, violence, underage drinking, bad behavior. Recommended for grade 9-up.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)