Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten // Books Like This Boggle My Mind

Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls, by Lynn Weingarten
Publication: July 7, 2015, by Simon Pulse
Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 320
Format: ARC
Source: BEA/Publisher
Rating: 

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.
Now 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.

My Thoughts:

It is rare to find a book and actually call it "epic." It is also rare to fall in love with a book from the first page and read it in a sitting, or at least, it has been difficult for me to do that lately when every book I have been reading is a three star. Lynn Weingarten's Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls saved me from jumping into a reading slump and feeling useless with myself. She takes a real-life, crazy situation and makes it believable, switching between genres and making this a grief-bound-loss-story, to one that is a pure and favourite of mine, a psychological thriller.

Weingarten uses everything that she could in her writing style to capture the attention of readers. I fell in love from the first page, couldn't stop reading, and made sure that the atmosphere around me was not distracting, and certainly not loud and noisy. This precious, precious novel saved me from drowning and collapsing in all of the books I own, perhaps even saving me from giving up on books that are contemporary after all. As time goes by, I have found myself to be picky with novels, but this is love at first sight. The tricking plot that Weingarten creates is captivating, and a true adventure within an adventure that the main character, June, goes through. I adore this novel, and I seriously promise readers that it will be on my year's favourite list.

"Later, Delia would explain to June that finding a best friend is like finding a true love: When you meet yours, you just know." (61)

Lynn's characters just fall under so many topics and parts of life that it truly is difficult to pronounce what this book actually focuses on. It shares elements of murder, abuse, hallucination, jealousy, death, eeriness and mystery. But then again, June, the main character, falls under so many other things like having a horrible life which really leaves readers not being able to understand what the truth really is. In this case, it is totally acceptable to just not know. You will not know. You will not know anything until the last page where your world will collapse. Or at least, mine did. I seriously had to make sure that the book was seriously over and that there wasn't some invisible ink on the final back pages because I was shocked, and kind of in a good way. If you cannot handle the suspense, then I pray for you. 

Weingarten moves from perspective to perspective, from different periods of time when there are hints and clues that really give you the solemn answer to this mystery that June herself is bound to solve. Readers see the start of the toxic, addicting friendship that Delia and June make from the sixth grade, and how quickly things tear apart because of jealousy and really... because nobody had no freaking idea why. Friendships are like that, and instead of an author handing readers a cheeky, one-sided tale about two girls who become friends again or who go through loss, this is the ultimate truth. And we are seriously lucky to see both sides of the story, if you know what I mean.

You see... this book makes me contemplate some theories as I did with Michelle Hodkin's Mara Dyer trilogy. Because the ending was so abrupt and beautiful, every reader could make their own guess and see what would happen with that. I cannot stop thinking about what Weingarten left us with. Humans are savages, we all are in some way, and instead of hitting the violent side of things (well, we kind of did in a few ways), we get to take a look at sociopathy, lies, and desperation. The writing is very, very lyrical and melancholic, and I just kept guessing and guessing. I still do not know what to think and what to do with myself. I feel like I am in this clear bubble of nothing, trying to discover what the truth is to this novel. There is a point and main idea—destructiveness, in fact, but I love how readers are able to discuss and have their own say on this. It's not a clear, special ending, if you know what I mean. 

"Evan, Ashling, Sebastian. They all smile. Who are these people? Who is Sebastian? Who is Delia? What the fuck have we done?" (310)

I cannot digress anything more about this story—it is my love and I am so glad to have enjoyed it as much as I did. There is a slight romance, but as we get to know June more and more, we see that friendship is more important to her than guys.

Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls really is beautiful and pure. I could definitely see it as one of the best books, ever, period, and it such a savaged, interesting psychological thriller. Your heart will pound, you will be shocked and unsure of what will actually happen in the end. The characters are all so complex, but each have their own spark that makes them different. And in the end, this is a book solemnly about reality and the things that can occur if you're not careful. Agh.

*A review copy was provided by the publisher via BookExpo America. Thank you so much!*

Do you enjoy psychological thrillers? Would you give this book a try by any chance? Have you read anything by Lynn Weingarten in the past? (I have, I love her writing!)