![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Blurb On The Back:
Leonard Peacock is turning 18.
And he wants to say goodbye.
Not to his former best friend, whose torments have driven him to consider committing something tragic and horrific.
Nor to his mum who’s moved out and left him to fend for himself. But to his four friends.
A Humphrey Bogart-obsessed neighbour.
A teenage violin virtuouso.
A pastor’s daughter.
A teacher.
Most of the time Leonard believes he’s weird and sad but these friends have made him think that maybe he’s not.
He wants to thank them, and bid them farewell.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
Matthew Quick’s literary YA novel deals with the serious topics of depression, social isolation, emotional abuse and rape but maintains a dark sense of humour and a pitch perfect narrative voice. Leonard is an outsider – smart but damaged he keenly recognises his absence of friends and yearns for human contact even though he can’t quite seem to connect with people. I particularly enjoyed his relationship with Bogart-fan Walt and Quick perfectly captures how it’s based on mutual acceptance. By contrast, Herr Silverman was a little too idealised for me and I found the footnotes that pepper the text to be really jarring and they took me out of the story. Despite that though, it’s an absorbing read and sympathetic to its main character. I’d definitely check out Quick’s other books.
And he wants to say goodbye.
Not to his former best friend, whose torments have driven him to consider committing something tragic and horrific.
Nor to his mum who’s moved out and left him to fend for himself. But to his four friends.
A Humphrey Bogart-obsessed neighbour.
A teenage violin virtuouso.
A pastor’s daughter.
A teacher.
Most of the time Leonard believes he’s weird and sad but these friends have made him think that maybe he’s not.
He wants to thank them, and bid them farewell.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): ) The Verdict:
Matthew Quick’s literary YA novel deals with the serious topics of depression, social isolation, emotional abuse and rape but maintains a dark sense of humour and a pitch perfect narrative voice. Leonard is an outsider – smart but damaged he keenly recognises his absence of friends and yearns for human contact even though he can’t quite seem to connect with people. I particularly enjoyed his relationship with Bogart-fan Walt and Quick perfectly captures how it’s based on mutual acceptance. By contrast, Herr Silverman was a little too idealised for me and I found the footnotes that pepper the text to be really jarring and they took me out of the story. Despite that though, it’s an absorbing read and sympathetic to its main character. I’d definitely check out Quick’s other books.
