Review: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock

Matthew Quick
Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 2013
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

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How would you spend your birthday if you knew it would be your last?
Eighteen-year-old Leonard Peacock knows exactly what he'll do. He'll say goodbye.

Not to his mum - who he calls Linda because it annoys her - who's moved out and left him to fend for himself. Nor to his former best friend, whose torments have driven him to consider committing the unthinkable. But to his four friends: a Humphrey-Bogart-obsessed neighbour, a teenage violin virtuoso, a pastor's daughter and 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 say goodbye.

POSITIVE THOUGHTS

• THE FEELS! I had so many feels during this wonderfully emotional book. It was a rollercoaster for sure. At one point I was laughing and crying and frowning and I-don't-even-know. I think it's because of how this very emotional and difficult subject, suicide by a teenager, was handled with humor and careful dialogue. It was wonderful and it made me feel hopelessly sad and terribly happy at the same time. 
• The characters are all unique and fitted very well. Sometimes in books I just feel like certain characters are fake, they don't belong in the story and they don't add anything to the story. But not in this book, no, in this book all the characters are lovely and I don't think the story would be as great without them. First there's Leonard, of course. He's very weird and intelligent and just different from the kids in his school. He's very conscious of his being different and it gives him pride in one way but it also hurts him. And then of course he is wounded because of something that happened to him a while ago. Although Leonard is a bit of a weirdo (or a lot...) he is very relatable. Don't we all feel like the people are us are just übermorons? What makes him so relatable is his humorous way to talk about his problems. I think he's definitely not the first person to use humour to express what isn't so easy to express. My favourite character, though, was his teacher... AW MAN!
• The teacher, Herr Silverman, is literally the best teacher ever. Not only are his classes challenging, he also cares. Let me say that again: he cares. Every single part where I cried in this book, it was because of him and his huge amount of caring and tact and just heroic I-need-to-save-this-kid attitude. He's the hero of this story, guys! The hero of uncontrollable sobs and whimpers, that is. I regret nothing. He's amazing. Read the book and you'll agree with me. 
• The plot was another thing I really enjoyed. The entire book is one day in Leonard's life. And not just any day, oh no, it's his birthday and the day he decides to end it all. Not just his own life but the life of his former best friend who is responsible for his fucked up life. But before he can end it, he has to say goodbye to his friends, people who he liked and made life a bit more bareable. I thought this idea was very touching. We're talking about a deeply unhappy person here, driven to actually kill himself and someone else, but before he goes he knows he has to thank a few people. 
• Also, there's this scene where Leonard takes the train to watch grown-ups go to work and just describes how depressed they all are and he just sort of begs the world to give him a sign that life will get better... Oh my gosh, don't we all relate to this so much? Especially as a teenager, sometimes all you have to hold on to is the future that you can build for yourself. This scene hit me right in my personal feels, man. 

NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

• Really the only thing I can think of is the ending. I mean.. the lack of an ending, really. I want to KNOW! I need to KNOW! 

Have you read Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock yet? Would you like to?