Book Review: Suicide Notes

"Seven little crazy kids chopping up sticks;
One burnt her daddy up and then there were six.
Six little crazy kids playing with a hive;
One tattooed himself to death and then there were five.
Five little crazy kids on a cellar door;
One went all schizo and then there were four.
Four little crazy kids going out to sea;
One wouldn’t say a word, and then there were three. 
Three little crazy kids walking to the zoo;
One jerked himself too much and then there were two.
Two little crazy kids sitting in the sun;
One took a bunch of pills and then there was one.
One little crazy kid left all alone;
He went and slit his wrists, and then there were none."

Jeff committed suicide on New Year’s Eve. When he woke up the next day, he was already in a psychiatric ward and enrolled in a 45-day program. Though he insists that he is not crazy, he still have to stay in the psych ward until he finished the program. He thinks what he did isn’t a big deal and wants everybody to just move on. But they won’t… and he is stuck in the psychiatric ward for 45 days with other ‘crazy’ patients.

When you pick up this book and read its title, you’ll probably think that the story is depressing. But don’t be fooled! This book actually made me laugh several times. Jeff’s sarcasm is hilarious, believe me. Though I found myself laughing, this book is pretty serious too. It tackled serious issues, like suicide, in a not confusing way.

I especially love the characters. Nobody was left out- everybody has their own stories. Nobody was underdeveloped. Just like what I said, I like Jeff’s wittiness. It made the everyone-expected-to-be-depressing-because-of-the-title book easier to understand. But of course, my love for complicated female characters will never be surpassed. Example: Alaska Young and Noelle. So yes, my favorite character is Sadie. At first, you’ll think she’s just another girl who will make the good guy go crazy too… but in Suicide Notes, it’s different. Turns out, she has a big part on how Jeff resolved his confusion about himself.

Also I love the way how characters have different struggles but they still have one thing similar to each other: at one point in their lives, a bomb inside them exploded. The connection of the patients despite their different struggles in life is awe-inspiring. At one point, they all felt like they don’t have someone to talk to.

 Maybe that’s why I found this book beautiful… because it made me realize that sometimes all we need is someone to talk to- someone who can listen and prevent us from letting the bomb inside us explode. 

★★★★★

AC

P.S. I'm making a playlist inspired by this book right now. I'll post it later. :)