BOOKS!

A 17-year-old high school senior named Leonard Peacock who plans to shoot Asher Beal, his former best friend, and then subsequently kill himself, on his birthday. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is one of my favorite books. The way it formats it's narrative really helps the book. It's not linear storytelling, rather jumping back and forth through memories as one in Leonard's spot would. The footnotes in every chapter are also an interesting touch as they tell more about Leonard and other characters then the story sometimes does. Mattew Quick really knows how to write a morally grey character like Leonard. You can feel bad for him and sympathizes with his issues, while also acknowledging that he is not perfect either.

9/10

In a quiet suburb of Detroit, the five Lisbon sisters--beautiful, eccentric, and obsessively watched by the neighborhood boys--commit suicide one by one over the course of a single year. As the boys observe them from afar, transfixed, they piece together the mystery of the family's fatal melancholy, in this hypnotic and unforgettable novel of adolescent love, disquiet, and death. I don't have much to say on why I enjoy it so. It's mostly morbid curiousity and the mystery of it all. I wonder why did they did it sometimes but then on other days I understand.

7/10

The summer before school starts, Sam's friend and classmate Morgan Mallen kills herself. Morgan had been bullied. Maybe she kissed the wrong boy. Or said the wrong thing. What about that selfie that made the rounds? Morgan was this, and Morgan was that. But who really knows what happened? As Sam explores the events leading up to the tragedy, he must face a difficult and life-changing question: Why did he keep his friendship with Morgan a secret? And could he have done something-anything-to prevent her final actions?The Fall reminds me of The Virgin Suicides, we never learn why Morgan does it. Why most characters make their choices. It's something I think about a lot too. Sam isn't a perfect kid, but like Leonard, he is flawed. He is easily pressued by others (in a way I feel I relate too), but he's just a kid in that way. It's not a perfect book, but I think it's a good read.

7/10

16-year-old Raquel lives in a small town in Portugal, the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else's business. Her parents are divorced and she's just been suspended for cursing out a school aide asking about her father's new marriage. She has two best friends, Luísa and Fred, but wants something more. Then, from afar, she sees Pardalita, a senior and a gifted artist who's moving to Lisbon to study in the fall. The two girls get to know each other while working on a play. And Raquel falls in love. I just read this graphic novel a few months ago, but I was automatically obsessed with it. It's got such an interesting style that I felt attached too. The characters and plot were interesting, I just wish it didn't end so fast. I wanted to see more of the story. I really related to Raquel, especially when she first develops her crush on Pardalita and starts looking for signs everywhere.

10/10

Mia Winchell appears to be a typical kid, but she's keeping a big secret—sounds, numbers, and words have color for her. No one knows, and Mia wants to keep it that way. But when trouble at school finally forces Mia to reveal her secret, she must learn to accept herself and embrace her ability, called synesthesia, a mingling of the senses.This was one of the first books to successfully make me sob. I relate to Mia as she dicusses hiding her synesthesia from her friends and family and feeling crazy for it. That's how I feel thinking about my issues.

9/10