23 January 2014

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
Series: No
Publisher: Headline
Publication Date: August 15th 2013
Source: Won - Goodreads First Reads



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.

I've been meaning to get around to Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock ever since I won a copy back in August, but I just haven't been in the mood for it. It's one of those books that I just had to be in a certain mood to read and every time I went to read it previously, I just couldn't get through it. But I finally got around to reading it! It did take me a bit longer than expected to get through, but I did end up enjoying this book. 

It follows 18 year old Leonard Peacock who has decided to kill himself on his 18th birthday. He's decided he's going to say goodbye to his 4 friends and kill his ex-best friend before killing himself.

Leonard was a very odd but interesting character. He has his own way of thinking which I found really interesting and hearing about why he wanted to kill himself was heartbreaking. His mother basically didn't care about him, his father has disappeared off the face of the Earth and Leonard just feels like he's all alone. He doesn't fit in and he just wants to find his place in the world. He wanted to find someone who loved him. 

The letters from the future did slightly confuse me to start with because I was wondering where the fit in to this whole story, and then I found out the truth behind them and it did slightly break me. It just made my heart ache for Leonard. The letters also showed how talented Leonard was though. 

Finding out Leonard's reason behind why he wanted to kill Asher (former best friend) was interesting. Throughout the whole novel I was wondering what caused Leonard to hate him so much, and then we found out. What Asher did was unforgivable, but Leonard was taking things to the extreme wanting to kill him. But Leonard never had anyone to talk to, or anyone that he could confide in so his anger towards Asher just built up inside him. 

I enjoyed the story line of this book and I really did enjoy seeing Leonard's journey from start to end. Leonard went through a lot throughout this whole book and I did really love seeing his journey. It was an emotional journey, but it was a brilliant one.

Overall, Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock was a brilliant novel. I didn't know if I was going to enjoy it, but it was just such a fantastic novel and I love Matthew Quick's writing style. 

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