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Book Review

REVIEW: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock was the perfect concoction of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Before I Die, with a male protagonist, of course.Although I haven’t read The Silver Linings Playbook, I expected great things from the same author, and I was not let down at all.

It’s Leonard Peacock’s eighteenth birthday and the day he is going to say goodbye, for he has decided that today will be his last day on Earth. After killing his former best friend, he will take his own life. His mother, who he calls Linda to annoy her, who spends most of her time in New York with her French boyfriend, won’t care. His father, who has moved to somewhere in Venezuela and practically dropped off the face of the planet, won’t care.

Leonard has four packages: one for his Bogart- obsessed neighbour; another for his Holocaust teacher; one for a violin virtuoso; and one for a pastor’s daughter.

Leonard, for all of his odd characteristics, was a very likable character and one that I just wanted to send big hugs to. He’d never received any love from his parental figures and so was searching for something that he had never had. I loved his relationship with Walt. It was so natural and I relished the scenes when they were interacting. Walt really cared about him, and it was really sweet to see.

Written with footnotes at the bottom was a really good idea and fitted in really well with the narration and themes of the book. It’s something that really makes the book stand out and a really strong reason to pick up this book. If you like something a bit different, then Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is the book for you.

I loved the future scenes. I’d happily read a whole book that featured this world, because it was so carefully thought out and crafted. It really added a nice touch to the book, and this is the sort of thing that bumps up my rating.

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is the kind of book that I devour. I love hard hitting and raw novels and this really was one of them. It’s impossible to say that this book was a light read, but if it was it wouldn’t be the same. I loved this novel because of its nature and I think this is something that other people will love, too.

I didn’t think I’d like Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock as much as I did and I’ll definitely be reading something else by Quick now.