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jenpaul13's review against another edition
3.0
When human lives are easily able to be upwards of a couple hundred years, dying is taboo and essentially illegal, forcing factions of the population to contests what constitutes living in Rachel Heng's Suicide Club: A Novel About Living.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Lea Kirino is what's known as a "Lifer" as her genes provide her the potential of becoming immortal. Lea's life appears to be going quite well: she is successful in her well-paying job, she has a loving fiancé, and she's on track to live forever. But when her past comes back into her life quite suddenly, she becomes preoccupied with sorting it out to the detriment of her seemingly perfect life. Observed after an accident believed to be a suicide attempt, Lea has to be careful what she does and says. But despite her adamant claims of the accident being truly an accident she begins to explore an infamous group known as the Suicide Club.
Using an incredibly intriguing premise, this story explores living life and finding fulfillment on individual terms despite a prescribed course, yet the execution doesn't match the potential offered by the premise - the structure is there but could use more work in fleshing it out to have more impact. The story is told through the perspectives of Lea and Anja, with a majority of the tale told via Lea, which impacts the strength of the narrative and its pacing; Lea is an underdeveloped and annoyingly unrealistic character while Anja demonstrates more depth and vulnerability, making her easier to connect with despite her brief appearances. Though the novel incorporates elements of dystopian societies through a governmental entity that monitors what its citizens do and makes killing oneself an unthinkable task, there's little development of the near-future world and WHY this is how the world functions; there are many questions that the novel elicits but very few of the questions are addressed throughout the story.
To read this, and other book reviews, visit my website: http://makinggoodstories.wordpress.com/.
Lea Kirino is what's known as a "Lifer" as her genes provide her the potential of becoming immortal. Lea's life appears to be going quite well: she is successful in her well-paying job, she has a loving fiancé, and she's on track to live forever. But when her past comes back into her life quite suddenly, she becomes preoccupied with sorting it out to the detriment of her seemingly perfect life. Observed after an accident believed to be a suicide attempt, Lea has to be careful what she does and says. But despite her adamant claims of the accident being truly an accident she begins to explore an infamous group known as the Suicide Club.
Using an incredibly intriguing premise, this story explores living life and finding fulfillment on individual terms despite a prescribed course, yet the execution doesn't match the potential offered by the premise - the structure is there but could use more work in fleshing it out to have more impact. The story is told through the perspectives of Lea and Anja, with a majority of the tale told via Lea, which impacts the strength of the narrative and its pacing; Lea is an underdeveloped and annoyingly unrealistic character while Anja demonstrates more depth and vulnerability, making her easier to connect with despite her brief appearances. Though the novel incorporates elements of dystopian societies through a governmental entity that monitors what its citizens do and makes killing oneself an unthinkable task, there's little development of the near-future world and WHY this is how the world functions; there are many questions that the novel elicits but very few of the questions are addressed throughout the story.
legobitar's review against another edition
2.0
Well this was an absolute disappointment.
I think the “message” of this book was “maybe it’s not as nice to live forever as you think!” and I’m like. Yes. I’m depressed. I absolutely 100% know that living forever is not a good thing.
Also no idea what Leah’s more … extreme aspects were meant to … bring to the story? Or to her character?
Idk. Not a good book.
I think the “message” of this book was “maybe it’s not as nice to live forever as you think!” and I’m like. Yes. I’m depressed. I absolutely 100% know that living forever is not a good thing.
Also no idea what Leah’s more … extreme aspects were meant to … bring to the story? Or to her character?
Idk. Not a good book.
s_e_'s review against another edition
dark
2.5
The main character Lea is kind of a bitch and the plot isn't much but the underlying concept is fascinating so I don't really know what to think
horsley123's review against another edition
3.0
Medical advances mean that people are now living to 300 years - and it looks as if the impossible dream of immortality is just round the corner. The government expect you to live life carefully, healthily and according to their edicts - so no running as it is bad for the joints, no cake and only a glass of wine a month. So whilst the idea of living forever might seem attractive it does depend on the conditions under which you are forced to live the life.
I loved the premise - particularly when it becomes apparent that some of the earlier medical interventions were faulty so people were dying but their body keeps on going. What do you do with your parent when it obvious that they are dead but their heart and lungs carry on functioning?
Unfortunately after having had this brilliant idea about the setting the author seems to have come a little stuck with what to do with the characters. At one point it all went a bit 1984 with what felt like the Secret Police following the main character. Then her father turns up - apparently he was wanted by the police - but he seemed to rent a flat and move around without being caught.
After an interesting introduction the 'Suicide Club' turned out to be a bit of a damp squib and disappeared from the plot fairly promptly. There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing over how to die. One character is wrestling with what to do with her mother, whilst the father seemed to pick up some suicide pills with ease so I wasn't quite sure why it was such a problem., In the last chapter it took a turn for 'Thelma and Louise' as the two female characters drove off into the sunset where I hope they will be very happy for many years to come.
I loved the premise - particularly when it becomes apparent that some of the earlier medical interventions were faulty so people were dying but their body keeps on going. What do you do with your parent when it obvious that they are dead but their heart and lungs carry on functioning?
Unfortunately after having had this brilliant idea about the setting the author seems to have come a little stuck with what to do with the characters. At one point it all went a bit 1984 with what felt like the Secret Police following the main character. Then her father turns up - apparently he was wanted by the police - but he seemed to rent a flat and move around without being caught.
After an interesting introduction the 'Suicide Club' turned out to be a bit of a damp squib and disappeared from the plot fairly promptly. There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing over how to die. One character is wrestling with what to do with her mother, whilst the father seemed to pick up some suicide pills with ease so I wasn't quite sure why it was such a problem., In the last chapter it took a turn for 'Thelma and Louise' as the two female characters drove off into the sunset where I hope they will be very happy for many years to come.
samnicsim's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It had me in the beginning! The concept was super interesting and I was engaged until it started to slow very quickly and the story became bland somehow. I had to fight to finish it. It felt like it wasn’t as fleshed out as it could have been. So many ways to take the concept of the story yet the author somehow chose a super uninteresting route to take it. :(
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Suicide, and Abandonment
Minor: Suicide
apatheticastronaut13's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
bibliophilebookclub's review against another edition
2.0
This was one of my anticipated reads this summer, and while the premise is really intriguing, sadly the execution just didn’t do anything for me!
pandash94's review against another edition
5.0
I'm aware that I seem to be in the minority here, but I loved Suicide Club. The premise is a world where people can live indefinitely with the help of some healthy lifestyle choices and help from pharma/devices/organs.
It was such an interesting book with some key nods to fad diets of today. Anja was a great character! Mainly I just loved the concept of how prolonged life can come before individual happiness.
It was such an interesting book with some key nods to fad diets of today. Anja was a great character! Mainly I just loved the concept of how prolonged life can come before individual happiness.
orlaithma's review against another edition
4.0
"In near-future New York, life expectancy averages three hundred years.
Immortality is almost within our grasp.
It's hell."
Suicide Club by Rachel Heng is set in a world where humans are trying, and almost succeeding, to eliminate death. It's such an interesting concept.
It's got aspects of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's Big Brother yet it still manages to be original. Overall I really enjoyed it.
It's a slow burning page turner and as is to be expected from a sci-fi novel, it relies on your suspending of disbelief in order to fully submerge yourself in the story.
I'm excited to read more from this author!
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a free copy of Suicide Club.
Immortality is almost within our grasp.
It's hell."
Suicide Club by Rachel Heng is set in a world where humans are trying, and almost succeeding, to eliminate death. It's such an interesting concept.
It's got aspects of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's Big Brother yet it still manages to be original. Overall I really enjoyed it.
It's a slow burning page turner and as is to be expected from a sci-fi novel, it relies on your suspending of disbelief in order to fully submerge yourself in the story.
I'm excited to read more from this author!
Thank you to the publisher for sending me a free copy of Suicide Club.
zellreads's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting concept and plot. A little shallow and hard to read in the beginning but I loved it as it progressed.