Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

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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.

 

This book was emotionally hard to read but at the same time I couldn't stop reading it. When I found out what Leonard was planning to do, I almost put the book down. It made me rethink if I wanted to read the book or not. But then the more I read, the more I didn't want to put it down. Leonard is so so charming that it made me forget that he was depressed. He's personality made me love him and made me wonder why didn't everybody love him, especially his mom. I detest bad mothers, in books and in real life. And Leonard's mom was the worst kind of mom. I will stop, because my whole review will be about how big of a bitch that woman was.

I enjoy Matthew Quick's writing. It's very realistic and hard breaking but at the same time humorous and smart. The pacing was equally as good. There're some flashbacks here and there, and I usually don't enjoy those, but it was so well done. The book really needed to go back for us to see the whole picture and understand the way Leonard was acting. I wanted to hug him so bad!

I loved everything about this book, but my favorite part were the Letters from the future. Those letters made me happy, laugh and the last one made me cry. I still get a little emotional when I think about it. I still can't get Leonard out of my head, he was such a strong character that it just makes it hard to forget him. If you are looking for an emotional and kind of funny read then Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock is the book you should read next.