The Virgin Suicides: TikTok made me buy it! (Collins Modern Classics) Paperback – 13 May 2021

I remember watching the film as a teenager (10 years ago) as research for a drama piece on cults and family pressure, but I don't remember that much about it to be able to compare it to the novel.It's no secret that it's dark and the subject matter is clear from the title but the story is interesting and written endearingly by the neighbours of the girls, watching them from afar. This makes the story more believable, at least I couldn't imagine it working as well in a first person narrative or from an unknown detached narrator.While the story is famously morbid, there is humour and heart throughout and it is an enjoyable read and not as heavy as you might expect.

Read this review along with others on my blog by following this link: https://bibliomad.wordpress.com/A reminiscence of childhood innocence, The Virgin Suicides explores the mystery surrounding teenage suicide, told from the perspective of neighbourhood boys 20 years after the incident.This being his début novel, Eugenides writes in a modern-classical fashion: long, swooping sentences; figurative language; poetic tendencies, and a flowing feel. Personally, this isn't my preferred writing style - for I commonly feel as though it acts as a prevention to fast-paced action, and instead ensures the book is very lethargic, and is read slowly. However, having said that and because The Virgin Suicides is a rather nostalgic novel, this method instead makes it so that one becomes much more thoughtful when reading. This isn't the book to race through, and it isn't a book that will bury its hooks in you and prevent you putting it down. No, this book is slow and thought-provoking, and it works perfectly for the subject matter.Likewise, this plot - despite the book being named for the Lisbon Girls - is also nostalgic. In my opinion, the title and synopsis make it so that this book appears to tell the story of 5 suicidal sisters. It doesn't. Instead, it tells the story of a group of boys, 20 years after the suicides, who are yet to work out why the girls committed suicide. Frankly, I was a little disappointed that this wasn't a 3rd person perspective on the Lisbon household, yet I grew to like the group of boys who instead told the story. One never discovers exactly who the narrator is - he is a nameless male who is as infatuated with the Lisbon girls as his friends are. The book is told from a 1st person perspective, but, instead of 'I', 'we' is used. This offers a more ambiguous feel to who is telling the story, adding to the mystery, and allowing the book to differ from many of its kind.In terms of characters, it is very difficult to pinpoint the singular attribute each of the 5 sisters, due to the fact that the narrator struggles to differentiate them himself. Thus, one cannot form an opinion of any of the girls separately, which, I believe, works well; this isn't a story about the 5 girls separately, but instead one told of them collectively. Having little information of the girls made it feel as though we were one of the neighbourhood boys who wanted to discover more, but enevr could. The girls are: Cecelia, Lux, Mary, Therese, and Bonnie. The order of age is never stated, nor are the ages explicitly stated by the end of the book, and by the night of the suicides.In a nut shell, The Virgin Suicides is, if anything, a coming-of-age story, delving into the exploration of what pushes people to suicide, especially those so young. Whilst it didn't keep me hooked or wanting more, I did enjoy this book, and entirely respect Eugenides writing, thus awarding his début novel 4/5 stars.

It may be an unpopular opinion, since I was drawn to this book because of it's rave reviews and hype, but whilst I liked the book, I can't say I enjoyed it a lot. I understand that the plot line is almost a backdrop to what is probably the main themes of the book - adolescence. However, I was a little annoyed that we never learn the reason for the suicides - not even one of them! There are theories, but nothing concrete. That was disappointing for me.It felt like the book didn't really get anywhere...I enjoyed the symbolism throughout the book, and the characterization of the girls, and how they are described through the fascinated eyes of the neighborhood boys, is fantastic.I found this a rather slow read because the chapters were so long! The book wasn't long at all, but I found it hard to read chapters that were sometimes 60 pages long! That's not usually an issue, but when there isn't a strong plot line or intrigue, it becomes a little bit laborious.I found it more interesting towards the end of the novel, particularly when the boys begin their communication with the girls.Overall.. the book was good, I enjoyed it, but it wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be.A better book about suicide would be The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath.

Brought as a Christmas present for my sister and she loved it, great colour print on the front, great size and nice quality

The Lisbon sisters had been an obsession for the boys in the local area long before Cecelia’s first suicide attempt but after that it almost runs out of control. What drives the boys’ obsession? What is really going on behind the closed doors of the Lisbon house?I have heard a lot of positive things about “The Virgin Suicides”. It often pops up on lists of books that you “must” read and I will say that I’m glad I have finally tried it but unfortunately it wasn’t for me.What could have been such an interesting subject, what could have driven five sisters to all take their own lives, is somehow rendered unimportant in a story that is instead about the obsession of the local boys. The book is narrated from their viewpoint and with an unreliable narrator it’s obviously hard to trust what you’re told. It definitely feels like the Lisbon family as a whole were massively let down by the system and their neighbours. It was clear that something was going on with the family, particularly after Cecelia’s death, but people prefer to gossip than actually try and help.Eugenides’ writing didn’t grip me at all. I got through it quite quickly because it’s quite a short book but I wasn’t desperate to read and looking forward to the next bit. The writing felt clunky to me and there was no real flow.The story is extremely slow paced and thanks to the narrative style we never really learn all that much about the Lisbon girls who are supposed to be the main characters, which, for me, made it difficult to really be invested in them as characters and left me with more questions than answers.Overall, this one sadly wasn’t really for me.