Genre: YA
Description:
“Seventeen-year-old Jim JD Dillinger knows exactly how his miserable
suburban life is going to play out. At least drugs added a little chaos to his
life, but after almost losing his soul, JD knows he has to quit. Now clean, he
figures he has another sixty years of plain old boring life followed by a nasty
death. JD decides to pre-empt God by killing himself. However, once he decides
to die, his life gets better, more interesting, and then downright strange. New
friends. Possible romance. And donuts. Lots of donuts. Once the end is in
sight, every minute becomes precious.”
Author:
A former secondary school teacher and recovering TV addict, Aaron
Michael Ritchey lives in Colorado where he runs triathlons and helps raise his
two daughters. He is the author of one previous novel, The Never Prayer.
For more, visit Richey’s website.
Appraisal:
Compared to the average teenager, Jim “JD” Dillinger has it good. If
someone tweeted his complaints about life, I’d expect to see a
#firstworldproblems or even #richsuburbankidissues hash tag accompanying it.
However, teen angst, depression, and wondering about the point of life can
happen to any teen. Suicide knows no boundaries and logic isn’t part of the
equation.
My biggest concern with reading this book was that it might be too
much. For anyone whose life has been touched by suicide (I’m guessing a whole lot
of people) it’s a serious subject. A story that deals with the subject has to
have dark moments. Long Live the Suicide
King is dark at times, but this is offset by lighter, humorous moments and
never felt too heavy to me. It’s subtle in making points about choosing life
over death while never feeling preachy. An excellent read, not just for its
young target audience, but for adults as well.
FYI:
One f-bomb and a couple mild scenes that touch on sex. Much less than
the typical teenager will be exposed to in an average school day.
Added for
Reprise Review: Long Live
the Suicide King was a nominee in the Young Adult category for B&P 2015
Readers' Choice Awards. Original review ran June 30, 2014
Format/Typo
Issues:
No significant issues.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: BigAl
Approximate
word count: 55-60,000 words
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