Review: Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick

Published August 13th 2013

“Today is Leonard Peacock’s birthday. It is also the day he hides a gun in his backpack. Because today is the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather’s P-38 pistol.

But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate, Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school’s class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hours tick by and the moment of truth approaches.

In this riveting look at a day in the life of a disturbed teenage boy, acclaimed author Matthew Quick unflinchingly examines the impossible choices that must be made—and the light in us all that never goes out.”

I’d seen this book a few times at bookstores but I hadn’t really seen any reviews for it. When Stephanie recommended this book in her Recommendation Friday post a few weeks ago, I knew I would pick this book up within the year. I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this book and I was really surprised by it.

This book is extremely well written. I was really surprised but how great and well thought out everything was. Matthew Quick clearly did a lot of research on the subject of this book. I thought everything was extremely accurate.

I could never really love Leonard because of what he planned to do to his former best friend but at the same time, I couldn’t completely fault him for it. I wanted to help him. I felt for him and I was very emotionally invested in his story. There’s really no words for how I felt about Leonard. I just really wanted him to get better.

This book is so fast paced and really easy to read. I read it in about four hours and I couldn’t put it down. I was glued to the pages but at the same time, I had to put the book down at times and walk around. I wanted to stop reading but I just couldn’t.

Overall, I don’t have a really long review because there’s no words for how I feel about this book but I also have so much to say. I read this as an ebook but I’ll be getting a print copy soon so I can put it on my favorites shelf. I highly recommend this book to everyone. No matter what genre you normally read, Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock should be on your TBR.