As an avid reader, I delve into many genres and authors. Recently, I have been immersed in mysteries and so my friend recommended this book to me. I thought that it would be just like any old, scary, predictable book. But no– this book constantly kept me wondering what would happen next. I finished it (for the first time) in just about a day. 

The story follows two high school girls, June and Delia. Throughout their lives, they are completely inseparable. As they progress through high school, they develop interests in different topics, people, etc. Then, one day, just like any other, June is informed that Delia committed suicide by setting herself on fire. In denial, June decides to dig into Delia’s life. As she digs deeper into Delia’s life, she uncovers webs of lies, secrets, and manipulation. These discoveries lead June to doubt their entire friendship and she finds herself in a predicament. 

Honestly, this book took many twists and turns that I never would’ve expected. There were very few times when I could predict what would happen. It was enthralling because what’s the point of reading a book if you know exactly what’s going to happen?

Weingarten also does an extraordinary job at describing and developing the characters. I visualize when I read and this book allowed me to completely develop the characters. For example, she describes Delia, “You never knew whether she was going to be the sparkly, charming person who glowed from the inside, who everyone loved, or more and more lately, a girl with a core of darkness” (Weingarten 112). Weingarten allows you to experience the good and bad sides of each character. 

The emotions were also authentic–I have to admit that I did find myself crying a couple of times. Weingarten did this by using powerful adjectives and verbs that make you feel like you are there; feeling the pain and happiness. She wrote the book from a third person omniscient perspective where most of it follows June’s perspective. However, Weingarten does switch to telling the story from Delia’s perspective which reveals a lot and allows you to feel emotions from each character.

Suicide Notes from Beautiful Girls is a book that I will definitely read again. I would also recommend it to anyone, even people who don’t necessarily like reading because it’s phenomenally written. It’s a mysterious novel that embodies the challenges of friendship, betrayal, manipulation, and the deep inner-workings of the human mind. Lynn Weingarten incorporates many aspects of the human experience that people can relate to, which keeps them intrigued.