This book is interesting - with lots of twists. You find out a big twist about the character when you least expect it. It was probably more than I expected. AHS/BB

I don't know what to say about this book, not really. I read it really, really quickly. Not because it was super short (it wasn't), but because once I started, I just couldn't stop. It was just that good. It's not really about suicide, it's more about growing up. But not in that teen angst, over dramatic woe is me kind of way. Suicide Notes is way more real than a lot of stuff I've read. But what makes it so good is that we get a skewed point of view because Jeff, our narrator is really unreliable. Not because he lies, but because he can't face the truth of what happened just yet. which means this book is, well, really amazing. That's about it. Highly, highly recommended. ( )

Reviewed by JodiG. for TeensReadToo.com

Jeff is fifteen years old, from a good family, and he's just woken up in the psychiatric ward of the hospital.

Over the next month and a half he will take part in group therapy, individual counseling, and even those excruciating sessions with his family. And through all of this, everyone will realize that he didn't really mean to kill himself. Right? It was just a misunderstanding.

His group therapy sessions aren't his favorite; he's only going so that everyone can see how sane he really is. There are four of "them" in his group: Alice, who lit her mom's boyfriend on fire; Juliet, who seems to have no direct relationship with reality; Sadie, who tried to drown herself; and Bone, who primarily just wants the world to know that he doesn't know Juliet and is not her boyfriend.

Jeff tries to make it clear that he is only there because of a misunderstanding. But, it's hard to misunderstand the bandages on his wrists.

Over the next 45 days, Jeff's story will unfold and new pages will be added. Was it really a girl that caused this whole "misunderstanding?" Allie has been his best friend, but was she more than that? Was he jealous of her new boyfriend or did she reject his advances?

And now he has new friendships forming while he's in the hospital, and each of those will test his ability to deal with new pressures and unexpected situations. And may lead him closer to confronting the events that led up to his hospitalization. ( )

On New Year's Day Jeff is taken to a psychiatric ward because he tries to kill himself. Jeff insists that he's not crazy - he doesn't see why everyone can't just get over it and leave him alone - but he's enrolled in a 45-day program at the hospital. He has to endure group therapy and sessions with Dr. Katzrupus (whom he nicknames Cat Poop). Jeff keeps insisting there's nothing wrong, but as his stay progresses and he gets to know some of the other kids on the ward Jeff just might start to figure out some stuff about himself.

Jeff's irreverent sarcasm drew me in from the beginning and I found myself not wanting to put the book down. I was also intrigued by Jeff's suicide attempt - what caused him to try to take his own life? He was obviously hiding something and I wanted to know what. I'd hand this to teens who liked Julie Halpern's Get Well Soon (another funny take on psychiatric hospitals) or Ned Vizzini's It's Kind of a Funny Story (although the tone is different). ( )

It's New Year's Day, and 15-year-old Jeff wakes up in the psychiatric ward of the hospital. He's positive he doesn't belong there, that his parents are overreacting like they do to everything. Sure, he tried to kill himself, but that doesn't mean everyone has to get all stressed out. He's not really crazy, not like the other kids in the ward. He just made a mistake, and as soon as he gets out everything will be fine. Right?

Suicide Notes was a disappointment. The book feels as though Ford decided to write a "problem novel," and couldn't decide which "problem" to focus on. Jeff's reason for attempting suicide (he made a pass at his best friend's boyfriend and was rejected) was not presented in a believable way. Jeff himself is not a particularly intriguing character, and the cast of characters in the mental hospital were little more than stereotypes.

The book's plot is generally predictable, as Jeff slowly grows to trust his psychiatrist and the others in the ward. Several semi-consensual sexual encounters between Jeff and Rankin, another patient, left me uneasy. One final encounter passed beyond "semi-consensual" into full blown sexual assault - Rankin climbs naked into Jeff's bed and ignores his repeated statements of "don't!" I was very disappointed that the assault wasn't treated as such - although Rankin is sent away, even Jeff's psychiatrist doesn't condemn his actions as sexual assault, merely describes them as inappropriate.

For a better treatment of life in the psychiatric ward, I'd recommend Ned Vizzini's It's Kind of a Funny Story. ( )