If I was rating this book on how much I enjoyed it alone, it would be 1 star. But I gave Hornby partial credit for a modicum of originality and wit. Mostly for the wit.
Maureen, Martin, JJ, and Jess meet at the top of a tower, each with the intent to jump off it and end their own life. The book is narrated from all four perspectives and follows the four as they each make a different choice.

I guess this book would be classified as black humor, but frankly while it was dark, the characters were so unsympathetic by and large that you really didn't care. And while there were some witty moments, there weren't enough to save the book. Not even close.
My first criticism is that I seriously felt at the end of the book that two of the four characters really should have jumped. That's how unlikable and unsympathetic they were. One of them, Jess, was also grating and annoying.

In addition, all four voices were extremely similar. If you are going to write in the first person from four perspectives, the voices can't all sound like the authors voice.
Finally, it was just a boring book. To be at all worthwhile or engaging, you really would have to care about the characters on some level, but there's almost no opportunity. Maureen is the most sympathetic, but I never really felt her pain. I never felt any of their pain. They were all presumably conflicted, but they all just came across as incredibly self involved.

After 100 pages, I really didn't want to finish this one, but I forced myself. And it didn't improve one bit. In fact, there was one scene, an "intervention" of sorts, and that was really when the book should have been just tossed to the side. Just totally not my thing. ( )

I had looked forward to reading this because I thought it was going to be a funny book. (I know suicide isn't funny) but the premise of this sounded like a fun read. It wasn't fun, but it was thought-provoking. A couple of characters were totally annoying, but even they give us something to think about. ( )

You wouldn't think a novel about suicide would be funny, but alas, this one is. Its also sad, and a little depressing at times, but so is life. This is a book about 4 very lost and lonely people, I could relate to all of them at one point or another, well, kinda. Jess was by far my favorite. ( )

I've always meant to read a Nick Hornby book, so this tale of four would-be New Year's Eve suicides seemed a good, if slightly perverse, choice to finish out my year. Very engaging, witty, and instructive take on a serious subject. ( )

Het was even geleden dat we nog eens een plak Nick Hornby tussen onze boterham legden, maar we waren er bij voorbaat van overtuigd dat het ons ging smaken.
Hornby heeft een vlotte en toegankelijke stijl en weet als geen ander humor op papier te zetten. Hetzij door de karakters van zijn personages, hetzij door de flitsende dialogen of de situaties waarin de lezer meegezogen wordt: Hornby's boeken hebben vaart en zijn enorm prettig leesvoer.
Daarnaast slaagt hij er ook nog in de condition humaine met rake bewoordingen te schetsen en laat hij zijn personages herkenbaar door het leven laveren zonder in cliché's te vervallen.
Ook hier - waar 4 potentiële zelfmoordenaars elkaar ontmoeten op het dak van een flatgebouw - zijn de situaties geloofwaardig, de personages aandoenlijk en herkenbaar en de plot realistisch en warm. Heerlijk boek, ondanks het zware thema. ( )