Crash into Me

“Il Club dei Suicidi” è il primo romanzo dell’autore Robert Borris, un libro un po’ particolare che tratta di problemi forti, problemi che purtroppo vedono protagonisti fin troppi giovani in tutto il mondo.

E’ un romanzo che parla di suicidio, omosessualità, il senso di colpa, l’abbandono, la ribellione, il dolore, la morte e la vita. Un mix di elementi mescolati fra loro in modo addirittura estrema che può portare un lettore distratto a sottovalutare l’intento dell’autore e l’intero libro.

Un inizio particolare, a tratti grottesco, con un gruppo di ragazzi che scappano di casa per poter fare un tour delle tombe di suicidi famosi in giro per l’America. Un gruppo di ragazzi, conosciutosi su una chat dedicata show more interamente a persone con intenti suicidi, che fuggono dalle loro vite e dai loro problemi con lo scopo di realizzare i loro desideri, i loro ultimi desideri. Sono tutti recidivi, hanno provato tutti a farla finita in qualche modo, fallendo. Stanno cercando di fuggire dalla vita che li ha feriti e di farsi coraggio nel compiere il passo definitivo: uccidersi in gruppo.

Una sorta di terapia autodistruttiva che mira a distruggere le ultime resistenze interiori e gli ultimi albori di istinto di sopravvivenza, devono e vogliono morire e firmano un patto definitivo, con la morte. Un impegno con il branco.

E qui che il lettore rimane un po’ perplesso di fronte a questo gruppo di ragazzi, casinisti più che mai, che sembra desiderare la morte in ogni modo e che ne parlano con leggerezza estrema, è della vita che invece parlano con toni duri e di biasimo. Un modo al contrario che colpisce e lascia perplessi. Perchè sembrano rincorrere la morte? E perchè le loro motivazioni, quando riusciamo a scongere qualche motivazione, sembrano vuote e stupide? Perchè i genitori non stanno controllando questi ragazzi che tanto pericolosamente barcollano, urbiachi, sull’orlo dell’autodistruzione? Perchè nessuno vede nulla e li lascia scivolare via?

Nel momento in cui ci rendiamo conto che è proprio questo il problema, la solitudine, che più o meno ha colpito tutti loro nel profondo, che ci rendiamo conto che nessuno sembra vederli o volerli salvare semplicemente prchè non c’è nessuno. Ognuno di loro è solo e sta cercando di esorcizzare quella solitudine come può, cercando di porgli fine, in qualunque modo.

Sarà proprio per questo che questo fantomatico viaggio si trasformerà in una confusionaria, dolorosa e assurda terapia di gruppo. Una terapia che sembra andare a colmare e a sanare proprio il punto focale cheunisce tutti loro. Il branco li aiuterà a trovare un’alternativa alla morte, parlandogli proprio della morte e sviscerandola in tutti i suoi aspetti più distruttivi. Nessuno che parla della vita, di ciò che potrebbero lasciare alle spalle, delle speranze e del futuro; è un viaggio nel baratro che li spingerà inevitabilmente nel buoi e quindi, di conseguenza, ad anelare la luce e il futuro che tanto testardamente si vogliono precludere.

Owen. Frank. Jin-Ae. Audrey.

Ognuno di loro viaggerà con i suoi fantasmi ma sarà proprio il silenzioso e introverso Owen a esternare maggiormente quel disagio che si porta dietro da tanti sottoforma di pianti improvvisi e risposte criptiche. Allora inieremo a comprendere che forse, questi ragazzi, non sono semplicemente affetti di “noia di vivere” e non sono semplicemente un gruppetto di ragazzini viziati e nulla facenti. Forse dietro quegli atteggiamenti arroganti c’è qualcosa di più…



Sapete perchè cerco di ammazzarmi? Perchè sono un assassino.



… Sì, è proprio così.

Un romanzo che racconta di vite crudeli e di ragazzi che hanno decine di motivi che li spingono a morire, che non hanno ragioni per vivere e che l’ingiustizia della vita è sempre incredibile. Un romanzo che ci sprona a riflettere e che, alla fine, ci mostra anche un’importante lezione: Non importa quante ragioni per voler la Morte ti dia la Vita, alla fine ne basterà anche una sola che tia la forza di soffrire e di scegliere la vita. show less

CRASH INTO ME is Albert Borris' first novel and he makes a splash with this open and honest portrayal of four teens contemplating suicide.

The story is told in varying formats: narrative, chatroom sessions, and the occasional pertinent list. The narrative moves the reader through the current events, the chat sessions offer a look at the characters before they began their fateful celebrity suicide-studded roadtrip, and the lists are a small offering of comic relief, albeit dark. Owen narrates, but still maintains his distance by keeping secrets from both the reader and his fellow characters.

The casual discussion of suicide and how each character would like to do the deed is both disturbing and compelling, but necessary. Those who show more contemplate or plan suicide aren't squeamish about the topic, not if they're serious like our four main characters are. As the novel progresses, the reader begins to see hints and flashes of what drives Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae to feel ending their lives is the only option, but Owen's motivations remain somewhat shadowed. It was this mystery that held my attention more than any other part of the novel.

Borris' debut manages to be raw, yet polished - a stunning effect. show less

Crash into Me starts right in on the suicidal road trip, with snippets of online chats the teens had throughout the story. I have to admit, this was a tough read for me. I have never known what it is like to want to die. These characters do. They think about it all the time. They think about the ways to kill yourself, how it feels to kill yourself, how people will react when you kill yourself. These teens are effed up, seriously effed up. But I cared for them. I grew to love them. Which because I loved them, it made me cringe even more every time they did something else self-destructive.

Owen is a shy kid. The kind that has much to say, but keeps it all to himself. He carries a lot of weight on his shoulders and blames himself show more constantly. Audrey is in your face and isn't scared to tell you how it is. Frank feels like a total failure for not being the jock his dad wants him to be. Jin-Ae is struggling to come to terms with her sexuality and what is means to her. These kids are so different from each other. I would never think to put them in a group. But their shared loneliness is what brings them all together. The author did a fabulous job at letting the reader see inside their heads. You could see the internal struggle. The part that wants to live and the part that wants to end it all. The part that wants pain and the part that just wants to feel better.

The switching scenes of the road kept the story moving at a quick pace. Although with me not being a big sports fan, I was a little bored with the scenes that involved sports. Luckily, that wasn't too many. I kept wanting to read to see where the road would lead the group next. Every scene we also learned more about one of the characters. They each were a little more fleshed out at every pit stop.

Borris' writing is very raw and straight forward, which is fitting for the story. It took me a few chapters to get used to it, but once I did I found myself enjoying it.

Crash into Me is an emotional read that will make you cringe, but it will also make you realize how much we all really are alike. We all crave the same things in life. Happiness. Relationships. Understanding. Taking on a subject like suicide, especially in YA, is no easy task. Borris did an amazing job of it. I am looking forward to reading more from him, especially if he continues taking on more difficult subjects. He is a welcomed voice in the YA genre. show less

CRASH INTO ME is a fantastic book. It deals with four teens on a road trip to visit the graves of famous people who have killed themselves. At the end of their trip, they plan on committing suicide together as a pack. The story explores suicide in a good way. Because even though it’s a story where death consumes the character’s attentions, CRASH INTO ME also reveals itself to be a story about life and why one chooses to live it.

Another thing I liked was that Mr. Borris could have easily descended into the darkness which lingers around such a topic, but CRASH INTO ME manages to explore suicide in a lighter tone that still balances the seriousness of the topic without being too dark or preachy. And thank God there is some humor in show more the book too!

One of the best books I’ve read this year. show less

Four suicidal teenagers: Owen, Audrey, Frank, and Jin-Ae meet online after each person attempts suicide and fails. The four teens escape their ordinary lives to go on a summer road trip to visit the graves of celebrites that have committed suicide. They make a pact: they must end their lives at their final destination. They drive cross-country and start bonding; and almost become some sort of suicide family. They share secrets with each other, and become closer than they ever imagined; but they have to decide whether to stick to the pact or not.

The two most important characters, Owen and Audrey, seem more suicidal and depressed than Frank and Jin-ae. Owen is a shy teenager, who has tried to kill himself six times. He comes off as show more emotional, but he has reasons to be; and he has never had a girlfriend. When he meets Audrey though, a girl with an edge, a buzz cut, and a Nirvana obsession, he starts to develop feelings for her. As time passes, he finds himself lying next to her, telling her about the tragic accident that led to his brother's death, that he thinks was all his fault. They passionately kiss, and Owen finds himself falling in love.

I loved this book. Once I picked it up and started reading, I couldn't put it down. Albert Borris' writing really shows and explains how difficult it really can be for a teenager. It's sensational, breath-taking, and pure. Not only is it a novel about a group of suicidal teenagers, but it is a unique love story, and a story about a clique of adolescents that stick together to fight suicidality. There isn't one thing that I disliked about this book. It made me believe that love can appear anywhere, at any time, with any two, three, or even four people.

At the end of this book, the teens stay alive. Owen, the narrator of the story, realizes that he wants to live and enjoy life; despite his previous actions. All four teens decide to make a new pact: to LIVE. show less

I didn’t love this book, but something about the darkness and morbid interest in dying and suicide had me reading till the end. I needed to know what happen to Owen, Frank, Audrey, and Jin-Ae. I kept on reading to get the end, basically. I had several problems with Crash Into Me, one of the problems was the characters. I never really understood them, I didn’t understand what had gotten them to the point that they were suicidal. Everything was so on the surface, if you can understand that. The main protagonist is Owen, and we don’t really find out what’s really going on with him until the end, and the shocker the author intended wasn’t really a shock. There was a lot of “I want to kill myself”, or something along those show more lines, but I didn’t want to be told that I wanted to understand why they were feeling that way. Another problem I had was the story seemed choppy to me, nothing really flowed. Along there road trip, abruptly Frank would decide go to a baseball game and then they were off to a baseball game. I don’t know, sometimes I was just like WTF!

What I did like about Crash Into Me is that it was about a serious issue in our young adults. The statistics of teenage suicidal are downright outrageous. We need to listen to our young, acknowledge their feelings. Anything that brings something has important as suicide to the forefront I feel needs to be read. I just wish the execution was better. show less

I'm not the target audience for this book, so it really wasn't a surprise I had a little trouble getting past my initial "argh, annoying teens" reaction. Once the kids all start confiding in each other and bonding though, the story got really sweet. It brought a tear to my eye more than once. Borris's characters are completely believable, from their annoying teen traits all the way through their genuine emotions, and though I've never been suicidal myself, I can see why a lot of people who have that in their history are saying that this book offers an honest portrayal of that particular type of torment. This is a sweet story of friendship, of biological and chosen families, of self-discovery, growing up and finding a place for yourself show more in this life. show less