I really enjoyed this quick read. The big “secret” was predictable but that was okay because that wasn’t really the point of the story, it was his journey through the 45 days. It was quite funny considering the overall subject matter of the book but that just made me enjoy it more. ( )

Excellent book. I read it in one day. The author did a great job of uncovering what nobody really wants to talk about. Yes, people talk about suicide prevention a lot, but we never hear about the details leading up to and following suicide attempts from those who have experienced it. It was graphic in parts, but also very moving in others. I appreciated the open conversation and the look inside the minds of young people feeling lost and helpless. It provided a sense of understanding and hope that this is something very real, very personal, but very beatable.

Trying to figure out how you feel while under pressure to meet your parent's expectations is a pain. Add in losing your only support system and, suddenly, life can feel overwhelming.

When Jeff wakes up in a long-term mental health treatment center, it takes him almost 3 months to figure out what's really behind his sarcastic defense mechanisms.

Michael Thomas Ford threads together sensitive issues facing young adults today with compassion, humor and pathos. Suicide Notes is written to be easily accessible to young readers and old and should be mandatory reading for all families. ( )

When I selected Suicide Notes by Michael Thomas Ford to read, I am not sure that I recalled or ever knew that it was a YA-LGBT novel. Having now devoured it, I repeat my belief that some of the best writing out there today can be found in YA novels.
Fifteen-year-old Jeff finds himself in the psychiatric ward of a hospital, uncertain at first of why he is there.
He soon discovers that he has attempted suicide by cutting his wrists. After finding his nearly lifeless body and getting him to the hospital, Jeff’s parents placed him in the psych ward for 45 days of follow-up treatment. Jeff’s psychiatrist works to identify what led to Jeff’s suicide attempt in the hopes of correcting the situation that led to the attempt. For most of the 45 days, Jeff enters into a sparring match with the doctor, Dr. Katzurpus, whom Jeff refers to as “Dr. Cat Poop,” in which Jeff steadfastly denies that there had been anything wrong leading to his suicide attempt. He claims that he did not know why he had done it and even claims that it was just something to do.
Jeff becomes a part of a small circle of other teens also undergoing treatment for a variety of mental issues. The members of this group change from time to time as some have reached their 45 day limit and others enter the program.
The book’s chapters are brief day-by-day summaries of what Jeff had experienced each day. Over time, he develops relationships of sorts with other group members and each contributes unwittingly to the recovery of the others. Not all of the group members do recover and some end their 45 days with treatment incomplete or unsuccessful at identifying the underlying mental issues of each teenager.
The backgrounds of most of the characters are presented and it is clear that each had faced an enormous demon of one kind or another. Unfortunately, as harrowing as each scenario was, each could well have been a story drawn from real-life.
Predictably, there comes a point at which Jeff begins to actually explore the causes of his suicide attempt and also accept his self-image which had so long been denied. Only then, when better aware of his true nature, does Jeff begin to recover, accepting his sexuality, the underlying cause of his attempted suicide.
Goodreads’ star system bothers me because it asks only that a person assign ratings based on whether or not they liked the book. This system offers no real help to a potential reader. Not every book is for every reader nor will every reader love a book just because others did.
When I rate books, I try to combine liking a book with being impressed with the quality of the writing. Generally, I expect impressive text and perhaps memorable insights combined with lucid, quotable writing.
This book, as a YA novel, did not offer the soaringly beautiful text that I would want in an adult novel. What I did admire in the writing, and why I gave it 5 stars, centered around how the author peeled the onion skins one-by-one quite slowly until the turning point of the novel was reached. That alone, however, would not earn 5 stars. A book of this nature could not succeed without taking the layer-by-layer approach.
What impressed me in the writing was the subtlety of the small, almost unnoticed clues readers get as they encounter each new counseling session between Jeff and Dr. Cat Poop. By the time Jeff has realized his situation and begun to deal with it, the small clues let readers know what Jeff would soon learn. In this sense, the book worked as a very sophisticated mystery novel.
While this novel was a YA novel, its quality and its ability to sustain my interest convinced me that I will be equally impressed with other writing by author Michael Thomas Ford.
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Really good book - went a direction I didn't think it was going to go - but knowing the author I should have guessed.

Good book, Michael - I look forward to reading more of your stuff! ( )