The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Virgin Suicides by: Jeffrey Eugenides

Pages: 249

Edition: Paperback

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Published: November 1st, 2005

Purchase: Amazon | Bookdepository

Goodreads Synopsis: The haunting, humorous and tender story of the brief lives of the five entrancing Lisbon sisters, The Virgin Suicides, now a major film, is Jeffrey Eugenides' classic debut novel.

The shocking thing about the girls was how nearly normal they seemed when their mother let them out for the one and only date of their lives. Twenty years on, their enigmatic personalities are embalmed in the memories of the boys who worshipped them and who now recall their shared adolescence: the brassiere draped over a crucifix belonging to the promiscuous Lux; the sisters' breathtaking appearance on the night of the dance; and the sultry, sleepy street across which they watched a family disintegrate and fragile lives disappear.
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My Review: I had been wanting to read this book for quite some time now, especially since so many people were talking about how good this book was.  I also heard great things about this authors other books (The Marriage Plot and Middlesex) and decided that this should be a good starting point to see what the hype was about.
I am going to start of by saying that this book is very mind boggling.  In no way shape or form is this a light read due to the fact that it is about suicides.  Now, i can say that I wasn't prepared for the content in this book.  The story was very good to the point that I could physically imagine how the Lisbon sister's lived.  It made me feel completely sad for them, for having to live in the circumstances that they did (the overprotecting mother, strict rules, promiscuity, the terrible living conditions, etc.). 
This book is solely about five sisters who commits suicide told by a few neighborhood boys who were completely obsessed with these sisters, and to this day they can't forget the Lisbon girls.  It goes into detail not only of how each sister committed these suicides, but also you get a glimpse of why.  There were quite a few things that I really did enjoy about this book.  For instance I liked how the author captured each sister and made them completely different from the other.  I also liked how he went in depth with how the suicides had occurred, which is something that most books shy away from.

Cons: One of the biggest cons that I have for this book is how i felt that most of the book was just filler.  The first suicide had occurred during the first few pages and it wasn't until the end that I found out what had happen to the other 4 sisters.  I also didn't understand why the neighborhood boys was so obsessed with the girls, even decades after they had died.  It just seemed over the top to me.  Lastly, I would have liked to see a bit more of what the girls were going through so I could get a better idea as to why they would have wanted to kill themselves.  I just didn't think that it was talked about enough for me to have closure at the end of this book.

Although, I had a few qualms with this book I do think that it is really good and very different from anything that I have ever read before.  I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who can handle dark subjects.  And I do believe that I will reread this book sometime after I recover from this book hangover I currently have!

Final Verdict: 3 Stars