Stephanie Jane reviewed Forgive me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
A engrossing listen
3 stars
I initially thought that this first-person tale of a self-obsessed teenager was going to wear thin very quickly. Leonard is suicidal and his constant need to tell us that he is going to kill himself 'today' does become irritating. Methinks the lad doth protest too much! However, as Forgive Me Leonard Peacock settles into its storytelling, I became quite engrossed in his life. My Hachette audio came via AudioSYNC. Praise is due to Noah Galvin for a competent narration.
Matthew Quick tells us how Leonard has got so screwed up by describing his closest relationships with four other people. He is an oddball who does not gel with his classmates. There are 1984 echoes of double-plus in Leonard's frequent use of uber, particularly uber-moron to describe High School bullies. I could have done without the letters from the future which were too coy. Otherwise the reveals of how Leonard has …
I initially thought that this first-person tale of a self-obsessed teenager was going to wear thin very quickly. Leonard is suicidal and his constant need to tell us that he is going to kill himself 'today' does become irritating. Methinks the lad doth protest too much! However, as Forgive Me Leonard Peacock settles into its storytelling, I became quite engrossed in his life. My Hachette audio came via AudioSYNC. Praise is due to Noah Galvin for a competent narration.
Matthew Quick tells us how Leonard has got so screwed up by describing his closest relationships with four other people. He is an oddball who does not gel with his classmates. There are 1984 echoes of double-plus in Leonard's frequent use of uber, particularly uber-moron to describe High School bullies. I could have done without the letters from the future which were too coy. Otherwise the reveals of how Leonard has gone from carefree child to angst-ridden desperation are well-paced to maintain interest. The main characters are nicely done - Walt, Lauren, Herr Silverman and Leonard are very real although perhaps Linda is more caricature.
