Suicide Club

I can't recall exactly where I heard about Suicide Club first, but I was drawn to the gorgeous cover and the premise of taking control of one's own death in a world where the prize of immortality is within reach. Thanks to Henry Holt Publishing and NetGalley, I was able to access an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Suicide Club is a dystopian/scifi novel where immortality is almost within reach, lifespans are in the hundreds, and death is a crime. Our main character Lea is a lifer, with both excellent genes and privileged access to the most cutting edge medical treatments. The near future world she lives in is calm, serene, and optimized to keep stress and cortisol levels to a minimum. Nutripaks provide sustenance, green juice cocktails are served at celebrations (alongside faux styrofoam cakes), and only the most soothing muzak is acceptable. 

Basically, it's boring as hell. 

I was excited to jump into this world - the idea of immortal life is so compelling, and yet as anyone who's ever read a vampire novel knows, it's also exhausting and soul killing. And so, when immortality becomes the default, taking control of one's own death becomes the subversive radical act of empowerment... not the living of forever. Great premise, for sure. However - and I'm still trying to put my finger on it, but - I couldn't really get invested in the characters. Perhaps the author was trying to model the sterile and disconnected world through her language and pacing, but what happened what that I didn't feel connected to the characters. There was a fair amount that went unexplained, and there were so many other directions I could have seen the story going. If I am imagining so many alternate events and outcomes in a storyline, then I think it's evidence that the author hasn't fully convinced me of the story they intended to tell. 

An okay read, but I wouldn't highly recommend it. I also fully expect this review to be in the minority, so bring all your challenges and comments :)

2/5 stars.