Suzy Suzy

by William Wall

A startling and gripping novel, Suzy, Suzy follows a teenage girl trying to understand the chaos of her family life. Suzy lives in a dysfunctional household. She can't stand her mother; her father is keeping secrets; and her brother only seems to egg on their parents' erratic and unpredictable behaviour. Alongside her friends, Suzy finds herself drawn into the downward spiral of her parents' relationship, and as a result is drawn into the centre of a mystery surrounding a murder. Forced to make impossible choices, Suzy must navigate the increasingly disturbing antics of her family and the oddities of the mystery she finds herself involved in, while also trying to survive the horrors of secondary school. Narrated by a troubled young woman, the novel weaves a tale of secrets, lies and betrayal in the pressure cooker of her formative years. William Wall is an underrated Irish master with a powerful, distinctive writing style, and an uncanny ability to create astonishingly complex and well-realised female protagonists.

304 pages, Paperback

Published April 25, 2019

Reviews

[Shrinidhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suzy Suzy is an inventive and wickedly funny take on surviving the teenage years, as narrated by the 17-year-old protagonist, Suzy Regan.

The story does have the familiar tropes of the young-adult genre. But it isn’t limited to these. The complexity and nuances surrounding Suzy are explored with great maturity.

William Wall shows his skill with wry wit and humour, treating even the most sombre and bitter sequences with poignance and without melodrama.

Suzy finds it hard to live with her self-harming brother, her property-crazy father, and her apathetic mother – the book opens with: “Someone will kill my mother. It could be me.”

In a moment of sudden clarity, Suzy wonders if she is a part of a dysfunctional family. She looks up the definition online, and comes to the conclusion that she is. In one of her rants, she lets it out.

“Nobody in the family tells me anything. I was supposed to feel safe and secure in this house because the house is FULL OF FUCKING SECRETS. Jesus wept twice. It’s like we are the government except there is no WikiLeaks. Or a secret society. A Regan NEVER TALKS.”

Read more here - https://dublininquirer.com/2019/07/10...

[Esther Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suzy Suzy is witty, which is the only reason I managed to slog through near 300 pages of often barely readable “internet speak”.

If I want to read “lol” or “idk” or other online shorthand in every other sentence, I will go on Twitter.

[Nehal Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. The rampant and random capitalisation, sharp wit of the protagonist and general vibe was superbly entertaining despite tackling such dark subjects. I flew through this book in 4 - 5 hours. It's a heart wrenching story but it still makes you laugh - a huge feat. Highly recommend.

[CAG_1337 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is interesting enough to carry it, but what makes this book work well is the unique voice he has constructed for the narrator, Suzy. Also, anyone who follows the author on social media will likely delight in recognizing some of his political views peeking up through the subtext of this book.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good story and I think it would’ve been better to read, rather than listen to. The use of teenage vernacular (in particular the acronym IDK) didn’t work as well in narration as it would in written form.
The main character was very relatable and I totally believed her responses to the trials of teenage life and emotions - they reminded me of myself at that age.

[Rosalind · Rating 4 out of 5]

An impulse loan from the library because of the breezy teen voice and the dark humour. I enjoyed it as it became darker and darker, with families full of tensions and is-it-hatred, the friendship of the three girls veering into self harm, and the gentleness of one or two characters helping Suzy manage to get through. I'm definitely going to look for more books by this author

[Sharlene Rowan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great short listen I love the narration voice flowed well

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring, still don’t know what I have red.

[David Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Grade: B-

The best part of this book is that the main character is likeable. I find that to not always be the case in books I read these days. The plot wasn't bad and I enjoyed the ambigious nature of the secrets portrayed in the book. Even though it was fiction, it felt like it could be real which is always a bonus to me. My main problem is that in the plot I felt like nothing really progressed. I know others will not enjoy the use of "text talk" but that didn't bother me all that much, just the lacking idea of major plot points made it less enjoyable than other books to me.