Book Review: The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides

The Virgin Suicides

By Jeffrey Eugenides

Release Date: April 1993

Source: Library

Summary: The five Lisbon sisters are brought up in a strict household, and when the youngest kills herself, the oppression of the remaining sisters intensifies. As Therese, Mary, Bonnie and Lux are pulled deeper into isolation by their domineering mother, a group of neighborhood boys become obsessed with liberating the sisters. But what the boys don't know is, the Lisbon girls are beyond saving.

Review: I've been wanting to read this book for FOREVER. This came out when I was one year old, so it's been out for quite a while. But I finally got a copy from the library and had the chance to read it!

The Lisbon sisters are a fascinating mystery to the town they live in. Growing up in a super strict home, the sisters are rarely see outside the home. When one of them commits suicide, the family becomes even more closed-off from society, eventually never leaving the solitude of their home. But that doesn't stop the rumors and fascination with the four remaining sisters. Soon, boys in the town become obsessed with the sisters, but they soon realize they know absolutely nothing about the girls they've grown up with their entire lives. 

Wow. There are some books that are written so beautifully and in a way that not many people write anymore. And that's how The Virgin Suicides was written. I thought the narration was so unique, and how it was someone from the group of boys who always watched the sisters, but he's talking years later after everything happens. It's definitely a unique retelling that gives you a lot of insight, yet leaves you in the dark about a lot because no one knows certain facts, not even the narrator. 

And the characters! The sisters are so strange, yet so intriguing at the same time. Honestly, if I knew a family like theirs, I would think they were the strangest people. But it's their strangeness that make you want to know more and more about them. What's going on in their minds? Why did Cecilia kill herself? How do the sisters live their lives trapped inside of their home with such protective parents? There's just so much depth and thought that goes into this novel; it's one that gets you thinking about life and everyone else in it. 

Overall, The Virgin Suicides was a fantastic book. To enjoy it, though, you have to be a fan of the kind of style the author uses. Nothing is clear cut and there are secrets that aren't uncovered by the end, but that just makes the overall story even better. I'm so happy I finally had the chance to read this one. Now, I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of the movie and see if it lives up to the fascination that was in this book.