The Suicide Club

by Rhys Thomas

Craig Bartlett-Taylor was always trying to kill himself, but when he took an overdose at the back of Mrs Kenna’s classroom, Richie thought he’d finally it was a real-life Worst Case Scenario. But then the new kid, Freddy, steps in and saves Craig's life, and for Richie the lure of this mysterious newcomer is irresistible. Freddy is like nobody Richie has ever met. Dark, sardonic, and dangerous, he gives flight to Richie’s imagination, introducing him to a way of life he’d never thought possible. But when a night-time prank goes gut-wrenchingly wrong, Richie begins to question Freddy’s motives, and all too soon he finds himself committed to a sinister pact, with inescapably tragic consequences. It’s true that Freddy saved a life—but could he take one, too? With great wit and an unflinching eye for the muddle and drama of adolescence, The Suicide Club is a pitch-perfect portrait of teenage disaffection that sets boy against boy, imagination against reason—and, ultimately, life against death.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Ebooks, Young Adult, Modern

400 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2009

Reviews

[Rhys Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this book. It's about a group of middle English teenagers who enter into a sinister pack.

I tried to write something amusing and also moving and did I pull it off? Well you have to buy it and find out!

(please buy it)

PS Why the hell is there no picture of the cover?!?

[Oscar Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My high school girlfriend told me to read this. We were both suicidal teenagers, and this was once of the few things we could relate to, ironically giving us the courage to keep living. Thank you for this book

[Nikki Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was absolutely HOOKED on this!
Absolutely brilliant read!

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Told from the perspective of teenage narrator Richard Harper, The Suicide Club is a grim and dark story of a gang of 6 fifteen year olds, who form a pact - "The Suicide Club"

The story is about youths dragging themselves out of the normal world;

"As founding members of the Suicide Club,
...
(iii) understanding that the world is run by the mediocre for the mediocre
..."

Isolating themselves in their own friendships and in a slightly 'Lord of the Flies' direction their small world soon disintegrates into hell.

The narrator guides us through his story in typical teen-speak, which the author handles well - allowing his narrator to drift off into typical of the age range, streams of consciousness moments and plenty of Pop culture references -(Describing MSN, Play.com & "Emo" - Also, some music references through MCR, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Velvet Underground, Radiohead)

"Call me Ishmael. Apparently, you have to have a good line to start a book so I stole that one from Moby-Dick, which is a book about a Whale that I've never read. You know when I said call me Ishmael? Well, call me Richard Joseph Henry Harper because that's my name. Yes it's a stupid name, I know. This book is about me and my friends and it gets a bit messy later on, I have to warn you. Only in terms of raw human emotion though. But I digress. It all started with Freddy."

--

A thoroughly enjoyable read.

[Russio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Could barely put this down! This is a visceral thrill-ride through teenage angst gone into overdrive, as a group of adolescents form a lethal cabal based around their own mutual destruction. We follow the action from the point of view of Rich, a dangerously changeable and often rather difficult to like narrator, as he veers toward and away from the edge.

Written with a certain undercutting chutzpah, that even points out the conventions of stories like this (if there are such things), i.e. in noting how readers will want to guess the order of deaths, this has plenty of wit. The plotting is very good too, containing plenty of surprises. I particularly enjoyed the characterisation of the peripheral characters as well, with the likes of Toby and Craig's father being excellent sketches and genuinely moving as Rich interacts with them.

Occasionally the tidal shifts in Rich's personality change a bit too quickly, where a little more time in the adjustments may ring truer. At other times the shifts are dead-on and remind me of being a teenager (Nirvana not My Chem for me though). Certain of the longer scenes inside Rich's neuroses are very well written.

Worth your investment. Don't have nightmares.

[Kiri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much. The illustrations makes it come to life, and I found it really easy to get lost in the book. I thought the story was tragic yet beautiful and dark. It's written in a way that makes you think and feel, and I LOVE the authors way of writing. Rhys Thomas? I'm a fan!

[Chyrelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you liked 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night', you will LOVE this!!

I found myself thinking - "I do that" - especially when it came to 'Worst Case Scenarios'!!

[Selene · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was actually really well written and the characters well defined but where was the plot? It got boring as there wasn't anything leading it forward. So I didn't finish it.

[Shahidah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I clicked with the book like 40% of the time, which made it a eerie read because it was exactly what I'm thinking. A lot of teenage angst and drama.

[Stella B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll rate it and review it later.

[Jus · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Suicide Club” by Rhys Thomas. I’ve had this book on my kindle for ages and finally I’m making time to read it. Slightly cautious as the main topic of this book is a trigger warning subject for some readers.

I’ve read this author’s before, I loved “On The Third Day” which I also have a copy of on my kindle. I chose this read this book as part of my ‘Chapter Adventures Reading Challenge - February Keyword 2025’ I picked the word ‘club’.

TRIGGER WARNINGS & SPOILERS AHEAD

“This book is about me and my friends and it gets a bit messy later on, I have to warn you. Only in terms of raw human emotion though. But I digress. It all started with Freddy.”

“..I love people with a tragedy, genuinely love them. There’s something about those emotions at the end of the spectrum that really gets me.”

“It’s sort of like a gift I have, imagining these sorts of things, though it is equally a curse… No matter how well something is going I can always imaging something terrible out of nowhere, all black and arachnoid, first of all blurring the edges like a creeping cataract and then confusing the whole thing like a carbon monoxide petrified and leaden with mass. W-C-S.”

W-C-S stands for Worst Case Scenario.

Young adult story. I feel too old for the audience.

Teenage boys at a private school with a “transatlantic vibe”.

Set in the late 90s/early 00s.
Craig Barlett-Taylor
Mrs Kenna
Freddy (Frederick Spaulding-Carter) - new kid and very good looking “chiselled features”.
Clare - the main characters best friend.
Rich - main character, story told his viewpoint.
Matthew and girlfriend Jenny

Craig overdoses in class and Freddy saves him.

Main character has a 9 year old brother Toby. The main character is Rich.

I see myself in the main character Rich, he’s someone who’s constantly looking and imagining ahead, what could happen. Worrying a lot, Sounds to me he has anxiety.

So the 6 friends sign a charter, a pact, they become the suicide club. Rick doesn’t really want to die but signs it anyway. Rick and Clare are part of the Eskimo club, secretly.

I struggled with this book especially as it focussed on mental health, suicidal thoughts and teenage death. The audience of this book is younger teens 14-18years. I felt too old to be reading it.

Bravo to the author for writing this and yes, you successfully created a moving, sad story.

[Rachael Eyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Came for the premise but stayed for Richard, who is loathsome but also one of the most compelling protagonists I’ve met! You really believe in this angry, obnoxious teenage edgelord. Perhaps it could have stood a few rewrites, but as an introduction to Dark Academia it chugged along.

Clare was more fleshed out than most love interests in these stories, though I wish it hadn’t gone on about her birthmark. I know this is how people speak/think, but it would have been rough for readers with similar conditions.

I’d guessed about both twists involving Freddy, but that’s not to say they’re bad. It grounded it in reality: he’s not a prophet for disaffected youth, but a grieving boy who misses his mother. And for once it examined *why* you might be drawn to a character like him, and defend him even after he killed Bertie. (I’d have been out of there like a shot, but animal cruelty is one of my berserk buttons).

I was full of admiration for Matthew, who does the mature, healthy thing and walks away. He had lost the most - he truly loved Jenny - and seemed to have been the most normal member of the club anyway.

Poor Craig and Jenny 😢

Think a British Heathers and you’re halfway there. Not necessarily a classic, but a worthy addition to the genre. The satire of the media’s morbid fascination with such tales was spot on.

At they have an excuse for their ludicrous, histrionic antics this time. Their frontal lobes aren’t fully developed yet!

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's alright. Ok character development. Not a bad plot line. Pretty long winded though. Why can't authors tighten things up???

[Hugo · Rating 3 out of 5]

That so many readers take this at face value, very few realising that this is less a YA novel speaking to the youth, but one from a more mature, and hilariously satirical view, looking back, is perhaps the best literary joke of its year.

[Larissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very dark book of teenage angst. I read it very quickly so I guess I was engrossed, but was so scared what was behind each corner! The narrative was deeply disturbing and it scared the heck out of me that teenagers are capable of thinking in this way- I never thought like that when I was young. I had my share of drama growing up (inside my head anyway) but never to this degree and because I am about to become a parent, I was really freaked out by it actually. It was emotionally and interestingly written- he spoke to the audience and def. took you on a roller coaster ride though most of it was pretty gloomy- even when he gave you glimmers of hope, you knew it was going to turn for the worse at the next chapter. I can't say it was an enjoyable read because that would be sick in a way, but it was intriguing and disturbing and I breathed a sigh of relief in the end- so I guess I was drawn in the whole way and finished it in 3 days which is very quick for me to read a 400 page book- but then again I was on vacation and had as many hours as I wish to dedicate to it- instead of an hour on the train each day. :)

[Kaz Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect when I borrowed this from the library. I'd not heard of it before and it seemed like an interesting read from the blurb. I have to say, it was a very triggering book for me, personally, and I could relate to it rather closely, which may or may not be good.

It was very dark in places - I wasn't expecting it to get quite so deep, I don't think. For example, when Freddy kills himself at the quarry and he just breaks and all the held back emotion over his mother and everything that has happened... he just falls to pieces and then it's almost over and then to add salt to the wounds, Rich betrays him... (I didn't think it was a betrayal personally, but that's how it was written). And the graphic-ness of the suicides, too. I wasn't expecting it.

It was a good book despite the triggers, but it wasn't amazing... I was captivated my it when I was reading, but it never seemed to hold me for long. Maybe because of little voices, or maybe because it just wasn't that good... Whatever, I'm glad I read it... kind of.

[Annelien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard and his friends get a new classmate who saves someone on his very first day at school. they're all intriguid and when they to know him better, they decide to make a pact about life and death.

This was an average novel that was trying to be highbrow and intriguing, but failed. The writing is okay, sometimes it failed and sometimes it was just right. it did capture the way teens think about themselves rather well. the characters were rather flat and I didn't really care about any them by the end. the story got a little dull near the middle but picked up again by the end.

book: 20/50
pages: 7540

[Marise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excerpt: "I feel still, inside my head like this. In here nobody can hurt me because it's my head and in here I am safe. No matter what, no matter where I go, no matter what they take from me, they can never get inside my head. Inside my head is where I keep everything that matters. Nobody can take my dreams away because they are inside my head. That is why I love it here, because they might take everything away from me that I hold dear in the outside world, but they will never take what's inside my head. And so if I live in here, they can never get me, because in here I am safe. And so that is where I will hide, in here, inside my head, with my dreams."

[Gemma Purple · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is basically inside the head of a teenage narcissist brat. One that happens to think like an teenager in an adult voice. I think it was trying to be something insightful about the human psyche but was just irritating and went round and round in circles of increasingly frustrating internal monologuing.

[Mayank Saboo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rhys Thomas is a very good novelist. A fresh and dark take on this teenage drama and I know a good drama book when I see one. The only problem with the book was that it didn't live up to my expectations. The ending was quite bizarre. First person narration is how it got me.

[Eli Schuster]

This has no connection to the movie, which I discovered on my own accord.

[Danny · Rating 1 out of 5]

As the first book written by this Author, it's actually well-written.
However as a book, i read it from cover to cover and I would strongly recommend that people don't read it

[Nicola ✨ · Rating 1 out of 5]

gave up on this one! Meh