Suicide Med Book Review

Suicide Med by Freida McFadden

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Blurb:

There’s a reason Southside Medical School has been nicknamed “Suicide Med.” For the last six years, every year one student has taken his own life. Except for last year. Last year was a murder-suicide. The press has pointed to the heavy workload as the culprit in the high suicide rate. Some students believe that the school is cursed. And others believe that the deaths may not be suicides at all—that it’s no coincidence that Dr. Conlon, Southside’s quirky but beloved anatomy professor, joined the staff on the very year that the suicides began. Either way, the same question echoes through the minds of every first year student at Suicide Med: Who will be next to die?

Review by Brittany:

This book was unexpectedly great. I downloaded it when it was free on Kindle because the blurb sounded interesting, but I wasn't sure entirely what to expect from an unknown author.

This one had me hooked from the start. The prologue jumps right in with a gun wielder threatening the life of another med student. From there, the story is divided into multiple parts in order to give all of the main characters an opportunity to tell their side of the story.

Heather is barely scraping by, studying but struggling to pull the information out when she needs it. She has a long-distance boyfriend, Seth, but that relationship falls apart and she quickly finds herself in a new relationship with Abe. This one isn't moving at a great pace, and Heather slowly starts to realize that there's a secret that Abe is keeping.

Abe's secret is revealed through the story that's told from his point of view. He quickly falls for Heather, almost from day one, but he's embarrassed about a "growth" on his body. Little does he know that having it removed could cause some unexpected consequences.

Rachel seems not to care too much about anatomy. She's not really passionate about becoming a doctor and is used to cheating her way through classes. Dr. Conlon, her anatomy professor, lets her think she's going to con him into changing her grades, but he pulls one over by figuring her out. The development of that relationship was an interesting twist to the story.

Mason is clearly the head of the class. He knows the material like the back of his hand, and he is determined to be a plastic surgeon, the head of his class, and to prove himself to his dad. However, the unknown cause of death to his lab cadaver slowly starts to make him fall apart. Or could it be due to something else?

Ginny is quiet with no charisma, so even though she's an excellent student, she is often overlooked in favor of Mason, with his big personality and charm. She gets fed up with him taking her spotlight and decides that she's going to try to knock him off his pedestal a little. Are her actions the cause of Mason's completely crazy turnaround?

Each character has their own secrets that they're keeping and their own link to the tragic events that are the climax of this book. I was taken in by each part of the story, and realizing that no one truly knew anyone in this book was incredibly interesting. The pressure and competition of med school was enough to make each person crumble in their own. I definitely recommend this book as an easy read that will be pleasantly surprising.