With thanks to netgalley and the author for allowing me to review this book.

People can now live forever, but what happens when you don't want to live forever? However suicide is illegal. What do you do.

I wish I could say that I enjoyed the Suicide Club, but sadly it didn't really hold my attention and I found that I didn't really care what happened to the characters.

Truly breathtaking, Exciting pace and unexpected turns. I have become a huge fan and can't wait to read more!

his was the first YA book in a while that I truly enjoyed. I am so thankful that the kind of plot twist I've been avoiding is not in this book! This book is so full of adventures with like little to no time at all for the MCs to rest. It's fast-paced.

Suicide Club is one of those books that had a lot of potential but ended up being something completely different to what I’d anticipated. I’m sure many will enjoy this, but I’d been hoping for something with a bit more philosophical depth.

In truth, it took a while for me to decide upon a rating for this one. A part of me wanted to round this one down to a two-star rating, as I really had been hoping for more. However, as it was a book I easily powered through, I rounded this one up to a three-star rating. It’s more of a two-point-five-star read, one that had me extremely divided. The story left me curious as to how it would come together, there was clear potential for a lot of interesting elements to play out, but nothing was taken as far as I would have liked. I kept waiting for this one to shock me, for something to make me stop and think, but it failed to offer anything that wowed me.

All in all, I was expecting a book that would make a lasting impression. Instead of a lasting impression, this is a book that made for quick reading but will not linger with me.

Relied too heavily on cliches, but the writing wasn't the worst in the world. I probably wouldn't have continued reading it if I hadn't been reading for a review, but it wasn't an entirely bad experience. Just kind of average.

I enjoy dystopian novels and I was drawn to the concept of this novel. My main issue with it was that it was a slow start, I picked the novel up on several occasions but couldn't bring myself to finish it. I wasn't sure where the story was going.

The concept of the story was good; a future where medical science and technology has advaned to a point that immortality was within their grasp - but only to 'lifers' those who are deemed worthy and deserving.

On the outside of this society is the Suicide Club, a collection of people who society would call 'antisanct' - they indulge in activities that have been forbidden; live music, careless sex, alcohol and unhealthy meals. The state considers them terrorists, but they are taking back control of their lives.

I think the main problem that I had with the story was Lea. She is the main protagonist and I found her to be extremely unlikeable. The narrative is shared with Anja, a Swedish immigrant and classical violinist and I wanted more of Anja and less of Lea.

Lea is a lifer, successful, healthy, and content with the society she lives in. In a bid to catch her fugitive father's attention she walks into traffic, and her life becomes scrutinised by the government, who think she wanted to commit suicide. My main issue with her is that she is one-dimensional, and a little holier-than-thou. Anja is the complete opposite and was a reprieve from Lea's narrative. She is engaging and far more interesting. I wanted to know more about Anja.

The premise was brilliant but I don't think it is.a book I am likely to read again. That being said, the world that Heng has created here is well-planned and interesting. I would pick up another of her novels.

If you could live forever... would you?

This is literary character driven fiction. This has such an exciting and intriguing premise. And such a beautiful cover! In a world where immortality is now possible, what happens next?

This book was incredibly compelling and poignant.

I enjoy dystopian novels, and enjoyed the pace and concept of this one. It's dark and pacy, and actually quite moving about the lengths we would go - and the relationships we would sacrifice - to live forever. It certainly intrigued me and got me thinking about big questions of life, death, and self-sacrifice.

This is another brilliant utopia turned dystopia read.
Set in a world where the possibility of ridiculously long lives is a reality - with the help of good genes and money.
It was a profound and thought provoking read, exploring so many themes. By the end of the book you will be asking yourself so many questions.
This was a brilliantly scary and yet completely plausible book and would be great for fans of Vox, Red Clocks and The Farm.

A good intro YA thriller but not for me, unfortunately. Just a bit too unconventional and predictable. I was left feeling a bit underwhelmed, unfortunately.

A magnificent debut. The dystopian future and the book's characters are multi-layered and nuanced. Powerful and gripping, a real page turner.

Lea is well over 100 years old. So are most of the world.

The world has gone health mad and everyone is living longer.

Trying to kill yourself is not allowed and weCovery groups are set up to talk through your problems.

Maybe I've had my fill of dystopian fiction. It maybe I've been ruined by The Handmaid's Tale so everything else just pales into insignificance but I found this book to be really lacking. A world where people can't die due to genetic upgrades or being born a 'lifer'. Sounds like a nightmare to me so I thought this would be terrifying in its premise. People looking for answers or a spike in adrenaline join the Suicide Club to end the lives of those that don't want to be modern day half breed androids. However, there was nothing interesting, scary, thought provoking in this tale that's essentially been told lots of times before. Basically stop searching for advancements on the human race. Let life be. Heard it all before and I've read it done much better.

I found it difficult to get on board with this book. In fact, I started it on three different occasions and it has taken me until now (I requested it in August of last year) to finally commit to getting through it. I hoped it would build on its premise and redeem itself a little towards the end, but sadly I was ultimately left disappointed.

Let's start with what's good about it:
Suicide Club had so much promise. The concept is brilliant: A near-future New York City where medical science and technology has excelled to the point that immortality is now within grasp - but only to the 'Lifers'; those who show themselves to be worthy and deserving. They exercise, avoid sugar, swallow green juices and get plenty of sleep. Outside of this near perfect society exists the Suicide Club, a collection of now disillusioned Lifers who indulge in forbidden activities such as live music, alcohol, unhealthy meals and careless sexual antics. They are considered terrorists and are being hunted by the state. If you are a fan of sci-fi/fantasy and dystopian narratives, this must be piquing your curiosity, right? Mine too.

I can tell you a bit more about the story, but then we immediately need to get on to what I did not like about this novel: Lea. Lea is essentially our protagonist, although the narrative here is shared (70/30) between her and Anja, a Swedish immigrant and classical violinist. Lea is a Lifer. She is 100 years old, very successful and healthy, and content with her position in society. One day, she sees her father in a crowded street, the man who abandoned her and her mother decades before after being involved in a violent crime. As Lea tries to get his attention, she steps out into oncoming traffic which is misread for the act of carelessness it is and instead interpreted as a suicide attempt. Seen as an act of defiance, Lea comes under scrutiny from a utilitarian government as a result of her error and her life is turned around.

Here is my issue with Lea: Despite her 100 years, she seems without life experience and maturity. She is one-dimensional, unconvincing and unsympathetic, and I felt her backstory to be completely unrealistic. I found it difficult to spend time with her and I welcomed the sections on Anja for some reprieve. In fact, Anja was an engaging character and far more interesting, and I would have much preferred to be in her company on this journey through Rachel Heng's imagined world.

Despite an exciting and brilliant premise, I don't feel Suicide Club was executed as well as it could of been, and was disappointed to see its potential unravel as I moved through it. In saying that, it takes an imaginative and creative writer to develop a concept like this one and for this reason and the fact that the writing is good, I would be eager to read Heng's sophomore attempt.

Sadly this book just didn't hit the spot for me; more of a drama than the sci-fi/dystopian story I was expecting.

So often, a book will wow me with an amazing premise and then it's just downhill from there. I'm sad to say this is one of those books that missed the mark for me and failed to live up to its summary. The world building was too poor for my liking, and I didn't like the protagonist at all.

Hauntingly brilliant. It's a book that will unashamedly be compared to Handmaid's Tale and rightly so. It is as engaging, sinister and breathtakingly compulsive reading. Once you pick it up, you won't want to put it down.

Received a free copy from NetGalley

This book was not my cup of tea, the plot sounded promising enough and caught my attention but i felt the book didn't deliver

This has very much been the year of impressive debuts and another popular one has been Suicide Club by Rachel Heng (Hodder & Stoughton), £12.99. It certainly has an impressive premise for, in this piece of speculative fiction, Rachel transports us to a near-future New York where society is divided between the impoverished masses and a super-elite that pursue immortality through medical technology breakthroughs that ensure constant cellular renewal in our bodies meaning we can never grow old – and, possibly, never die. Only, if you don’t want to die, huge changes are necessary in life and love to prevent stress and accidents.

But at what price immortality? And why would you want to live forever? This is what Rachel sets out to explore via Lea, a 100-year-old woman who has a body that would pass for a thirty-something today. Only Lea gets caught up in the Suicide Club, an underground resistance movement that encourages members to embrace death as much as life, and a movement that causes her to question the decisions she has made.

It’s great to see a woman writer with a piece of dystopian fiction that is not centred around the politics of a female body – and it is certainly fiction that works in well with non-fiction work on our pursuit of scientific breakthroughs to ensure that bodies live longer and longer – but it’s a bit of an uneven book. It’s great in places but loses its way a bit from the middle onwards. Nevertheless, I am sucker for dystopias, so I am glad I read it.

Really loved this story, like all great Sci-Fi it puts current trends and issues in a new light. Absolutely wonderful.