Rating: 
Summary: Mysterious
Review: I love this work for its complete revelation of the female submerged in all of her odd growing phases and mysterious corners. Although the book does go further than usual into such an environment, Eugenides does a wonderful job writing about such interesting and startling events. The work is very intimate and probably more for those who like delicacy and don't need adventure to survive any and all books.
Rating:
Summary: A Modern Classic
Review: Not as bloated and overtly epic as his other novel, Middlesex, Eugenides in his stunning, haunting debut introduces a simple, humble lyricism that speaks of much more experienced writers. I read this book in a single marathon-afternoon sitting and have revisited it time and time again since. No book has quite captured that sense of suburban small-town desolation, the close-minded subtlety of social norms, and the awkward vulgar parlance of adolescence quite like this honest, heart-wrenching piece. Set in an affluent Detroit suburb (perhaps Grosse Pointe? the town remains unnamed, alas)in the 1970s, it evokes the particular feel and texture of that decade without resorting to syrupy predictable cliches and sentimentality. Not only the best fictional novel on teen suicide ever written, this book is also not afraid to tackle tough issues, however obliquely, that still puzzle us and have us hot under the collars thirty years later. Industrial pollution, suburban decay, WASPish snobbery and elitism, the ostracization of a neighborhood, overprotective parenting, and most shattering of all, the enduring quality of memory and the profound effect it has on shaping ALL of our lives.
Rating:
Summary: amazing and realistic
Review: I read this a few months ago and i still catch myself thinking about it. it is well writen and told in one of the best creative way through a Infatuated Neighbor boy and his friends. it's pretty realistic and i love how likely this is to happen especilly in this day and age...
Rating:
Summary: Character Development
Review: Eugenides description is amazing. He describes everything so well but manages to use as few words as possible. He describes the most mundane events and objects with an astounding amount of passion that pulls the reader in. One thing his book did lack, however, was character development. Lux was permiscuous and Cecilia was a little different but what about the other girls? One way characters are revealed is through dialogue. This book didn't have a lot of dialogue, so we were left to describe the characters through action. Eugenides described Lux with her rooftop sex and Cecilia with her white wedding dress and her suicide. Mary, Bonnie, and whoever else (I forget their names) never did anything to make them stand out. Because he has such a large amount of characters and very little dialogue, I'm sure Eugenides found it hard to solidify the characters of the other sisters.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning, dark and consuming
Review: I read this whole book in one sitting, having been very intrigued by the movie. I can inarguably say that the book is much better than the movie, which I also loved, but this book just blows me away.
The writing style is very straight forward, littered with slang, and raw, adolescent emotion.
What can I say about this? It sucks you in, and you get an entirely different view of the girls than in the movie. There are no places to place blame, but still at the end, you feel a profound sense of sorrow for their tragic deaths. The author magnificently captures the atmosphere and emotion of a dying suburb, the visions of a decadent lifestyle coming to an end, all brought about (as it would seem) by the deaths of these girls.
I can't say that this is on par with classic authors, but for a modern writer, I can safely say that Eugenides has created a true masterpiece. This is DEFINATELY NOT just some teenage novel riddled with cliches--it's a true play on emotions and captures what is going on perfectly. Perhaps in time, it will give the glimpse of an extraordinary (and very tragic) story set in the USA of the 70's.
Rating: 
Summary: A Rust Belt Peyton Place ... for the nouveaux riche
Review: Form wise, I suppose it holds up quite well. Having grown up in Grosse Pointe, I couldn't help but view this work as a sort of chronicle of the CBS (Catholic Bourgoise Suburbanite) set, deftly and courageously making its' way up the ladder of formerly WASP respectability - well most of them, anyway. Amusing how most Grosse Pointers (former and current) still hold to the comical notion that anyone still CARES about what goes on in their neighborhood - how little perspective they have on themselves! It is most definitely not THE place to live so much as just A place to live - cotillions, debutante balls, and junior league aside. Suffice it to say that more than a handful of friends from out of town have been just this side of underwhelmed when they have initially visited. 'Wow',they sardonically exclaim, 'I thought it would be larger, a bit more classical, less plain - Waugh's 'Brideshead' cerainly does NOT come to mind - not even close.' But that's parvenu taste for you.
Rating:
Summary: The Virgin Suicides
Review: this book is an awsome read... it was very touching, a cant stop reading book. Very inspiring book to read...
Rating:
Summary: subtle style and content
Review: Eugenides' point is as subtle as his prose. When I started this book I was turned off by the fauning worship of the girls, but a ways through it became clear that the book dealt with, in part, how contact demystifies distant idols. Eugenides very deliberately (though without bashing the reader over the head with it) lays out the contrast in the consequences of the Lisbon girls' crushes (fatal) versus the infatuations of the boys, say when Domenic jumps off the roof (unbruised). I particularly liked his conflating a group of friends into one us-narrator; the air of shared memory worked well with the fact that the novel is a recollection.As much as I enjoyed his storytelling and choice of detail, I thought, and the concluding verdict on suicide was a touch abrupt and somewhat contradicted by the reverent tone of the previous pages, but I guess you could argue that he's just telling it like it is in the sense that it was how his narrator(s) felt. I don't like the fact that he dealt rather softly with a gritty subject, but I do like his point that the reasons for suicide are and will always be inscrutable to the survivors, regardless of what explanations we choose to comfort ourselves with.
Rating:
Summary: The Virgin Suicides -- Mercy HS
Review: This is a book that has completely changed my life. I have never read a book like this, the writing style completely captures you and puts you there in the small town in the 1970's. Which is where the book takes place. It is told by a group of neighborhood boys obsessed with the girls across the street, the Lisbon sisters. Although Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon are as bland as boiled carrots, especially Mrs. Lisbon who is a strict, old-fashioned, God fearing mother; their daughters are a strange, mysterious, yet striking group of young girls. This intense story is over the course of a couple of years leading up to the suicides, and explores the effect of leading a cooped up, sheltered life. Each sister has her own quirkiness and are deeply analyzed by the boys; from their positive life changing experinces, to their ultimate downfall. The boys also go through a life changing journey along with the rest of the town who are deeply affected by the demise of the Lisbon household. The wide spectrum of characters of people who personally knew and interacted with the girls, or watched them from afar, each character offers an important insight into the life of Lux, Mary, Therese, Bonnie, and Cecilia...the Lisbon sisters. At the end of the book there are still a lot of things left unanswered, but oddly enough it does not leave you unsatisfied because of the ovewhelming emotion one feels for the girls, as well as for the boys who are so deeply infatuated with them and tried to lend one last helping hand. I recommend this book to anyone of any age, race, religion, or gender. The story touches a chord with anyone who has had that ultimate crush in high school or if you had parents that were old fashioned Nazi's and never let you go out, it speakes to everyone in some way, shape, or form.
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Dream of a Book!
Review: This story is not told from an omniscient third person, but from an actual person in the story. Naturally this will leave some blanks in the story. However, the boy (I suppose he is a man when he is recounting the incident) does not display much if any emotion during the telling of this story. This book does not delve very deeply in to the minds of the 5 girls since, again, the story is not being told from their perspective. This story is told more like it was a special on A&E. The facts surrounding the incident were also presented much like a police report. Some parts were downright drab, like when the narrator is describing some of the girls' possessions he recovered. While all of this may be frustrating to some people, I thought it made the story more interesting. I wouldn't mind hearing the narrator's opinion more often, but I like not knowing what was happening in the girls' heads. It kept me examining all of the evidence myself, just like the narrator. Even when I wasn't reading the book I was trying to put the pieces together. I keep trying to make sense out of the girls' suicides. I've gotten so wrapped up in this book that I've thought about doing my own research in the hope that I could finally solve the mystery. It takes me a minute or two to realize that it's only a book. I don't know what it is really. As I'm sitting here thinking, "It's just a made up story," another part of me keeps saying, "I have to find out why they did it." Also recommended: THE LOSERS CLUB by Richard Perez
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