Ginny's brilliant. She's also rich. With her brains and her family's financial resources, her future is unlimited. So, why did she just try to kill herself?
Size: 253 KB (48,310 words)
Genre: Romantic
Sex Contents: Some Sex
Tags: mt/ft, Teenagers, Consensual, Romantic, First, Safe Sex, Slow
Review by Quasirandom [other reviews by Quasirandom]
Reviewed:
Ginny, a teenager, wakes up in the hospital with her wrists bandaged, having been found before she managed to kill herself. IOW this story starts in a Bad Place. The rest of the story is Ginny getting herself into a Better Place, one where she no longer wants to suicide. This journey involves her parents getting better about their relationships with her, her no longer letting herself get set apart from her classmates, finding a boyfriend, and connecting with others in her therapy group of teen survivors.
Just to get it out there: Content Warning for many discussions of suicide and a couple attempts, one successful. Escaping a Bad Place is not easy, and not everyone succeeds.
This is an excellent story, with engaging and distinct characters, and a balanced view of the different types of Bad Places that makes teens want to kill themselves. I love it to pieces. To be honest, I have a hard time being objective about it—I wrote a story that’s basically a response. And I’ve lost friends to suicide myself. The author does a great job of capturing the different reactions that causes, too.
Lockwood is a gifted writer of teenagers. I hope he finds a way to return to writing.
Review by Lugh [other reviews by Lugh]
Reviewed:
While Ginny, the protagonist, was female, she resonated with me personally. My high school experience wasn't quite the same, but was close enough to connect in my guts. Hers, though, came out happier, through her strength but also having strongly supportive people around her.
She became a "pay it forward" person, which is hard to do in stories, but Don Lockwood even put that concept into her psychiatrist. Ginny has courage as well as brains. I'd love to see followon stories.
There is sex, not overwhelming, but fun.
It's a damn fine story to read if you struggle with depression, or suicidality, in yourself or people around you.
Nice little twist to find a teenager see greatness in a younger teenager.
Review by anim8ed [other reviews by anim8ed]
Reviewed: - (Review Updated: )
Step one: Read the previous reviews by The Black Knight and Ivan Ronical. I really can't add anything to what they have already stated. So, why do I ask you to read a 5 year old review of a 7 year old story? Because the review still holds true and the story is still a great read and hopefully I can bring some small attention to it and encourage more people to read this story.
Let me be perfectly honest with you. It takes an exceptional story to get me off my lazy ass and actually write a review in the first place. I am somewhat picky in my scoring of stories and often disagree with a score some stories receive. Heroes deserves the high score that it boasts.
I enjoyed the very believable characters and overall story despite the darker elements of suicide and mental health.
Read the story! It would not have made the top 50 Author favorites list if it were a dud.
***Edit***
I have opted not to use the number ratings and only offer a written review. I hope that you still find my reviews helpful despite the lack of a numerical rating. As always, feedback is always welcome.
Review by Ivan_Ronical [other reviews by Ivan_Ronical]
Reviewed:
This story is literally the one which inspired me to start reviewing after having been on the site for years.
Rarely do I read anything so gripping that I don't leave my chair until it's done. This was one such work, and not because the plot is especially gripping - though I found it to be. Simply put, the characters here seem real. I felt more like I was reading a memoir or an excerpt from a biography than a fictional story. I'm not sure what sort of experience, if any, the author has had with suicide, but he's either researched thoroughly or has been somehow personally involved with it.
Technically, there's some minor errors here and there. Nothing memorable, and they didn't take away from the story.
This is not a story which should be read for stroke. There is sex. It's there, it's important to the characters, it's well-written, but the story would be okay without it.
As The Black Knight said in a previous review, "I strongly recommend anyone who has not read this story to read it soon. I also recommend anyone who hasn't read it recently to read it again. It's that good."
Review by The Black Knight [other reviews by The Black Knight]
Reviewed:
Rarely do I feel like going back and reviewing a story I've read in the past. I generally don't see much point in reviewing a story which has already been reviewed. I think this story is worth an exception to both of those. Simply put, it's the best story which my favorite author on this site has ever finished.
Frank really seems to understand what he writes about in this one. It's definitely much more like real-life teenagers than his NiS stories display. The characters seem far too real, far too familiar... but that's because he did the job so well. The storytelling is incredibly well done.
Technically, while not flawless, it is superior to most of what is on SOL.
I strongly recommend anyone who has not read this story to read it soon. I also recommend anyone who hasn't read it recently to read it again. It's that good.
